A dozen years in, Elena's Restaurant and Cafe has stayed here and stayed with its menu

BACKGROUND

When Joe and Elena Guzzo closed Giuseppe's Pizza in New Kensington nearly 20 years ago, they considered moving far from the Alle-Kiski Valley.

“My idea was to move to Arizona, somewhere where it's sunshiny every day,” Joe Guzzo says. “But we never left.”

The Guzzos missed owning a restaurant and, after about a five-year hiatus, they decided to open Elena's Restaurant and Cafe in Lower Burrell.

“Everybody thought I was crazy,” Joe Guzzo says. “But I thought, ‘I'm going to take a chance on Lower Burrell.' ”

A dozen years later, the restaurant in Hillcrest Shopping Center is going strong, Guzzo says. “We're not going anywhere.”

He says the key to their success has been to offer a consistent menu of quality items to keep the relatively small pool of local diners happy.

Aside from two daily specials each at lunch and dinner, the menu doesn't change much, Guzzo says. And they strive to make each dish the same way every time.

“The sauce, the soups — my wife and I make all of that,” he says. “If I give you something you don't like, you won't come back. Everything is the same. Whenever we find a good product, we stick with it.”

ATMOSPHERE

Elena's occupies a relatively narrow storefront near Roses discount store.

The dining space mimics an outdoor terrace — awnings draped with grape vines and strings of lights cover a row of tables on either side of the large fountain that babbles in the center of the room. On many visits, you'll find small children tossing coins into the water.

The outdoor vibe is lessened somewhat by an interior darkened by wooden tables and the deep green-and-burgundy color scheme. But plenty of lighting and the wall of windows at the entrance prevent the restaurant from being too dim.

There are about 20 tables in the dining room, most of them four-seaters except for a few central tables that often are merged to handle larger parties. There also are a handful of tables in the lobby, although those usually are offered to people waiting to be seated or to pick up takeout orders.

MENU

We were impressed right out of the gate with the presentation of the crispy zucchini slices ($7). A half-dozen thin, crunchy zucchini planks were cut on the diagonal and fanned out like a pinwheel around a dish of warm marinara sauce.

Elena's hit again with the side salad and wedding soup that accompanied our meals. We found the homemade raspberry vinaigrette so tasty we were tempted to lick the bottom of the salad plate. And generous cups of Wedding Soup ($4) were perfect on a cold, winter day. The small bowls were filled with chunks of carrot and celery, plenty of greens and small pasta shells, shredded chicken and meatballs.

The Classic Italian Hoagie ($8) was aptly named. A toasted bun that we estimated to be at least 8 inches long was filled with ham, salami and capicolla, lettuce, tomato, onion and hot-pepper rings, all melded together with melted provolone cheese and Italian dressing. The hoagies don't come with a side, but we had plenty to eat and took a portion of our sandwich home.

Elena's Sizzling House Burger ($10) also was a beast of a sandwich. The 10-ounce patty was cooked medium-well to our specifications and loaded with crispy bacon strips, melted provolone, sauteed mushrooms, lettuce, tomato and onion, plus mayonnaise on the side. Despite the plethora of toppings, this burger wasn't messy as we expected — it held together as we ate it. We weren't a big fan of the seasoning on the mushrooms, but it largely was masked by the other ingredients. The burger was served with a side of fries.

The Greek Chicken Salad ($11) is among the best salads with chicken we've ever had. A huge bed of salad greens is topped with feta cheese and two extremely moist, grilled chicken-breast cutlets. Roasted red-pepper slices, Kalamata olives and artichoke hearts surround the main ingredients. The salad is served with homemade balsamic vinaigrette on the side. We loved the combination of flavors in this salad.

Guzzo says the homemade lasagna ($15, $10 for a small portion) is a favorite, and we can see why. Even the small portion offered a filling square of the classic baked pasta layered with ground meat and melted cheeses, all topped with a meat sauce.

The chicken parmigiana ($16, $10 for small portion) is another Italian classic on the menu. The regular-size dinner presents two breaded chicken breasts, each topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. The meal includes a generous side of spaghetti with marinara sauce.

Not only does Elena's offer a decadent dessert tray loaded with cakes, but they also tempt you with more baked goods that are displayed around the cash register when you leave.

From the dessert tray, we sampled two slices of cheesecake ($5 each): one swirled with caramel and one that mimicked a hot fudge sundae. The latter was our favorite, with its toppings of chocolate, whipped cream and a cherry.

We also grabbed a package of six raspberry-filled cookies ($4.50) as we were settling the bill. The pillowy sugar cookies were filled with a thin layer of raspberry jam and topped with a light raspberry icing.

Liz Hayes is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-226-4680 or lhayes@tribweb.com.