It all began in 1970, when Reno Vitale and his wife Enza and their family moved from Italy to southern Illinois.

Reno Vitale and his wife Enza and family moved from southern Italy to southern Illinois in 1970. There Reno with the help of his family and his mother Antonietta’s recipes operated a successful small town pizzeria called “Roma’s Pizza” and raised a family there.

In 1983, Reno sold his business and moved back to Italy with his wife Enza. After a couple of years he realized his love for the States and with Antonella eager to come back, settled in Muscatine.

Reno created his adventure in Muscatine and called it Roma’s Pizza. It was located at 203 W 2nd St and with the help of his family, soon Roma’s became a successful pizzeria.

In 1993 Roma’s moved to its current location at 313 E 2nd St and Reno gave his blessings to his children to make the new adventure as successful as possible without ever forgetting their family values. Roma’s becomes Salvatore’s Ristorante. The family presided the business for the longest time and are still currently holding true to their values and their recipes.

If you visit Salvatore’s, you will still enjoy the presence of Reno at the age of 87 as he still stops in to oversee operations and make sure his recipes aren’t being altered. He is there to make sure the waitresses and cooks start their day well, he will even give the young staff his advice on how to live life responsibly and with value. Everyone enjoys to see him and if he is gone for whatever reason, they soon ask “where is Reno?”

So if you want to visit Salvatore’s and listen to some of Reno’s tales or even have Reno make you some fresh “pasta al pomodoro” come and visit us at downtown Historic Muscatine. The family and friendly staff will try to make your experience as pleasant as possible, Italian style. 

The Family 
Salvatore’s has always been a family tradition. You will meet many of the other family members inside the trattoria as well, helping with your service or lending a hand in the kitchen.  Our homemade food comes from recipes that have been passed down from our grandmothers. Reno is now 87 and still oversees making the pizza dough fresh daily in our kitchen, alongside bubbling pots of homemade sauces that are created from scratch. Family will create mouth-watering dishes from recipes passed down over the generations.  Reno even enjoys creating unique new dishes to satisfy customers like you, everything’s made fresh, right here at Salvatore’s.