Customers come into the authentic Italian eatery to grab a quick cup of coffee in the morning, sit down for lunch or relax after dinner with a dessert, Owner Salvatore Circosta said. Watch video
Since Sal's Bakery & Cafe opened in the Forest Park neighborhood of Springfield last November, the three men who run the place have been busy.
Customers come into the authentic Italian eatery to grab a quick cup of coffee in the morning, sit down for lunch or relax after dinner with a dessert, Owner Salvatore Circosta said.
"There's no shortage of restaurants locally," Business Manager Nunzio Bruno said, "But it's the after-restaurant scene that was kind of lacking, and that's where we found an opportunity."
In Sal's Bakery & Cafe, patrons can make themselves comfortable at tables or on the couch, eating together or reading the paper alone. Pastries, cookies, pasta and sandwiches wait to be bought in the glass cases near the front door.
"This is basically a dream come true," Operations Manager Santino Bruno said.
When business people come to call and ask for the owner or manager and they see the young the Bruno brothers and Circosta, they're a little taken aback, Circosta said.
November 16, 2011 - Springfield - Sal's Bakery and Cafe at 513 Belmont Ave.
But as long as they're determined, have supportive friends and family and live in a great community like Forest Park, he said anything is possible.
And when it comes to which treat at the eatery is their favorite, it's a toss up.
Nunzio Bruno likes "anything with Nutella," including the bakery's tarts and cookies.
Santino Bruno, an "espresso drinker," is a fan of their coffee machine.
And Circosta is favors his grandmother's cannoli recipe, which calls for simple, thin-shelled cannolis with no chocolate chips. The cannolis are made in small batches and filled to order, he said.
"We'd rather make small batches and work harder than to make a vast majority of them and have them sit around," he said.