The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Dino’s Restaurant looks to future
As two customers were leaving Dino’s Restaurant in Willowick on April 19, one stops at another table to share a memory of another visit to the restaurant.
After nearly 40 years at 1200 E. 305th St., there are a lot of memories in Dino’s tables.
“We’re told often by people how long they’ve been coming here and what they remember about it and that comes with a responsibility to keep it as people remember but to keep it new and fresh as well,” said Mark Tibaldi, whose family has owned and operated Dino’s since the 1950s.
Tibaldi’s grandfather George opened the original restaurant in East Cleveland in the 1950s. They next opened a restaurant in the North Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland. The Tibaldi family opened up its Willowick restaurant in 1978.
Tibaldi said they’re always trying to remember what made them good, why people come here. As he’s gotten older, Tibaldi said he’s learned to be true to the core customers before you start attracting new ones.
“I think that’s always stay true to who you are,” he said. “There are a million different restaurants, there are a million different place to go. This place carved out its niche over the years, so staying in that niche is what we want to do.”
Tibaldi said the niche they’ve carved out starts with the food, anchored by homemade products such as sauces, pastas and meatballs.
“It’s a neighborhood place, people are comfortable here,” he added.
Over the years, Dino’s has expanded its catering business.
“We liked catering, we knew we were good at it,” Tibaldi said. “People loved what they were getting, we knew we needed to bring it to a larger scale.”
They first started catering in the Willowick restaurant shortly after it opened in a party room downstairs. In the 1990s, they started doing larger-scale neighborhood venues like the Knights of Columbus and Italian-American Club, both in Wickliffe.
In 1998, Lake Metroparks selected Dino’s to be the exclusive caterer for Pine Ridge Country Club in Wickliffe. In recent years they’ve added the Acacia Reservation in Lyndhurst and Manakiki in Willoughby Hills to their catering resume.
Previously, Dino’s had a Willoughby location that was a combined restaurant and catering business, but they decided to close that venue after getting the Manakiki contract.
Tibaldi said the menu at its Willowick restaurant has gone through some changes since opening in the 1970s. There are more lighter options now, like salads. The bar also isn’t as large a part of their business as it used to be. Tibaldi remembers having customers there at 2 in the morning on weekend nights. That’s not the case anymore.
“One of the biggest increases we’ve seen is carryout,” he said. “Carryout has just exploded.”
Over the past few years, they’ve taken a week, usually at the end of February to do some upkeep at the building. This year they renovated the bathrooms.
“That’s something we’ll continue to do,” Tibaldi said. “We own the building. We’re taking care of the building, keeping it fresh.”
His family has been in the business for nearly 60 years and while many things have changed over time, Tibaldi said one thing needed to have a successful restaurant has not: staff.
“It’s the most important element,” he said.