One of the challenges at Shaw Media Local News Network is taking a fresh look at a mainstay restaurant in Starved Rock Country. Say the names Rip’s, Lanuti’s or Monte’s and you (and your parents and grandparents) easily conjure up what comes to the table. What is there new to say?
Which brings us to Garzanelli's Supper Club, an Oglesby institution founded in 1918 and widely mourned until a lengthy hiatus ended this year when new ownership took over. Between new management and service limitations brought on by the pandemic, a new take on a familiar experience was needed.
So how does the new incarnation rate? On balance, very well.
With takeout food the only option available, at least until the novel coronavirus passes, step one was to find an online menu. This proved surprisingly elusive.
The Garzanelli’s bare-bones website has no menu option and a Google search yielded grainy images of the menu via menupix.com. Better results were obtained on Facebook, where Garzanelli’s page displays the menu in four color photos.
Longtime diners apparently have rushed back, because busy signals greeted the first few tries to place a phone-in order. The pickup area (north parking lot) was surprisingly busy although pickup was arranged before 5 p.m.
Once through, however, things moved quickly. The person answering the phones spoke clearly and took down the order efficiently. Garzanelli’s service had always been stalwart and remains so, even with carryout.
My dining companion and I arrived three minutes early for the pre-arranged pickup, then phoned from the car to say we’d arrived. They were ready, and the order was whisked out. True to form, the soft drinks were in clearly marked disposable cups and the food containers carefully were stacked (with little danger of tumbling) inside a paper grocery sack. They accept credit cards at curbside, and scarcely a minute passed before we were off.
Aesthetics are harder to appreciate within clamshell, to-go containers, but the food was neatly laid out and generally withstood a short drive to our dining room. Anyone who remembers the signature garlic-oil dressing won’t be disappointed, and none of the appetizers or entrees – mozzarella sticks, fried jumbo shrimp, spaghetti and tortellini – tasted as if they had been frozen. Freshness still matters here.
Garzanelli’s 2.0 had a reputation to live up to and they achieved it at the table.
Well, this is a supper club, which by definition is a dine-in experience that emphasizes hospitality and service over digital convenience. The menu has evolved little (if at all) since bygone eras when diners smoked at the table and the average bartender knew hundreds of drink recipes by heart. A supper club wasn’t going to pivot easily in the pandemic, and Garzanelli’s hasn’t.
But then that’s the point, isn’t it? We don’t want the century-old restaurants to change.
• The Mystery Diner is an employee at Shaw Media. The diner's identity is not revealed to restaurant staff when ordering or picking up the food. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a story.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Garzanelli's Supper Club
WHERE: 750 N. Columbia Ave., Oglesby
PHONE: 815-883-8633
INFO: www.garzanellissupperclub.com, Facebook at shawurl.com/3ecw