Sammy's Italian

GOOD EATS: SAMMY’S ITALIAN ‘The Price Is Right & You Don’t Go Home Hungry’

By Rick Allen

The history of Sammy’s Italian is right there on the front of every menu: how as a boy Sammy Dedovic picked olives in Italy, that his family emigrated to the U.S. and started a family restaurant in New York in 1975 and that he discovered Ocala while here visiting cousins.

“I decided I wanted to open a restaurant here,” Sammy says of falling in love with the area. “I called my wife and said, ‘Sell everything! We’re moving here.’” Sammy’s marked its 23rd year here in September.

What the history doesn’t say is that Sammy actually was born in Albania. His family moved to Naples and its olive groves in Italy when he was quite young. And some 40 years ago in New York he married Coleen.

“So you have an Albanian and an Irish running an Italian restaurant,” Sammy says, almost like setting up a long-told joke. “I’ve been Italian from 9am to 9pm every day for the past 40 years.”

I’ve been aware of Sammy’s for years—not from dining there, but from columns written by Emory Schley, a colleague at the Star-Banner. Sammy’s was one of Emory and Dearly Beloved’s (his pet name for his wife) favorite places. In one column Emory may have touched on why: “I think Sammy must sprinkle some kind of magic fairy dust or something over his spaghetti!”

After finally dining there, I’m not so sure about the fairy dust—I doubt health officials would allow it!—but there just might be something else magical about this place.

WHERE: Sammy’s Italian Restaurant and Pizza is on SR 200 in Jasmine Square. A spinoff opened nearly two years ago by their son Paul is at 9668 North Hwy. 301 in Wildwood.

Brooklyn Style Pizza

Photo by John Jernigan

WHY GO: “In my place,” Sammy says, “the price is right and you don’t go home hungry.” In fact, it’s likely you’ll take home with you a carton of what you couldn’t finish here. For instance, my wife and I shared an order of lasagna, a pizza, and salads. We took half of the lasagna and the pizza home for a second delicious meal the next day.

BEST TIME TO GO: If you’re looking for a deal, Sammy’s has a long-standing spaghetti-and-meatballs special on Monday—the entree, salad, and bread for $6.99. “You can’t eat at McDonald’s for that!” he says. He also offers a large cheese pizza for $8.99 all day Tuesday. Wednesday is Sammy’s quietest day, he says, while the busiest times most other days are noon to 3:30pm and again from 4:30 to 6:30pm. This is an early-dine spot. My wife and I visited just before 6 o’clock on a Tuesday and found the place abuzz with guests. Half an hour later, nearly everyone was gone.

YOU MUST TRY: Sammy’s is probably better known for its Brooklyn-style pizza. Ours was dripping with pepperoni, way more even than the amount I use when I make pizza at home. “And they didn’t skimp on the cheese,” my wife says, “not like places where you have to ask for double cheese.” But Sammy is especially proud of his Italian house entrees, particularly the Chicken Francese and the Chicken Marsala. “These are my signature dishes,” he says. “When they try that, they’ll be in heaven.”

But his personal favorite on the menu is the Frutti Di Mare (literally “fruits of the sea”), a cornucopia of mussels, shrimp, scallops, calamari, and clams served over linguini in a fradiavlo sauce. It’s certainly on my “must try” list.

FRIENDLY STAFF: Nearly everyone on staff here is in Sammy’s family—his wife, sons, daughters, a niece. All of them seemed to be scurrying about getting orders in or out. Our server probably could have been a tad more personable, but she was efficient and obviously quite busy.

INSIDER: Sammy says many of his first-time patrons are surprised that beer and wine are available. Frankly, I’m not surprised by this. It’s a New York-style Italian eatery we’re talkin’ about here! Didn’t Billy Joel sing about this? “A bottle of red, a bottle of white...” The wine, by the way, is from a distributor who sells only to Italian restaurants. Sammy says he’s had customers who’ve wanted to buy a bottle for themselves, but the distributor wouldn’t sell.

And every now and then during the season from late September through May, the meatballs special is a bit more singular, as in one, baseball-sized, halfpound meatball roughly the size of my fist. Emory once encountered one of these and later wrote: “How am I going to be able to eat all this?”

FINAL WORD: Sammy seems to live for his customers. Maybe that’s the “something else magical” mentioned earlier. “I think I have the best customers in the world,” he says. “They make me want to get up in the morning and do it again, day after day.”

WANT TO KNOW MORE? Sammy’s Italian 6106 SW SR 200 in Jasmine Square (352) 861-2828