Out front is a sign that reads "Eat Here We Need The Money", which definitely attracted my attention. However this was honestly just them being modest because it actually should've said " Eat Here Because Any Other Option, Isn't Really An Option" ... I'll explain below.
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Full disclosure, I'm NOT a huge Italian food fan.... If a restaurant doesn't serve Pizza, chances are I won't go. The ole lady however is the polar opposite and it was her post-birthday so it would've probably been a kamikaze mission for me to try and go somewhere I wanted to go.
Sortino's Little Italy is just as much a staple to Sandusky as Cedar Point.
Some places you walk into feel like a step back in time, Sortino's however feels like you've teleported to Sicily. The decor is chock full of photos of the owner's trips back home and gives you the vibe of being in their home, not their restaurant. No Ikea or Joanna Gaines touches here (Shiplap SHIPLAP!), everything feels authentic because IT IS! Heck they even have a "Godfather Dining Room" available.
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You'll easily suspect Grandma Sortino is in the kitchen making everything by hand and in essence you'd be somewhat correct as the recipes are all family ones brought from Sicily when the Sortino's moved here decades ago
God bless our waitress Janine because our group asked more questions than a 7 year old me used to, mainly because we've never had REAL, authentic Italian (and of course all I wanted was pizza...) and everything we saw coming out of the kitchen had us acting like kids at the toy store, you know "OOOO I Want THAT! And That, AND THAT TOO!"
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Yea, our indecisiveness definitely made us an interesting group!
Our dinner included the choice of either a Cesar or Antipasto Salad with what tasted like homemade dressings (Blue Cheese & Cesar), and warm airy bread which comes along with a delicious oil and Parmesan sidecar.
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As an appetizer, we heard you absolutely had to try the meatballs, like theres no way to go and not try them so guess what? "Meatball Me!"
Everyone was right! The meatballs were very well seasoned and moist without being oily or dry. Absolutely filling and ate like a meal themselves. I could've just ordered them as my meal but I would've missed out the "food blessing" that was to come! And thankfully the lord wasn't about to let that happen!
