Antonia’s Cucina Italiana

“We have a lot of people from the Northeast who come here,” he said. “It makes them feel at home.”

The food served at the restaurant—prepared by head chef Elmer Villatoro—is derived from Antonia’s recipes.

“It all started off in [Antonia’s] kitchen. That’s where the seed was planted,” Pettit said.

He said the restaurant uses fresh ingredients and makes dishes by hand in order to maintain authenticity and quality at a reasonable price.

“The veal piccata, it’s a real high-quality veal cutlet that is pounded out very thin,” Pettit said. “The chef gets it all crispy in a really hot pan. It has those pungent capers and that lemon butter sauce.”

The restaurant also features a large selection of wines from Italy, ranging from southern varietals from Sicily to the more hearty red wines found in the north in areas like Tuscany.

Pettit said the staff makes its own homemade limoncello—a lemon zest-infused liquor—on-site and uses it in several unique cocktails.[g-slider gid="148051" width="100%" height="55%"]

For example, the cucumber and salt sparkling limoncello cocktail is made with limoncello, slices of fresh cucumber, a small bit of crushed red pepper flakes, sweet and sour mix and Pellegrino sparkling water. The rim of the glass is salted similar to a margarita.

“It’s very popular,” Pettit said.

Pettit said the May 28 opening of the Typhoon Texas water park a few blocks away is going to enhance business greatly.

“We’re hoping to have people come over and sit on the patio,” he said. “The future is looking good.”