Italian and so much more

Petrucelli's, located on Highway 280, celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2012. | Jon Goering

By Amy Jones

When Charlie Vatella and his family moved back to the Birmingham area from Long Island, N.Y., in the early 1990s to open their restaurant, Vatella saw a prime opportunity sitting on U.S. 280.

“In 1992, most of what you see on 280 was not here,” he said. “I had been here in the mid-1980s and moved here right after the Galleria opened. You could just see that the area was going to keep developing.”

In April of 1992, Petruccelli’s opened in its first location, an 1,800-square-foot building very close to the Jefferson County line. Five years later, the business had grown enough to move to its current location, where it’s still going strong almost 20 years after its inception.

Vatella said his own Italian heritage and previous culinary experience in Italian and pizza restaurants led to his decision to open an Italian restaurant.

However, the name Petruccelli isn’t from Vatella’s heritage. Rather, the Petruccellis were a family Vatella befriended when he opened a Chuck E. Cheese franchise in Jasper. Three of the Pettruccelli kids worked at that franchise, and it became a running joke that when Vatella opened his own restaurant, he would name it “Petruccelli’s.”

When he finally did open the restaurant, the family “asked for residuals,” said Vatella, laughing. “I said, ‘You can eat for free.’”

When Petruccelli’s first opened, the restaurant needed a way to set itself apart. Vatella found a way to do that by offering classic Italian cuisine plus something more.

“When we first opened, the idea was to do Italian entrees, reasonably priced, plus something nobody else had — something I still don’t think anyone else has. We’re (also) a full pizzeria,” Vatella said.

Petruccelli’s specialty pizzas include the Philly cheese steak pizza, with tomato sauce, Black Angus sirloin steak, mushrooms, peppers, onions and mozzarella cheese, as well as the classic margherita pizza, with virgin olive oil, juicy Roma tomatoes, fresh basil and mozzarella cheese.

The restaurant also provides a fresh grilled vegetable pizza, which boasts bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, green olives, Roma tomatoes and mozzarella cheese, as a vegetarian option.

However, many county residents know Petruccelli’s first and foremost as a classic Italian restaurant.

“We’ve had people who have eaten with us 10 years and have never opened up the menu enough to know we sell pizza,” Vatella said.

Instead of pizza, those customers go straight for the Italian classics, such as saucy chicken parmigiana smothered in mozzarella cheese and fettuccini with olive oil-sautéed chicken, mushrooms and the diner’s choice of Alfredo or marinara sauce.

Vatella said oven-baked lasagna is perhaps the restaurant’s most popular entrée, and Petruccelli’s allows diners to customize their lasagna orders to fit their personal palates.

Lasagna can be made with beef, chicken and mushrooms, spinach and mushrooms or vegetables, and diners can add ingredients such as meatballs, Italian sausage or sautéed peppers and onions to their lasagna entrees.

Petruccelli’s also offers pork, chicken and beef entrees, sandwiches, salads and seafood. Vatella said he’s particularly fond of the pork chops and grilled mahi mahi fish.

Desserts are also available, with tiramisu, bread pudding, cannoli and New York-style cheesecake among the offerings.

Vatella said the restaurant’s recipes and offerings continually evolve.

“A lot of them, we just have over a lifetime. We have employees contribute some stuff — we’ve even had customers come up with some,” he said. “It’s just an ongoing, evolving process.”

Petruccelli’s also offers a full bar, with an impressive wine list boasting more than 30 wines. However, the bar’s claim to fame goes beyond drink selection, Vatella said.

“We have the longest happy hour in town — from 11 a.m.-7 p.m.,” he said. “If you want to pay full price for a drink, you almost have to work at it.”

Petrucelli’s is located at 10 Meadow View Drive. For more information, visit the website at Cafelazio.net/petruccellis or call the restaurant at 991-7455. l

Share on Facebook