Our Story

Cynthia Izzo the " foodie" creative half of the husband and wife team behind Santino's began her education Pizza - wise at age 3. For two months out of every year, her Aunt Lucy Cavazzi who traveled every year to the family home in Naples Italy and brought with her all the traditional Italian recipes. over the years Aunt Lucy travelled from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania where part of the family had settled and would come to visit her favorite niece in California where Cynthia's father was partner in one of the first Italian Trattoria in the San Fernardo valley Aunt Lucy and Cynthia spent hours in the kitchen, cooking and preparing the wide variety of delicious family recipes handed down through the ages. These recipes comprised the regional specialties of Southern Italy, specifically the regions in and around Naples. Lucy taught her how to make those fresh, full-bodied tomato sauces ringing with garlic and herbs and rich with meats of various kinds. Lucy taught her how to make pasta from scratch–egg noodles, tortellini, ravioli, and other favorites of the Italian table. Cynthia was a good learner, listening carefully to her aunt and learning how to cook in the style of the old world, creating tantalizing flavors from simple ingredients. When she was old enough, Cynthia worked side by side with her cousins in the family restaurant, known as Barone’s, the home of the famous thin crust square pizza