How a Family of Greeks Ended Up with an Iconic Italian Restaurant in the Deep South | Bon Appétit

"Opened in 1949 in a historic Broad Street building, this family-run restaurant is Augusta’s first Italian restaurant and the only survivor from that era, and it’s credited with introducing pizza to the city. Recipes dating back to the early 1950s are still used: Chuck Jr. makes sauces and sausages from scratch and keeps the family formulas in a little black book, while successive generations run the dining room and kitchen. The menu blends old-school Italian staples—tender lasagna, veal scaloppini, butter-soaked toasted garlic bread, and amber-toasted ravioli stuffed with molten ricotta and topped with a well-spiced house sauce—with Greek dishes such as moussaka, avgolemono, and a popular Greek chicken made with olive oil, lemon, and herbs; playful Southern touches appear too, like fried chicken livers with meat sauce. The dining room is a time capsule of midcentury Americana and Mediterranean kitsch: a hand-painted mural of Venice, a vintage Seeburg 100 Wall-O-Matic jukebox, an antique Coca-Cola clock, a straw-wrapped Chianti bottle, photos of Edward G. Robinson and Mae West marking the restrooms, a pressed tin ceiling, and crystal chandeliers. The restaurant has become a Masters Tournament tradition—springtime brings lines out the door and sidewalk cocktails for waiting patrons—and has hosted notable golfers and celebrities over the decades. Desserts and small details reflect the family’s Greek heritage as well (vanilla ice cream topped with crumbled baklava is a favorite), and the overall vibe is warm, deeply rooted in family history, and unchanged by trends." - ByVirginia Willis