Charleston, West Virginia
Leonoro’s Spaghetti House sits on Washington Street East in Charleston, West Virginia. This one predates the blog by years — we ate there constantly back when I lived closer, and now, whenever a trip brings us back through West Virginia, it’s one of the first stops on the list.
A Century of History
The restaurant has been family owned since 1915, and the full history hangs on the wall inside. As far as I know, they’ve only moved once, and it’s been over forty years since that move — long enough for the place to earn that unmistakable feel of a restaurant that’s been doing this the right way for a long, long time.
The menu stays simple: pick your pasta — spaghetti, rigatoni, or linguine — with or without meatballs. A handful of other options round it out — some lasagna, occasionally stuffed shells or manicotti — but this is not a menu trying to impress you with variety. It’s a menu built around doing a few things very well, especially the marinara.
The Meatball House
This became a genuine family tradition. My son Michael was introduced to Leonoro’s around age two, fell in love with it immediately, and promptly renamed it The Meatball House. For years afterward, “Leonoro’s” barely got used at home — it was always “want to go to the meatball house?” and off we went.
In his early years, he stuck to the obvious kid order: spaghetti and meatballs, a little bread on the side. My own standing order became rigatoni and meatballs. Rigatoni is simply easier to eat than spaghetti or linguine, and to me it tastes exactly the same, so the choice is easy. I know some people disagree — the argument goes that marinara clings better to the longer strands — but I’ve never bought that logic. Even today, I’ll take penne or rigatoni over spaghetti or linguine most of the time.
The Marinara
Their marinara is what Italian marinara is supposed to be: bright, full of flavor, clearly the product of giant pots simmering for days the traditional way. It’s the anchor of the entire menu, and it’s exactly as good on visit forty as it was on visit one.
The Salad and the Bread
The salads are fresh, and the house dressing is essentially a cold, thinner cousin of the marinara — bright red, with real chunks in it, absolutely nothing like a bottled Catalina dressing. It’s Leonoro’s own, and it pairs perfectly with the greens underneath it.
What pairs even better with the salad is the bread. You can get their crusty Italian bread with butter at no charge, or upgrade to garlic bread for a small extra cost. Like any restaurant with genuinely good bread, the real challenge is pacing yourself — it’s easy to fill up before the entrée even arrives.
The Drinks
We usually stuck to water and iced tea, though one photo from this review shows a glass of wine. True to classic Italian form, the wine list is short: a standard Chianti, or the Chianti Reserva if you want to spend a little more. Chianti carries just enough bite to stand up against the density of a good marinara — a natural pairing, and a good excuse to order a glass.
Dessert (When There’s Room)
Most of the time, we were too full to actually order dessert. When there was room, two options stood out: spumoni ice cream, a kid-friendly favorite that let my son work through a few different flavors over the years, and cannoli, another Italian classic. I believe they make the cannoli filling in-house, though they’ve told us the shells come from an outside bakery. Hard to hold that against them when the meal leaves so little room for dessert to begin with.
The Verdict
Over roughly five years, we probably ate at Leonoro’s thirty to forty times, maybe more. These days it’s an occasional stop rather than a weekly habit, but it stays firmly on the list of places we think about fondly every time we’re back in the state. If you find yourself in Charleston, West Virginia and want a good Italian meal, Leonoro’s is the one.
The Menu
Leonoro’s Spaghetti House — Charleston, WV Cuisine: Italian Family owned since 1915 Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
