A really big night at Anthony's Restaurant and Lounge
By CHARLES FERRUZZA
I was one of those moviegoers who fell in love with 1996's Big Night Big Night, a film about two Italian-born brothers, played by Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub, trying to make a success of their restaurant.
Here in Kansas City, two Italian-American brothers -- certainly as handsome as movie stars -- are having much more success with Anthony’s Restaurant and Lounge , their family restaurant at 701 Grand. Along with their parents, Vito and Anthony Spino III celebrate the 30th anniversary of the restaurant next month. The brothers claim that the November 13 anniversary party really will be a "big night."
Because of all the hype surrounding the Power & Light District, it’s hard for some people to remember that “downtown” does extend north of 12th Street -- that's why it's important to acknowledge the history of Anthony's, one of the real survivors of downtown Kansas City’s less glamorous days. Back in 1978, when Anthony "Butch" Spino, Jr., expanded the Soup Kitchen (a 13-stool café operated by his parents) into a full-service restaurant, his friends told him he was crazy.
"Those were not great times for downtown Kansas City," says Anthony III.
That's true. Many of the big department stores and movie palaces had been shuttered or razed, several iconic restaurants (Bretton’s, the Forum Cafeteria) had closed and the River Quay bombings of 1977were poor public relations for the area.
But Butch and Theresa Spino were determined to make a success of their Italian restaurant and spent so much time working in the brand new building that Anthony III and Vito literally grew up there.
“We have customers who still remember us as toddlers, curled up, asleep in one of the back booths,” says Vito, now 27, who runs the restaurant with the 30-year-old Anthony III.
When Anthony's celebrates its 30th birthday on November 13, the family has arranged for performances by several of their longtime lounge singers, including Frank Cherrito. “We’ll be serving food until 10 p.m.,” said Anthony III, “but if there’s a lot of drinking, we’ll stay open at least until 3 a.m.”
Anthony's dining room evokes an era much earlier than the 1970s, which is one of the reasons so many customers have great nostalgia for the place. Little has changed in three decades: Although her sons have asked her to cut back on her hours, Theresa Spino still makes the lasagna, the cheesecake, a gorgeous four-layer cake and the house salad dressing. Most of the waitstaff have been there for a decade or more. Meals still include a basket of Roma bread and butter.
Anthony III and Vito have met a lot of new faces since loft-dwellers started moving downtown, but they’re fiercely loyal to the regulars. “They kept coming back, in good times and bad, first as newlyweds, then bringing their kids and later, their children brought in their kids.”
And that’s the secret of the Spino’s success.
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