Chad Anthony's Italian Grille
 Youngstown, Ohio         Date of Visit  07/21/13            No Known Website

Chad Anthony’s is both new and not. Best we can tell, it’s the son of the owner of Antone’s. Antone’s moved up the street once the Walmart moved in and when we arrived last time there was a new sign and menu. Many of the old favorites from Antone’s remain, most importantly the salad. There are a few new options as well.

The move (before the name change) was a definite upgrade as far as the ambiance was concerned. Clean and stable chairs, tables that haven’t seen decades of use, etc. The staff also seems younger and more motivated.
 

Ehhhhh
 

They delivered rolls topped with a bit of butter and seasoning, nice,…but…uhhh…ahem…WHERE’s THE BREAD!?! They still have it, you just have to ask for it. We did. Twice. They still get it from the same place and it is spectacular.

The “Famous Chad Anthony’s Salad” (formerly Antone’s monkey salad – apparently the famous transfers even it the name doesn’t) is still there and still has the strange but awesome tuna and salami mix. The lettuce is still grossly overdressed, which I didn’t used to mind as the vinaigrette worked so well with everything else. This trip, the dressing was missing some of the acidic tang that makes it so tasty but I have a feeling that might have had more to do with the day than the recipe overall. Still a nice combo regardless.

We also had some mediocre fried zucchini sticks with marinara on the side. They were fine but they are so much better at AngeNettas.
 

Steph went with the cavatelli and meatballs, mom the fish special and I the chicken parmesan. The portions are more sane under the new regime and we ordered the small size of both the cavatelli and chicken. Antone’s has never had my favorite red gravy and that hasn’t changed. It’s smooth and simple which works just fine. My chicken was overdone and chewy, not a plus, but the spaghetti alongside was done pretty well but as is often the case, someone was lackadaisical in straining it before putting it on the plate resulting in a pink pool beneath. Yuck. Steph’s cavs were softer (fresh pasta) and done fairly well too. Their meatballs are of the old world three meat blend variety, and pretty tasty ones. Probably the best of the night was the fried cod special which came with a bowl of spaghetti and was topped with an Italian relish like combo of veggies and olive oil. The fish was done well and coated in a crispy and flavorful crust which held up to the juiciness of the topping.

Chad Anthony’s name change has resulted in some changes some good, but many things are familiar, some good.