When Highwood residents Alex Scornavacco, 51, and Bill Bernstein, 49, opened Washington Gardens in 1982, the restaurant’s name evoked pleasant memories for many area residents. Exactly 50 years earlier, Scornavacco’s grandmother Angelina had opened the original Washington Gardens, a pizza and beer garden at the corner of Railway and Washington Avenues.
In the decades that followed, Angelina’s family expanded the menu, remodeled the restaurant and in 1968 changed the name to Scornavacco’s. The restaurant closed in 1982.
“Using the name Washington Gardens seemed only logical,” Scornavacco explained. “It has a great deal of sentimental value for both Bill and me, as well as for many of our customers. … Many of our most popular recipes were indeed developed by my grandmother and passed on to me by my parents.”
Falling into this category are the cheesecake made with ricotta cheese, the canoli’s chocolate chip-studded mascarpone and cream cheese filling, the pizza and the tortellini Alfredo.
Tradition aside, many of the restaurant’s regular menu items and most of the specials are influenced by the trend toward lighter fare, with fresh fish and pasta playing major roles. Typical are the walleyed pike sauteed with mushrooms and artichokes and the pasta tossed with shrimp and broccoli.
On the regular menu, the salmon stimpinada and grilled swordfish are consistent best sellers. The first features a sauce made with celery, onions, orange juice, white wine, lemon juice and red-wine vinegar, while the second is marinated in a blend of lemon juice, soy sauce, tomato juice, garlic and orange juice. Pasta entrees range from $9.25 to 12.25, others from $11.25 to $17.50.
“We have lots of customers who come in several times a month, or even as much as once a week,” Bernstein said. “So it’s probably not surprising that specials account for about 80 percent of our business. On the other hand, there’s always a substantial demand for pizza.”
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Washington Gardens is at 256 Green Bay Rd., Highwood. Dinner is served from 5 p.m. daily. Phone 708-432-0309.