Family-Oriented Guiseppe's Turns 10

“Every dish that comes out” of the Guiseppe’s Grille kitchen, “I imagine that whoever’s going to eat that dish is the most important person in my life,” chef Graciano Machado says.

“You wouldn’t serve (anything) bad to your mom or to your kids,” he says. 

Next week,  the family-oriented Guiseppe’s Grille turns 10, and will host a celebration at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24. A WXLO personality will emcee, and give away prizes, owner Amy Capuano said Thursday. And Joe Macy and the Bongo Man Band will perform. They are among the restaurant’s original entertainers, she said.

The restaurant opened at 30 Solomon Pond Road on Jan. 21, 2004,  Capuano said. 

“We had a big grand opening. There was probably about 500 people that came that night,” she recalled. 

“It was a little overwhelming, but it was exciting. Everything went great. Everybody had a good time.”

Capuano said her family had owned a prior incarnation of The Grillle there about 24 years ago before leasing the site for what became The Grille on Solomon Pond. 

Ten years ago, she decided to open her own restaurant there.

“We kept ‘The Grille’ in the name because we wanted to tie it in. This place has been here since 1939. It’s a landmark,” Capuano said.

Guiseppe’s is named for her ex- father-in-law, she said.

“He was a man that was all about family and food and fun and laughter, and just everybody getting together and having a good time and always over a meal. That’s basically the concept that Guiseppe’s was created around,” she explained. 

Machado has “definitely improved on everything, and took it to the next level,” Capuano said.

“The specials are always fantastic: the presentation of the specials, the taste of the specials. It’s very common for our customers to say to us, ‘This is the best thing I’ve ever had,’” she said. 

“People come in here and they don’t even want to see the menu. They want to see the specials, because they come on a regular basis.”

Butternut Ravioli, and Seafood Guiseppe, are among the most popular dishes, Capuano said. 

“Our salmon, people say it’s the freshest salmon that they’ve ever had,” she added.

Machado noted that he uses “all fresh ingredients” in his dishes. 

Capuano added that the restaurant offers live entertainment Thursday through Saturday, and an open mic night on Wednesday “which really does well. A lot of local musicians come in. They have a great time.”

“There’s not a lot of places around where you don’t have to go into a city to see live entertainment,” she said.

“We want it to be ‘One person come in and sit down at the bar and have a good time. Or a group of 20 people can come into the restaurant and have a good time.’ Everybody feels welcome when they come in.”