Capo’s Brunch Menu – A Weekend “Mob” Scene

By Jacqueline Monahan
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Capo’s Brunch Menu – A Weekend “Mob” Scene

You know about the red booths, the Sinatra chairs, the password, the secret entrance, and the mafia mystique décor that permeates the interior of Capo’s Speakeasy at 5675 West Sahara.  But maybe you don’t know about the 11-2:00 pm weekend brunch.   Where ya been?

Mad Sam's Omelet

The desert sun may shine outside, but the restaurant is nice and dark inside, like a culinary time machine to another era, a speakeasy that speaks a universal language of mangia, the Italian word for eat.

Once you get past the doorman’s password demands, you’ll find that Capo’s offers a fairly extensive brunch menu, from The Toast (stuffed) to The Leftover (made fresh) to Ma’s Meatball (it’s yuge!), to The Rat Pack Italian Beef Sandwich (does not contain actual rat, but packs a punch from the homemade Chicago-style Giardiniera).  
All of these and more can be yours, served up by wait staff in black with white or red tie and suspenders, with precise parts in their slicked-back hair, sometimes wielding a corkscrew in the shape of a large silver handgun.  Would I lie?

Michael persuades the wine

Joey's Burger and Rat Pack Italian Beef

The Travel Channel’s show Man Finds Food featured Capo’s original dish, The Leftover, a formidable meat-filled mountain atop ciabatta bread and crowned with a fried egg with a bleeding yoke that cascades down in a decadent yellow stream.  Sugo sauce, a textured, spicy marinara covers the whole thing.  Program host Adam Richman got a mouthful that day, with Capo’s Owner (and Chicago native) Nico Santucci himself assembling the dish using a sauce made from a recipe originating with the Capone family.  Yes, that Capone.  Authentic much?

The owner and "Don" of Capo's

The Leftover (featured on Man Finds Food)

Santucci bought the rights to Capone’s Family Secret recipes, and made them available for purchase to any “goombah” these days.  That’s a good thing.  Al Capone himself smiles indulgently on the wall, overseeing the proceedings like an omnipresent 2-D boss.  You can just imagine him giving the order to “Tell ‘em about the food!”

Capone Family Secret Products

Mad Sam’s omelet is a four-egg, meatball, sausage and cheese, spicy sugo-filled fare, and Ma’s Meatball is so large, it’s served solo, the zaftig, saucy star of the plate.

Capo’s Toast is Texas toast dipped in vanilla egg custard and stuffed with a raspberry mascarpone cheese drizzled by vanilla and chocolate sauce.  Amaretto, Grand Marnier, or Fireball syrup shots can be added for an extra kick.  Prohibition Pancakes and Bugsy’s Benedict feel right at home in this time slot, tributes to the talented chefs that make the menu come alive.

 
Mimosas, cocktails composed of equal parts champagne (or other sparkling wine) and chilled orange juice, and Bellinis, cocktails that are a mixture of Prosecco sparkling wine and peach purée, flow freely, and can be accused of causing mild intoxication (without incarceration, of course).

Paolo and Mimosa samples

Lunch and dinner offerings at Capo’s continue the old school feel with dishes like Racketeers Ravioli, and   Angels with Dirty Faces, a pink-sauced, angel hair dish. The Gallows with Clams are in the shell and over linguini.
   
Rat Pack Pesto (chicken or shrimp are the protein here) Sawed Off Sausage & Peppers over penne pasta, and the customer favorite Bust a Cap – stuffed mushroom caps that is, give new meaning to the term “bang for the buck.”

Michael torches a Creme Brulee

Joey’s Burger is a customizable creation (bacon and bleu cheese pictured). The Chef Sleeps with Fishes is a jumbo shrimp in garlic cream affair, while Scarface Shrimp Scampi is served with angel hair.  Here, it’s more about taste-making than law-breaking.

Joey's Burger, deconstructed, with Ma's Meatball, next in line

The mood is mob, and the food is dangerously good.  Somewhere in the vast Capo’s menu is an entrée you can’t refuse.  Which reminds me - watch out for the chalk outline on the floor.  Capisce?