From the moment you walk through the door of an Antone’s Italian Grille, the rustic textured walls, exposed brick and stone and the hand painted murals of “Antone’s Village”, wrap you in the warmth of old world Tuscany.

Antone’s Italian Grilles are the actualization of an ideal started by Helen Scianna Gianfrancesco over 45 years ago. After many years of working in local restaurants gaining vast knowledge and experience, Helen’s dream was to have her own restaurant where she could provide her customers with the same good food and warm ambiance she would extend to the many family members and guests gathered in her home dining room for Sunday dinner.

In 1961, that dream came true when she opened the original Antone’s Restaurant and Confetti Lounge on Market Street in Youngstown, Ohio.

Named after her son, Ross Anthony Scianna, who worked alongside his mother, Antone’s Restaurant provided the premier fine dining experience in the tri-county area. Nestled at the tip of a cozy residential neighborhood of fine old homes, housed in the structure of a stately mansion, the original Antone’s conveyed an atmosphere of old world charm and elegance one might encounter in an historic palazzo in southern Italy.

In these early years, Helen and Ross began to develop and introduce their original Italian specialty recipes. The pastas, sauces, meatballs, lasagna, soups and salad dressings you see on the Antone’s Italian Grille menu today are all original recipes developed at that time. Over the years, hundreds of thousands of people have enjoyed these delicious specialties including our Antone’s Salad, a family recipe unique to Antone’s.

In 1970, with the restaurant enjoying phenomenal success, Helen decided to retire and her son, Ross Scianna, assumed sole directorship of the restaurant. Under his leadership, the original structure was expanded to include a new, larger dining room as well as a beautifully appointed banquet room offering business and social groups the opportunity to enjoy the Antone’s dining experience in a more private setting.

In 1974, with a young family of his own, Ross saw that there was a need in our area for a restaurant geared to families with children. Thus, Antone’s II was born, the precursor to today’s Antone’s Italian Grilles, offering generous portions of our homemade specialties at reasonable prices.

The new wave of young families enjoying their leisure time together, including dining out, made Ross look to the future once again and develop a concept to fit the new economy and changing demographics.

What did the new customer want? Good food – not fast food – generous portions, reasonable prices and a wholesome environment where families with children were welcome, comfortable and encouraged.

Antone’s II had been successfully offering these very things for 14 years, but no matter how good, a small restaurant could only accommodate a small number of people. So, in order to meet the existing need, Ross together with his wife, Joanne, expanded upon this theme Antone’s Italian Grilles began. Soon Antone’s was geographically convenient to customers throughout our area.

In 1993 Ross’ son, Chad Anthony Scianna, joined the organization that his grandmother founded and his father expanded, and once again a new generation brought forward thinking. Again, the winning combination of good, homemade Italian food, unique specialties, quality service and warm atmosphere was the key to success. From its original location in Youngstown to its current roster of seven locations throughout Mahoning and Trumbull counties, through three generations, Antone’s continues to grow through corporate owned stores, has already begun to franchise throughout the state of Ohio and will soon begin franchising in many other states.