From left, Louis, Isabella, Alex and Aiden DeAngelo are shown in the kitchen of Southern Craft Restaurant and Bar. (Photo by Ashley Knight)
PARKERSBURG — The new Southern Craft Restaurant and Bar on Emerson Avenue is a family affair for the DeAngelos.
Louis and Kristen DeAngelo opened the restaurant with their five children: Louis III, Alex, Aiden, Isabella and Leonardo.
“Family is what it’s all about,” said Kristen.
Louis, who is originally from New Jersey, moved to Parkersburg with his parents when he was 10. He started working with his godfathers, Mike Ruscitto and Franco Scotto Rinaldi, the owners of the Pizza Place in Marietta and the mall.
The DeAngelos attended Parkersburg Catholic and were high school sweethearts before marrying and moving to Louisiana, where they lived for 28 years. They raised their five children in Louisiana while Louis owned restaurants and was a consultant in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
The exterior of the Southern Craft Restaurant and Bar. (Photo by Ashley Knight)
When their children decided they wanted to work in the restaurant business, the DeAngelo family came to Parkersburg three years ago.
“Bringing the south back home with us” Kristen said.
“It just made sense,” Louis said.
“Being able to come back here, and have my kids in an environment I grew up in, is nice,” Louis said. “I grew up the majority of my teenage and adolescent years here, and I learned a long time ago from my godfathers and in serving, we all serve people in a way and it’s not about the food, it’s really about serving people.”
He explained his passion for what he’s doing. “Serving people, the union of food and caring people, and the ones I serve, it just fills my soul. There is nothing else to it,” he said.
The Southern Craft dining area is shown with a server and a young taste tester. (Photo by Ashley Knight)
The restaurant offers traditional southern flavors on its menu, such as Cajun and Creole, with shrimp and grits, gumbo and jambalaya featured.
Everything is made fresh, “and that’s the truth” said Louis. “From the andouille sausage to grinding our own beef for our steak burgers, we knead and bake our brioche buns and prepare the glazed doughnuts for our glazed doughnut bread pudding. Everything right down to the mayonnaise, we make fresh.”
The DeAngelos are hoping to bring to the area what they believe their family is all about — southern hospitality and uniqueness.
“Southern food is bold, unique and flavorful, carrying the southern culture with it,” Louis said.
The menu is a work in progress.
Original artwork is shown inside the dining area of Southern Craft Restaurant and Bar. (Photo by Ashley Knight)
“It’s small but we are going to perfect everything, then add more. I’d rather have 25 things on the menu that is the best anywhere,” Louis said. “Having anything less eventually drains the quality over time.”
The food isn’t the only thing family-made in the eatery. The interior of the restaurant was remodeled and crafted by the DeAngelos.
“So all of this wood is from the old PHS fieldhouse bleachers, all of the tables and columns,” he said. “There are so many boyfriends and girlfriend carvings scratched into the bleachers.”
The black window frames are from the old Pizza Place and were scrubbed, sanded and painted, then hung from the ceiling creating a homemade aesthetic piece.
The restaurant features original artwork of DeAngelo’s late father, Lou “Big Lou” DeAngelo Sr.
“The lessons he taught us all are invaluable; the impact was tremendous,” Kristen said.
The late Big Lou turned Aiden’s life around before passing about a year ago.
“He was an incredibly moving and inspiring person in all of our lives,” Louis said. “The kids carved ‘Big Lou’ in the bleacher boards along with all the other carvings.”
From the shutters, original to Rose Down Plantation in St. Francisville, La., to old maps of Italy and a signed menu from Wolfgang Puck, Southern Craft Restaurant and Bar is packed full of charm and originality.
The little restaurant was put together by the DeAngelos in hopes of serving with their food, “an experience of genuine warmth, and hospitality that really does mean something.”
The Southern Craft Restaurant and Bar, 3601 Emerson Ave., is open 3-10 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Reservations are not needed and the restaurant will be closed this weekend due to its grand opening being such a success it needs time to restock.
For more information, call 681-295-0184.
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September 17, 2022 at 11:08AM
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Southern Craft Restaurant and Bar offers traditional southern flavor - Parkersburg News
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