Gino's Pizzeria & Restaurant

Breadsticks from a Different Time at Gino's in Michigan | Bon Appétit

"Opened in Keego Harbor by the Santia family (with Irene Santia among the founders) in the early 1970s, this unpretentious Italian-American family restaurant has changed little in nearly sixty years: floral vinyl booths, smoke-tinted glass fixtures, acoustic-tile ceiling, heavy wood tables and a short, sensible dark carpet give it a comforting, lived-in feel. It’s best known for its underappreciated Michigan-style breadsticks—about an inch and a half in diameter and plate-length, with a soft exterior that soaks up sweet butter and garlic salt and a chewy, sourdough-like interior—served in bottomless baskets and often capable of quieting a table. The menu favors mild, bread-based comfort food that appealed to neighborhood factory workers and middle-class patrons, with solid antipasto, salads, and an impressive pizza; sharper dishes like linguine with clam sauce or puttanesca were largely sidelined as harder sells. Framed memorabilia, including a 1985 letter from President Reagan marking the owners’ 50 years in America, underscores the restaurant’s immigrant-family roots and its role as a sentimental community anchor where families still celebrate milestones and even take bags of breadsticks home to smooth difficult conversations." - ByTracie McMillan