Food & Drink

Cheap Eats: Presti's Bakery

Don't just indulge in the sweet life here, find plenty of savory Italian favorites too.

by Dillon Stewart | Feb. 27, 2017 | 2:00 PM

Karin McKenna

Karin McKenna

Most of us frequent this Little Italy bakery for its handmade cannoli and cassata cakes, but don’t just indulge in the sweet life here. An impressive cafe menu — full of Italian favorites such as pizza, bruschetta and meatball sub sandwiches — balances that midday sugar rush with plenty of savory options. We dare you to find a better way to fill up on the cheap than Presti’s masterfully crafted stromboli ($3.50). On the menu since 1948, the unaltered recipe boasts a thick stack of capicola, ham, salami, mushrooms and olives melted with provolone inside fresh bread. The crux of this stromboli, though, is the side of house-made marinara (50 cents). The kitchen staff starts making the robust sauce — along with the bread — at 3 a.m. daily. Don’t let all that hard work go to waste — order an extra side to accurately douse each and every bite. Also Try: It wouldn’t be a trip to Little Italy without cavatelli ($8.50), which are hand-rolled and ladled with red sauce. The chicken Marsala ($9.50) bursts with earthy flavors and comes with a side salad, and bread and butter. 12101 Mayfield Road, Cleveland, 216-421-3060, prestisbakery.com

Dillon Stewart

Dillon Stewart is the editor of Cleveland Magazine. He studied web and magazine writing at Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and got his start as a Cleveland Magazine intern. His mission is to bring the storytelling, voice, beauty and quality of legacy print magazines into the digital age. He's always hungry for a great story about life in Northeast Ohio and beyond.

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