Straddling the Ohio City and Clark-Fulton neighborhoods, Bruno's Ristorante and Catering has been serving authentic Italian cuisine to Cleveland diners since 1996. Owner Bruno DiSiena is a first-generation American whose parents came from Coreno Ausonio, Italy in the Lazio region, about 75 miles outside of Rome.

DiSiena brings central and southern Italian traditions to life through his recipes that have been passed down through generations. DiSiena and his wife, Lisa, make stepping into the family-style restaurant feel like walking into an Italian home—with homemade pastas like gnocchi, cavatelli, and ravioli, and sauce recipes that carry the heritage of the family kitchen.

"We have lot of old-time recipes from my mother, and my wife has taught me a lot as well," DiSiena notes.

Bruno DiSiena of Bruno's RistoranteThe DiSienas are showing off their talents in Italian cuisine during Cleveland Independents’ Cleveland Restaurant Week, which kicked off yesterday, Monday, Nov. 11, and runs through Friday, Nov. 22, with three-course prix fixe dinners for $39.

About 30 restaurants—about half of the Cleveland Independents membership base that stretches from Sandusky to Mentor and south to Akron—are participating this year, offering appetizer, main course, and dessert at the prix fixe price (although restaurants can vary the pricing and structure), with many establishments offering additional deals on Stoli Vodka cocktails.

Cleveland Independents members say they are hoping for record participation in Restaurant Week this year. Many restaurants suffered lower-than-projected sales last summer because of the heat.

DiSiena says being a member of Cleveland Independents, and participating in Restaurant Week, helps raise awareness for small businesses like Bruno’s.

“We are kind of a mom-and-pop sort of thing,” he says. “This just brings awareness—especially after the pandemic—it's definitely a big help.”

Bruno’s Restaurant Week menu showcases all of their beloved dishes. The restaurant takes pride in its homemade pasta offerings, crafting specialties like gnocchi, cavatelli, and ravioli in-house. Bruno's is offering diners their choice of anything on the menu.

Appetizers include the popular artichokes parmesan, mussels baked on the half shell, hot stuffed banana peppers, calamari (fried or sautéed), and the antipasto platter.

For the main course, guests can select from their signature pasta dishes, including the best-selling homemade lasagna and eggplant lasagna. Those preferring chicken can choose from several preparations: the classic chicken parmesan, chicken caprese, chicken marsala, or chicken limonese.

“Our best sellers are definitely our homemade lasagna, the eggplant lasagna, or our veal dishes,” DiSiena says. “We have a veal with artichokes or a veal caprese, which are great sellers. And then our pastas are homemade.”

Diners can cap off their meals with authentic tiramisu made in-house, traditional cannoli, limoncello cake, chocolate decadence cake, or Bruno’s unique pistachio cheesecake.

Bruno’s Cleveland Restaurant Week menu is available for both dine-in and takeout orders.

All of the Restaurant Week participants' menus are available online.

Now 19 years old, Cleveland Independents is the largest group of locally-owned independent restaurants in the country. The organization was created to raise awareness of the importance of supporting local restaurants and the impact on the regional economy, while also creating a community of like-minded restauranteurs.