good food and lots of it!. ferraro's family restaurant has been on my "to dine" list for some time, but it wasn't until this past friday night, after an evening out celebrating first friday in downtown canton, that a friend and i dropped by the restaurant for a late-night bite to eat. open 24 hours, 7 days a week, ferraro's family restaurant offers an extensive menu that includes breakfast food, appetizers, sandwiches, soups, salads, burgers and melts, pizza, italian pasta meals, country dinner favorites, "all american beef classics," and several daily specials that are served from 11:00 a.m. until they are gone. with so many choices, all of which are served 24 hours a day, deciding what to order is no easy feat, but ferraro's menu comes complete with an iconic "f" signifying its many signature items. with my search narrowed to the house specialties, i decided to order the pizza burger platter and was quite happy with my meal.
the pizza burger platter begins with a toasted bun topped with a spoonful of pizza sauce that is then layered with a hamburger patty, sliced provolone cheese, an italian sausage patty, more cheese, and is finally crowned with a slice of fried salami. if this sounds like a huge sandwich, that is correct-it is. ferraro's uses longhorn beef (which they claim is lower in fat than regular ground beef) in all of their burgers and indeed, the meat tasted better than the average burger patty. my burger patty was thin, well-done, with a texture more closely resembling chopped sirloin than hamburger. while the meat was not seasoned, the italian sausage patty was zesty without being overly spicy and when combined with the creamy provolone, made for a nice sandwich. my burger arrived with only one thin slice of salami on top and could have used more as the flavor of the salami seemed a bit lost amid the other equally robust flavors. the bun, which was homemade, was grilled lightly and not only held the pizza sauce without becoming soggy, but offered a nice crispy crunch as well. a side of pasta (listed as rigatoni on the menu but arriving as penne on my plate) with tomato-meat sauce rounded out the meal and was flavorful without being overcooked, soggy or too salty.
aside from their extensive menu, ferraro's also houses a bakery on-site and offers a number of baked goods for dine-in or take-out. homemade pies are a house specialty, and with a large selection to choose from, i couldn't leave without sampling a slice of the signature offering, "ferraro's own apple walnut raisin pie." this pie was delightful and unlike other pies that combine several ingredients in the filling, the balance of raisins and walnuts was proportional to the apples; in other words, i didn't have to hunt to find the nuts. tender apples and raisins rested in a cinnamony filling, punctuated with crunchy walnut halves that were distributed evenly thoughout the pie. the crust wasn't especially flaky, but the addition of cinnamon-sugar on top was a nice touch, and i would definitely order this again.
family owned and operated since 1900, ferraro's family restaurant offers good food at anytime of the day or night. when my friend and i arrived last saturday at 3:00 a.m., the place was packed and by the time we left, an hour or so later, the breakfast crowd was beginning to arrive. with so many patrons and that much longevity, the quality of this place speaks for itself...two thumbs up for ferraro's family restaurant!