Santi’s Bar and Grill has been part of Sunninghill longer than most of its residents. Tucked into The Square Shopping Centre, it is a place where regulars still sit at the same tables they did twenty years ago, where the menu has a dish for every day of the year, and where the owner, Joe Meldau, still remembers who first ordered what.
“We opened here in 1997 when this place was still bush,” said Meldau. “Where Checkers is now, there used to be a golf driving range. The building was not even finished.”
But Joe’s story started well before that. His restaurant career began in the early 1980s with a busy Italian-style eatery called Arlecchinos in Orange Grove. “It was the first outdoor coffee bar in the country. I even got the law changed to allow it,” he said. “We made our own gelato, our own cappuccinos, and had one of the first woodfired pizza ovens in Johannesburg.”
It was also where Joe learned to make pizza from an Italian who spoke no English. “And I could not speak Italian,” he added. “But somehow, we understood each other. He showed me how to make pizza and ice cream, and that was that.” Years later, a single experiment in that kitchen would become the legacy dish that defined his brand.
“One day I took some imported Italian salami, added green peppers, onions, olives, chilli and garlic, and threw it in the oven. The salami crisped up just right. I tasted it and knew it was special,” he said. “We named it the Joe’s Special. Since then, for every one of any other pizza we sell, we sell five Joe’s Specials.”
The menu at Santi’s has 365 items. It is not a metaphor. You could come every day for a year and never eat the same thing twice. “My food is rustic. Portions are big. The flavour is bountiful. And the value? You will not find better,” said Meldau. “We only use fresh ingredients, local and imported, and we make everything ourselves.” That includes their burgers. “We bake the buns, make the patties, the sauces, even the pickles. Our chilli is to die for. It is all done here, people come back for it.”
Santi’s was originally called De Santi Trattoria, which loosely translates to restaurant of the Saints. “All my brothers and I are named after saints from the Bible,” said Meldau.
As the shopping centre expanded, the restaurant got squeezed. “We used to seat 600. Now we are down to 100. The wine cellar became a water shop. The garden became parking,” he said. “But we adapted.”
And the customers stayed. “We have people who started coming here as teenagers. They met their partners here, got married, had children, celebrated birthdays, anniversaries. Whole generations. That is what it is all about.”
Joe does not just run a restaurant. He runs four businesses. “I had an accident some years ago and slowed down a bit. I started cutting trees while my brother helped in the restaurant,” he said. “Then people started calling me to do more. It grew.” Now his company, Highveld Tree Fellers, delivers firewood and handles tree felling work across the area. “In winter, we do hardwood for fire places. In summer, thornwood for braais. It keeps us busy.”
He also runs a Galito’s Flamed Grilled, a popular grilled chicken brand. “No frying. Just fresh chicken marinated in secret sauces and grilled to perfection. The flavour is unique.”
So what gets him out of bed in the morning? “Honestly? I have to pay the bills,” he laughed. “But no, the truth is, I love people. My nephew followed me for a school project once. At the end he wrote, ‘My uncle is in the people business. The people who work with him, his customers and his family. ’ And that is exactly it,” he said. “We appreciate them all.”
At home, Joe goes back to his roots. “I am Lebanese, so I like to do mezze – kafta, hummus, tabbouleh, wraps with grilled meats,” he said. “At my wedding, I cooked filet medallions with a Madagascan green pepper sauce. That is still my go-to if I want to spoil someone.”
When asked about his favourite dish on the menu, he does not hesitate. “A good margherita pizza, simple. Or the seafood di mari pasta – prawns, mussels, calamari in a white wine Napolitana sauce. And our ribs? If you do not like them, I will pay for them.”
Joe also has no plans to slow down just yet. But he is thinking ahead. “I am not young anymore, but I believe in South Africa,” he said. “My way of showing that is to employ people. I train them, mentor them and let them go on to do their own thing. That is what this place is. A stepping stone. What’s next….just wait and see, I’m busy on something new and exciting.”
For further information please visit https://santis.co.za/
For more articles like this click here.
If you enjoyed this website then check out our other sites: Wedding and Function, Kids Connection, Thirsty Traveler, Boat Trips for Africa, Bargain Buys, Business Link.
Need help with your online marketing then visit Agency One.
