Abbondanza Morgan Junction: Sicilian managers now own it

[aeuropeantouch]

Rosanna and Francesco came to West Seattle from Napoli/Italy in 2001 to join the Italian owner of ABBONDANZA pizzeria at 6503 California Avenue to work. Rosanna worked in the restaurant, her husband Francesco was the chef. The owner of the restaurant was deaf. Rosanne and Francesco came with almost “no knowledge of the English language” so they not only had to learn English but also sign language in order to communicate with their boss. They worked in the restaurant until 2003 and business was great with Francesco in the kitchen and Rosanna in the service. Then there was a fall out between the owner and Rosanna and Francesco. They left the restaurant and worked both in downtown in restaurants as employees. In 2013, the old owner made them an offer to purchase the restaurant, which they did.

They took over the ownership of Abbondanza in June 2013 and have been running the restaurant AGAIN.

The name of the restaurant DID NOT change (too costly) so basically the two of them are running their old stomping grounds again with the same kind of dedication and passion and great food BUT the public might not be aware of this fact.

Since I know the restaurant business inside and out, I know how difficult it can be if you are taking over an exisiting restaurant.

Rosanna and Francesco now have 2 little kids age 2-4, Rosanna’s father in Italy passed away 2 weeks ago and she brought her mother and brother over from Italy.

I would love to help in any way to spread the word in the local community that they are BACK so people hopefully flock back and frequent this lovely little cozy old world charm Italian eatery.

I guess educating the West Seattle community how hard working they are, even learning sign language would make a neat story for the local blog. If you do some research on tripadvisor or similar sites it is IMPORTANT to sort the reviews by DATE… the time span from 2001- 2003 and from June 2013 to present is under the helm of both of them. Some of the negative reviews were under the OLD owner

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[Jeannie]

Thanks for the update. Tasty pizza and pasta, and the new owners are genuinely kind and friendly.

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[JanS]

Good to know …thanks :)

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[4th of Eight]

Their Carbanarro (spelling?) Mmmmmmmm-good!!! (The parmesan/bacon dish.) Anyone that hasn’t been in for awhile will notice too that they updated it and made it warmer and more romantic looking. Thankyou for the background history. Rosanna has always been a sweet hostess when waiting on us!

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[aeuropeantouch]

correction: I made a mistake: Rosanna and Francesco are from Napoli ( Naples) which is not Sicily but Campania… sorry.. just wanted to get this straight..

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[2 Much Whine]

There’s a HUGE difference between Napoli and Sicily. If you ask my Italian mother-in-law she will insist that Sicilians are NOT Italian, they are Sicilian. Naples has some pretty darn tasty food. I think we’ll go there tonight!

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[biankat]

Good to know. Last time we went there was 2009. Terrible experience. Might have to try them again.

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[JoB]

sicilian or napolean ?

either way this story will get me to try them again..

although i would have to agree with 2 Much Whine’s mother-in-law.. Sicilians aren’t really Italians…

They’d be the first to tell you so :)

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[Tracy]

that is really good to know because it was SUPER GROSS a few years ago, and we never went back. And we loved it before, so will give it a try again.

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[desertdweller]

Is it family friendly? We’d love to have a new go-to place in West Seattle now that we have a (reasonably well-behaved) toddler in tow.

In unrelated news, I love EBB, but I am SO tired of eating there since it’s one of the only places we can go to where we don’t get the stink-eye from people.

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[WSConvert]

We’ve been with our rambunctious toddler a number of times, and found it to be very family friendly! Also, the food is quite fantastic and very reasonably priced.

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[2 Much Whine]

If kids can’t run around a little and be kids in an Italian restaurant it’s not a real Italian restaurant. A true Italian meal can last 3 to 4 hours and kids just can’t be expected to sit still for that long. The Italians have a much higher pain threshold when it comes to children than us Americans. Of course they also don’t have happy meals and play places (except in the US restaurants that have invaded the rest of the world) like we do. The kids sit down and eat sardines, octopus, tripe and horse with the rest of the family and don’t bat an eye. Between courses they get up and get their yah yahs out and nobody cares.

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[desertdweller]

I happen to have a toddler who likes just about every food we (figuratively) throw at her! Sounds like we might be visiting in the near future!

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[aeuropeantouch]

for WHINE MORE

well put. thank you.. could not have it said better

for DESERTDWELLER

Italians are the most family oriented people in Europe.. that is my opinion and I am born and raised in Germany and have many Italian friends…

you will love the experience at Abbondanza… Rosanna and Francesco have a 2 and a 4 year old bambino themselves…

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[Jasperblu]

I take my 7 year old there at least once a month. We love the pasta in particular. And they are just the nicest people. As far as being kid friendly, YES they are (IMO). But no parent should let their kids run around in a restaurant. That’s just rude (to the staff and patrons alike), and downright dangerous (hello? servers with trays of HOT FOOD and GLASSWARE!). Sorry, but as a former server/barkeep (as well as a mom), I just don’t understand why any parent would think that’s okay.

I doubt that’s what you literally meant… there are plenty of parents out there that seem to think it’s totally okay to let their kids run rampant in a place of business. That’s what playgrounds are for.

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[desertdweller]

I can assure you, Jasperblu that both toddlers who were in attendance when we went this Saturday were safely ensconced in their high chairs the entire time.

There was no spaghetti throwing, running around, or anything else that should have caused anyone to raise an eyebrow in our direction.

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[aeuropeantouch]

Cooking Class at Abbondanza tonight was a big success.. hope they will have one again soon…

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