Temporarily closed on Mondays
All other hours stay the same.
at 470 Railroad St in Painesville OH
Prime Rib, Italian Favorites, Seafood Delicacies, Sandwiches, Salads & more
Our entire menu is available for Carry-Out,
Call us at (440) 354-4475
We take all major credit cards
Make Your Trip to Painesville Something to Remember
Stop in for lunch or dinner. Our recipes include old family dishes developed by Grandma Silvestro many years ago.
Silvestro's Depot Cafe serves authentic and delicious Italian cuisine. We are a small family-owned-and-operated restaurant applying our family's Italian recipes. Still family-owned and managed by Grandma Jen's grandsons; Jerry, Fred, and Tony. Our customers have appreciated our traditional dishes made with the best ingredients since 1936 in Painesville, Northeast Ohio.
Meet the Chef
Chef Joe Columbo
Chef Joe Columbo has been with our company for 30 years and is still making our Italian specialties with Grandma Jen’s recipes and generous portions!
Grandma Jen and
Grandpa Lucian Silvestro
Our Story
Rich in Tradition and History
In 1936 a young lady named Jenny Silvestro and a gentleman known as Nick Carlucci invested in an Inn on Railroad St. in Painesville called the New York Central Hotel. They remodeled the first floor, putting in a bar and a small kitchen, and leased ten sleeping rooms on the second floor, primarily to the railroad workers and travelers that arrived and departed from the station across the street. The appropriately named Depot Café was born. It quickly became a favorite for the most Italian North end of Painesville, serving pizza, pasta, and sandwiches to their patrons. There were a pool table and a room where a card game or possibly a little dice might be thrown around (strictly for entertainment purposes only, mind you).
So after the War, Jenny’s sons-Lucian and Jerry arrived home from the Pacific and entered into the Family business, which had expanded with the Lakeside Dine and Dance opening in Township Park. Lucian and Nick handled the Bar and service end of the business while Jerry learned all the kitchen secrets at his mother’s knee.
In the late 1950s, due to Lake Erosion, the Lakeside was sold, and Nick and Jenny consolidated their business to the Depot Café. Jenny rented all ten rooms to the New York Central Railroad every year, making box lunches for the workers to take to work every day while Lucian, with his Marine Corp. training, and Nick continued to run the Tavern.
During the mid-1960s, Nick Carlucci decided to take it easy, and Lucian Silvestro bought his business share. Soon after, Jerry joined his brother when their mother decided to follow Nick’s lead.
With an eye to the future, Jerry immediately started to expand the menu by adding steaks, prime rib, seafood, and a wider selection of Italian entrees, much to Lucian's consternation. Out went the pool table, tablecloths were rolled out, and horror of horrors, drapes were added to the windows. Then in perhaps his greatest stroke of genius, Jerry made his son and daughters indentured servants, teaching them the restaurant business's ins and outs.
That brings us to today. If I listen closely, I can still hear those dice clattering across the floor. I can still smell the dough being baked in the ovens for the pizza. If I squint, I can still see my Uncle Lucian trying to sneak a shot of Kessler’s from under my grandmother’s watchful eye. And I can faintly hear strains of “Red River Valley” coming from the kitchen as my father stirs the sauce.
I hope you enjoy our little enterprise as much as we enjoy bringing it to you.
- Jerry Silvestro
Our Menu
Our lunch menu is served Tuesday through Friday - 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Open for lunch for dine-in or take-out
Our speedy service will get you back to work with time to spare!
Chef Salad
Ham Tukey, American and Swiss cheese, tomato, black olives, cucumbers, and onion served on a bed of crisp iceberg lettuce.
Tuna or Chicken Salad Plate
Tuna salad served with cottage cheese garnished with black olives, celery, carrots, hard-boiled egg, cucumbers, and tomato. Or choose a combo of both!
Broiled Chicken Salad
Boneless breast of chicken charbroiled and served over a bed of crisp iceberg lettuce garnished with fresh garden vegetables and topped with swiss and cheddar cheeses.
Broiled Salmon Salad
Salmon filet served over a bed of crisp iceberg lettuce with shredded cheddar and provolone cheeses, red onion, black olives, cucumber, tomato, pepperoncini, served with your choice of dressing.
Ask for your choice of dressing. Our Gorgonzola is Italian and homemade.
Spaghetti or Rigatoni
Served with your choice of meatball, meat sauce, mushroom sauce, or sausage.
Seafood of the Day
Ask your server.
Veal Parmigiana
Tender veal cutlet baked in our homemade tomato marinara topped with melted provolone cheese served with spaghetti.
BBQ Rib Luncheon
1/4 slab of fall-off-the-bone St. Louis Style pork ribs in our tangy sweet sauce served with French fries.
Broiled Chicken Parmigiana
Boneless chicken breast topped with our homemade marinara and melted provolone cheese served with spaghetti.
Lake Perch
Fresh fillets of Lake Erie Perch breaded and deep-fried to a golden brown served with French fries.
Eggplant Parmigiana
Fresh eggplant baked in our homemade tomato marinara sauce, topped with melted provolone cheese, served with spaghetti or rigatoni.
- Award winning hamburgers and cheeseburgers
- Deli smoked turkey
- Broiled breast of chicken
- Chicken or tuna salad
- Lake perch
- Bacon lettuce & tomato
- Depot club
- Veal or eggplant parmigiana
- Chicken or tuna salad
Sides
- French fries
- Onion rings
- Vegetable of the day
- Spaghetti or rigatoni
Our dinner menu is served daily.
- Tuesday through Thursday - 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM
- Friday and Saturday - 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM
- Sunday - 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM
- Mussels mariniere
- Stuffed banana peppers
- Bruschetta
- Fried mozzarella
- Potato skins
Rib Steak
Full one lb. carved from the eye of the rib, charbroiled to your liking.
Boston Strip
Over one lb. of butter-knife tender strip loin charbroiled to your liking.
Filet Mignon
The most tender of steaks
King Prime Rib
A huge slab of bone-in flavor, specially seasoned and slow-roasted.
BBQ Ribs, Full Rack
St. Louis-style pork ribs barbecued in our tangy sweet sauce.
Pork Chops
Center cut loin chops served broiled or barbecued in our tangy sweet sauce.
Lobster Tail
Succulent, cold-water lobster tail broiled to a creamy white, served with drawn butter
Broiled Scampi
Giant Shrimp Scampi broiled in garlic, chardonnay, and lightly dusted with seasoned bread crumbs.
Surf and Turf Combo
Choice of our fine steaks or famous prime rib, coupled with our lobster tail or scampi.
Lake Erie Perch
Filets are breaded and deep-fried.
Fried Shrimp
Jumbo butterflied shrimp breaded and deep-fried.
Seafood Combo
Lake Erie perch, sea scallops, and butterflied shrimp breaded and deep-fried.
Grilled Atlantic Salmon
Fresh Atlantic salmon fillets marinated in an herb and garlic olive oil, grilled with garlic butter, served with cucumber dill sauce.
Broiled Chicken Breast
Boneless, skinless chicken breast broiled with your choice of garlic chardonnay, lemon pepper, or cajun spices.
Chicken Silvestro
Boneless, skinless chicken breast breaded and baked, topped with rock shrimp in a bearnaise sauce.
Veal Parmigiana
Tender veal cutlet dipped, fried, and then baked in our homemade tomato marinara topped with provolone cheese.
Eggplant Parmigiana
Fresh eggplant baked in our homemade tomato marinara topped with provolone cheese
Veal or Chicken Alfredo
Tender veal cutlet or twin breasts of boneless chicken dipped, fried, and then baked in our creamy alfredo sauce.
Spaghetti or Rigatoni
Served with your choice of homemade meatballs, mushrooms, sausage, or meat sauce.
Lasagna
A traditional favorite, homemade in our kitchen. Ribbon pasta layered with a blend of Italian cheeses baked in our own homemade meat sauce.
Lobster and Shrimp Linguini
Longostino lobster and rock shrimp tossed in a garlic, butter, and oil sauce with linguini and broccoli flowerets.
Contact Us
Make Your Trip to Painesville Something to Remember!
Silvestro's Depot Cafe
We accept all major credit cards.
Business Hours
Our Lunch Menu is served Tuesday through Friday - 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Our Dinner menu is served daily.
- Tuesday through Thursday -
4:00 PM to 9:00 PM - Friday and Saturday -
4:00 PM to 10:00 PM - Sundays -
1:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Our Dinner menu is served daily.
- Tuesday through Thursday - 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM
- Friday and Saturday - 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM
- Sundays - 1:00 PM - 8:00 PM