East Idaho Eats: Locals rave over Villano’s Italian’s specialty eats

POCATELLO — Prized family recipes have locals — especially youth — coming back to Villano’s Italian restaurant again and again.

“It’s a family run business. The Villano family — Arron and Lisa — decided to start up an Italian restaurant three years ago,” worker Brady Fay said.

“Their grandparents have tons of great Italian cuisine recipes and passed a few along to them. That’s what makes the food so good,” Fay said. “There’s a lot of good options and a lot of homemade options.”

Villano’s, located on Main Street, sits near Pocatello High School. Teens pour in during their lunch hour for the high school lunch special.

“We’re very fortunate for our location, for Pocatello High School (students) to be able to come here everyday,” Fay said.

The restaurant menu is made up of appetizers, pastas, pizzas, salads and desserts and also has a kid’s menu.

WHAT TO TRY:

Chicken Penne Alfredo: Chicken Penne noodles topped with Alfredo sauce derived from a secret family recipe, backed chicken and mozzarella sauce. It comes with a breadstick on the side.

Spaghetti and Meatballs: A classic spaghetti dish made from an old style family recipe. Spaghetti noodles are topped with a homemade tomato sauce and a hand crafted meatball.

Staff Recommendation:

Anything with a meatball or sausage

“We get a lot of compliments on our Italian Sausage Sandwiches. We have an all meat pizza that has both the meatball and the sausage. It’s very good. We have quite a few specialty pizzas,” Fay said.