Born in 1948 from the association which welcomed Italians arriving by boat — my grandparents were part of it. The Girolamo family never left Rue Dante.
Before Napoletana, there was Café Gentile, the unofficial headquarters of the Italians who arrived by boat on Rue Dante. A reception association - of which the grandparents of the current owner Linda Girolamo were part - housed and supported the new arrivals; It was from this mutual aid that the restaurant was born in 1948 which would become the oldest pizzeria in Montréal. Originally, only two types of pizza were served there, between two games of cards and billiards: a club more than a restaurant, where the men of the community met among themselves. In 1980, Rocco Girolamo bought the shares of his partners and made the house a strictly family affair - including the decor: it was he who designed the current room, with its two terraces.
What hasn't changed since: chef Silvio Iaconove, in the kitchen since 1980, who still follows family recipes; the polpette di Angelina, grandmother Girolamo's meatballs; salsiccia alla Rocco, homemade sausage whose recipe remains secret. “Our menu doesn’t really change; they are all classic dishes!”, summarizes Linda Girolamo, today owner with her family. The very name of the house pays homage to the first arrivals, mainly Neapolitans like the Girolamos.
After more than seventy years, the family opened Miss Napoletana, a boutique caterer right across the street from the restaurant, where you can find pastas, sauces, homemade coffee and frozen pizzas — without ever leaving the sidewalk across Dante Street.