Ralphie’s Cafe Italiano
How does a restaurant stay in business for more than 40 years?
Well if you ask the Feole Family, the secret is pretty simple.
Ralph Feole – Owner, Ralphie’s Café Italiano: “We give a lot of food for a reasonable amount of money. And everything's as homemade as it can be. We put our heart and soul into everything. And give people a place where they could gather and feel comfortable.”
It all began back in 1978. That’s when Ralph and Lisa Feole opened Ralphie’s Café Italiano in Salem New Hampshire. A few years ago, they moved from their original location to this new spot a couple miles away, but they brought all the charm, memories, and of course the recipes with them.
Ralph Feole – Owner, Ralphie’s Café Italiano: “Old World recipes. We take our time, we cook everything from scratch. And I insist on that.”
Lisa Feole – Owner, Ralphie’s Café Italiano: “The stuff that we grew up on. I mean my husband and me. Raviolis, meatball, sausage, eggplant. So our restaurant is more like an old school type of Italian. We don't have a lot of the fancy fancy dishes we just like the good home cooked food.”
Not only did Ralph and Lisa grow up on this fabulously unfussy Italian-American fare, so did their daughter Chelsey.
Chelsey Bettencourt – Ralphie’s Café Italiano: “Every recipe that's on the menu is something that I ate at the dinner table growing up. And that's what makes it so special.”
The other thing that makes these dishes so special is Ralphie’s homemade sauce.
Lisa Feole – Owner, Ralphie’s Café Italiano: “Our sauce recipe has been handed down from generation to generation and we have not changed it. It simmers on the stove for 10 hours a day. And it's the lifeblood of our restaurant. It really is.”
Ralph Feole – Owner, Ralphie’s Café Italiano: “We make approximately 60 gallons every day of sauce. Seven days a week. The key to good sauce is patience, you have to stir it.”
And whether at the restaurant or at home, everyone in the family must help stir the sauce.
Chelsey Bettencourt – Ralphie’s Café Italiano: “Yes. That was part of the routine. So my parents would start it and make it and then every 30 minutes, ‘Chelsea go stir the sauce. Chelsea go stir the sauce.’ Whoever was close to the kitchen, every 30 minutes we had to go stir it until it was done.”
To start your meal at Ralphie’s, appetizers include Baked Stuffed Clams topped with a thick strip of bacon, a big bowl of Mussels en Brodo, a Italian style Chicken Wings tossed in olive oil, lemon, and garlic, and a pair of absolutely enormous Meatballs, smothered in that glorious gravy.
Ralph Feole – Owner, Ralphie’s Café Italiano: “It’s my dad's recipe. And as far as the portion goes, that's the way I always was in our house. And we even took that a bit further.”
Lisa Feole – Owner, Ralphie’s Café Italiano: “We don't give small portions here. Like you don't go here and get a small meatball, you get a softball when you come here. When people see them on the plate they go crazy. They taste delicious, and it's a giant meal by themselves. You can just eat a meatball and you'd be full.”
As for entrees, you can pair those meatballs with a big plate of Spaghetti. Or maybe you’re in the mood for some plump homemade Ravioli, filled with meat or cheese. But if you’re looking for Lasagna, act fast, because availability is limited.
Ralph Feole – Owner, Ralphie’s Café Italiano: “We only do the lasagna on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays because we don't want to freeze anything here. So we make several trays when they're gone, they're gone. And we make them from scratch, two kinds of meat, three kinds of cheese, it's a mile high and it's difficult for one person to finish it.”
Another mountain of a meal at Ralphie’s is the Chicken and Eggplant Parm.
Lisa Feole – Owner, Ralphie’s Café Italiano: “We actually didn't have that on the menu in the beginning was just eggplant parm or chicken parm. And then a lot of our customers kept on asking me, ‘Lisa, how come, can we have half and half? Can we you know, try it?’ And so we decided to incorporate it onto the menu and it's a big success. Everybody loves it.”
Chelsey Bettencourt – Ralphie’s Café Italiano: “It’s like the best of both worlds because the eggplant parm is so good on its own, the chicken parm is so good on its own. So the fact that you can combine them and then just put a ton of melted cheese on top with pasta. It is the perfect combination if you are looking for a massive delicious meal.”
When it comes to seafood, there are plenty of options on the menu at Ralphie’s, and for a taste of it all, try the Seafood Marinara.
Lisa Feole – Owner, Ralphie’s Café Italiano: “Personally it's my favorite. I could eat seafood every day. Just the taste of the fresh clams, and the mussels, and the shrimp over pasta. My family we're fishermen. So I grew up on seafood. I ate it all. So that's just like one of my favorites.”
Another dish Lisa loves is the Haddock Piccata.
Lisa Feole – Owner, Ralphie’s Café Italiano: “It's just the sauce. I'm a red sauce girl, but when my husband came out with this recipe, it's so delicious. Just the lemon with the cream and the capers and the mushrooms over it, it's awesome. So I think that's why it's such a huge hit. My husband's a very good cook.”
And the true test of a good cook is the ability to take less desirable ingredients and transform them into something delicious, which is exactly what Ralph tries to do with Tripe.
Ralph Feole – Owner, Ralphie’s Café Italiano: “First of all, most people don't know what it is. They ask you what it is and you've got to explain to them. Once you're done explaining that it's the lining of the cow's stomach, a lot of people decide to go elsewhere, which is all right with us. We have sort of a cult group of people that come in, they know what they want, and we're famous for our tripe. It's a 75-year-old recipe. It's sauteed and put in an olive oil and tomato sauce. It's absolutely fantastic.”
But it most certainly is an acquired taste.
Ralph Feole – Owner, Ralphie’s Café Italiano: “It's the one thing I don't encourage people to try. The texture, you gotta come in here knowing you want tripe. It’s just the way it is, so.”
Lisa Feole – Owner, Ralphie’s Café Italiano: “We tell people when they go to order tripe, if they ask me, ‘What is tripe?’ I go, ‘If you don't know what it is, I suggest you order something else.’”
And out of all the Feole family recipes, this is one Chelsey has mixed feelings about.
Chelsey Bettencourt – Ralphie’s Café Italiano: “Oh, my take on tripe is this. It is delicious for about three bites. And then on the fourth I start thinking about it. On the fifth I really start chewing it, and then I'm done. But I will say the sauce that it’s made in is incredible. I could eat a whole stick of bread and just dip it in the sauce and be happy.”
In fact, everyone who eats at Ralphie’s is happy, because everyone here has a favorite dish. So when you’re ready for a feast, the Feole’s are ready to welcome you to the family.
Lisa Feole – Owner, Ralphie’s Café Italiano: “To me, Ralphie’s is all about family and friends. We have met in 43 years, so many people, I've literally seen people grow up in here. From little babies to getting engaged, getting married and the families coming in. So it's a whole evolution of everything. It's wonderful. It’s a great family restaurant.”
