Wanda Sumner has the final say before food goes out to customers at Giovanni's Italian Restaurant in Mascoutah.
"I'm very, very picky about everything," said Wanda, 48, of New Baden, as she brought out a plate of white lasagna, a rich concoction of chicken, ricotta cheese and alfredo sauce layered between lasagna noodles.
She created the dish because of her sensitive stomach.
"I make our marinara sauce, but it doesn't agree with me. So, I decided to use alfredo sauce and chicken," said Wanda, who co-owns the restaurant with husband Mike, 49.
She's always liked to cook and encouraged Mike to open their restaurant in New Baden, also called Giovanni's, in January 2007. The restaurant became so popular the Sumners needed a larger place and moved to a former Dairy Queen on West Main Street last September. It's named after son Giovanni, 15, one of five kids.
"He's like 'Eh,' he doesn't care, but he likes it and his friends like it," said Wanda, who's cooked all her life and fomerly worked in customer service. Mike worked at a warehouse.
Giovanni's serves Italian favorites such as spaghetti and meatballs, garlic cheese breadsticks, Italian beef sandwiches, calzones and stromboli. Wanda makes the marinara and alfredo sauces.
Pizza is available with thin crust and Chicago-style, ingredients stuffed between two crusts and topped with marinara sauce. A 29-inch pizza yields 64 slices.
Bread comes from Vitale's Bakery in St. Louis.
"I always tell people about the white lasagna. It's what I always get," said server Bobby Caldwell.
Giovanni's caters to big appetites.
"The football players come in here and gorge themselves on pizza and breadsticks," said Mike.
Calzones are large half-moons of pizza crust stuffed with meats, vegetables and cheese. Stromboli is a rectangular pizza pocket stuffed with the same ingredients and smothered with marinara sauce and mozzerella cheese.
Wanda also makes homemade desserts, including a puff pastry topped with strawberries.
Orders are custom made.
"Two ladies come in every week and want a 12-inch pizza with pepperoni, artichokes and mushrooms," said Wanda.
Another customer orders homemade meatballs with his shrimp fettucine alfredo.
The restaurant's red roof is a reminder that it was once a Dairy Queen, but the Sumners have made the interior cozy. The dining room, which accommodates 50, has wood paneling and maroon tablecloths. Wanda made the green and white curtains, and Mike thought of the silk rose accents.
They'd like to hang new wallpaper.
"By the time we finish the remodeling, the only thing that will be left from the Dairy Queen is the red roof," said Wanda.
On the menu:
Appetizers and salads
Cheese breadsticks ($4.99)
Garlic bread ($3.99)
Italian salad ($7.49)
Antipasto salad ($7.49)
Pasta entrees (includes salad and bread)
Spaghetti marinara ($7.99)
Baked eggplant parmesan ($9.99)
White lasagna ($9.99)
Pizza (starting at $7.99 for 12-inch cheese to $53.99 for a 29-inch specialty pizza with several toppings)
At a glance:
Where: 1300 W. Main St. Mascoutah
Hours: 3-8 p.m. Tuesdays, 11 a.m.- 8 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, and 11 a.m.- 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Information: 566-2878
