Leonoro's Restaurant — Restaurant in Charleston

My husband and I were visiting Charleston, WV, and had dinner at Leonoro's Spaghetti House. It’s a wonderful family-owned restaurant that’s a fixture of downtown Charleston and has been in business since 1915. Located in a brick building, it looks almost like a house, and when you walk in you feel like you’ve stepped back into the 1930s—in a good way! The entire staff was very friendly, and every person was obviously a part of the community. They know their customers and their city and serve them well. Special kudos to Mallory, our waitress, who was FANTASTIC! She met us at the front door and, even though it was close to closing time, she assured us that we had time to order and enjoy our meal. Despite serving multiple tables (as the restaurant was still busy), Mallory was friendly and kind and took time to guide us through the food and drink choices and provide recommendations to us. She was efficient and ensured our food arrived quickly, and stopped by several times during dinner to ensure we were enjoying our meals and had everything we needed. She even stopped and chatted with us after dinner, after the other diners had left, to tell us a little about the city and some local sites we might be interested in visiting. The restaurant boasts a menu of authentic Italian dishes which would suit either vegetarians or carnivores. Everything is definitely made fresh and onsite with great care in the preparation and is absolutely delicious! We had green salads to start, with local greens and the house dressing (a tomato-based vinaigrette). My husband ordered a medium-size plate of meat ravioli, and I had a half-order of lasagna (with a glass of merlot on the side). The pastas were excellent, and the sauce was extremely tasty. Leonoro’s makes a red sauce that’s not marinara (which is offered as an alternative). It was smoother and milder with a faintly sweet flavor. We ordered garlic bread (and were given a double order for the same price!) that was also quite tasty. We didn’t order dessert so we can’t comment on the selection, but we saw other tables enjoying the offerings after their meals and they looked scrumptious. They have a good wine selection, both by the bottle and the glass. The prices were reasonable compared to other restaurants in the area and other Italian restaurants we’ve visited, and a great value considering the high quality of our meals that we enjoyed. The restaurant has an intimate atmosphere without being stuffy and is good for both families and couples dining out. We will DEFINITELY return to Leonoro’s on our next visit to Charleston! Our mouths are already watering at the prospect of another...

Upon arriving around 230p there was a high presence of pedestrians of questionable character seemingly loitering in the area. I'm not sure if there's a halfway house or methadone clinic nearby but it seemed like it judging by the "neighbors". Make sure you lock your car!

Inside there was an off-putting odor like musty carpet but the floors and chairs were all hard surfaces. It appeared clean overall. The dining area is relatively small.

I ordered the bread, salad, and two meatball spaghetti lunch special. The salad was nothing special but did come with a tasty balsamic vinegarete/ oil for Italian dressing. The bread was a Sesame seed that seemed fresh and soft. Butter was prepackaged pads. The spaghetti was again, nothing special. The pasta was topped with the marinara as opposed to tossed. Marinara was bland and didn't seem to be fresh or homemade. There was some excess water on my plate most likely from the pasta. The pasta was cooked past al dente. The meatballs were bland, mushy, and most likely frozen.

All in all it was definitely not what I was expecting for "authentic Italian" food. It wasn't the worst and I did leave full...

First time here. Had a lunch special with meat ravioli and two meatballs. This restaurant has apparently been around for approximately 100 years and been in the same family. The inside is like going back in time. I loved it because it reminded me of a similar place in Emerson, NJ called Nola's. The pastas are fresh made.....Yum! The sauce was a typical Italian oregano style and was good and tasty. The lunch special came with a fresh salad and homemade Italian dressing or oil and vinegar. Four pieces of fresh sliced Italian bread n butter were provided, also. It was very good bread, and all slices were used to sop up the excess dressing and tomato sauce. It was so good and filling. I'm certainly going to go back and try some other dishes. There is plenty of parking right alongside or in the street. If you're traveling on Rt 64 you can exit at Exit 99 and go down the hill and turn right on Washington. EZ off and EZ on the highway. They serve lunch and dinner. All...