By Courtney D. Clark
Register-Herald Reporter
SOPHIA — After nearly 20 years detached from the restaurant business, Terry and Tammy Saunders returned last month with the grand opening of their Italian take-away in Sophia.
Italiano’s, the newest addition to Sophia Town Center, makes it easy to enjoy homemade foods without the work, the couple says.
“We make our own spaghetti meat sauce, meat balls, pizza sauce and our own dough,” said Tammy Saunders.
“Even our food service providers have been surprised by the things that we make instead of buying pre-made,” she continued. “These days fast food is so in that people just buy it, heat it and serve it, but for the most part ours is truly homemade.”
The take-home Italian restaurant, which opened Jan. 23, offers pasta dishes, sandwiches, pizza and family dinners.
“Our family dinners are great for families that have up to four kids,” said the owner. “All of our dinners come with salads and breadsticks, so they offer a lot.
“I had lasagna the other day and had three meals off of that myself,” she added. “That was just the regular size meal. It’s a big portion and it’s good food.”
Terry oversees Italiano’s day-to-day operations, while his wife works full time as an auditor for the West Virginia Legislature.
“I’m a disabled coal miner, so instead of doing the house work, now I come down here and make sure things are going OK,” he explained.
He says both he and his wife have experience in the food service industry as former owners of a dine-in Italian restaurant.
“About 20 years ago, we owned Roma IV Pizzeria and Restaurant in Pineville,” said Terry. “When we had that restaurant, both of our children were very small.
“It was too much work at that point in our lives so we sold it and thought if we got another opportunity later in life, we might try it again.”
They are trying it now for the second time, and according to Tammy, their children Dustin and Brianna are now in their 20s and learning the business themselves.
“It’s been a blessing that our children have helped us,” she said, “when that’s one of the reasons we sold the business, because they were young and it just took too much work.”
Brianna helped design Italiano’s new menu, Saunders says, and Dustin, her mother and aunt work at the restaurant as well.
“My aunt recruited a neighbor and we recruited a neighbor of ours, so it’s good that we knew everybody and knew they would be great employees,” the owner said. “It worked out well.
“They’ve caught on really quickly and have been a blessing to us in that regard.”
She says they expect the restaurant to be a great asset to the town of Sophia as they look forward to helping the community.
“We knew this would be a good location because we live nearby in Crab Orchard and thought this side could use a food service,” she added. “That makes it convenient for us to be here close to the business.”
With only five employees, Italiano’s does not currently deliver to residences, but is testing the waters by delivering to some businesses during the day.
“I’m down here 11 or 12 hours a day, six days a week and five hours on Sunday,” said Terry. “This Sunday we are going to start closing because things have been so slow, probably due to the weather.
“Actually, you need a day off anyhow, and it’s keeping us out of church, so it has been weighing heavy on our conscience.”
The restaurant will be open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Throughout March, Italiano’s is offering a 16-inch one topping pizza for $8, and $5.50 for one pound of homemade fudge.
To take home a meal from Italiano’s, located at 834 Robert C Byrd Drive (next to Food Lion), call 304-683-4110.
— E-mail: cclark@register-herald.com
