SB150: South Bend's oldest Italian restaurant
Posted: May 22, 2015 4:27 PM EST | Updated: May 22, 2015 8:45 PM EST
It's not hard to find places to eat or grab a couple drinks in the city of South Bend, and some have stuck around for decades.
Inside Sunny Italy Café on Niles Avenue lies decades and decades of family history and tradition.
Sis Bamber Elliot, the owner of Sunny Italy Café, says it has been in her family for years.
"My mother grew up next door to the restaurant and had a fondness for this little place."
Her mother Josephine, fell in love with the Italian place that first opened in 1926, when Josephine was just 16 years old.
Little did Josephine know, the place where she made just a nickle a day, would later become her restaurant.
Josephine purchased the restaurant with her husband.
Since then not much has changed.
"It has been in our family since 1940."
Taking a step inside the kitchen is like taking a step back in time. The restaurant looks much like it did when the Babmber family remodeled the restaurant nearly 75 years ago.
Inside Sunny Italy Café on Niles Avenue lies decades and decades of family history and tradition.
Sis Bamber Elliot, the owner of Sunny Italy Café, says it has been in her family for years.
"My mother grew up next door to the restaurant and had a fondness for this little place."
Her mother Josephine, fell in love with the Italian place that first opened in 1926, when Josephine was just 16 years old.
Little did Josephine know, the place where she made just a nickle a day, would later become her restaurant.
Josephine purchased the restaurant with her husband.
Since then not much has changed.
"It has been in our family since 1940."
Taking a step inside the kitchen is like taking a step back in time. The restaurant looks much like it did when the Babmber family remodeled the restaurant nearly 75 years ago.
The food from the “Oldest Italian restaurant in South Bend” is authentic Italian cuisine.
"Everything is homemade from the salad dressings to the hand rolled meatballs to all the sauces."