Silvio’s Chicken Cutlet Fantasia with thinly sliced red potatoes and grilled vegetables. Behind is the thin-crust pepperoni pizza.

The Providence Journal / Sandor Bodo

JOHNSTON — The same family has been serving Italian fare at Silvio’s for 42 years, which may be as much of an endorsement as anyone needs in a world where restaurants come and go with a sudden change in menu trends.

Not that there’s anything fuddy-duddy about Silvio’s, which is owned by Silvio and AnneMarie Patriarca with their son, Silvio II. It was the younger Silvio who gave the restaurant a hip new look last year when he reopened the family business following his father’s short-lived 30-month retirement.

At the entrance is a bar that would be just as at home in Manhattan. There are white tablecloths; a mural of a Rome fountain fills a wall in the larger of the two dining rooms.

Yet despite its elegant new look, Silvio’s is still a family friendly place serving generous portions of very good food at reasonable prices. You’re likely to be greeted warmly by one of the owners at the door, who turned out to be AnneMarie the night of our visit. Later she table-hopped to make certain everyone was enjoying the food and ambience.

The smaller and cozier dining room where we were seated is long and narrow, has a few booths and a view of the larger room’s mural through an arched cut in the wall. Posters and paintings of Italian scenes and lots of mirrors fill other walls while the likes of Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis and Rosemary Clooney served as an unobtrusive soundtrack.

There are a few tables outside for dining on warm nights. Behind the restaurant is a big private dining room. There’s also a corner takeout spot, called Rosa Mia, where pizzas, calzones and grinders rule, although you can also order these inside at Silvio’s.

Because pizzas are such a big part of the business, we ordered one as an appetizer. We heeded the advice of our affable waitress, Katherine, who advised that the “traditional” pizza we were planning on was rather thick and might be too filling if we also were ordering entrées. So we opted for the “thin crust pizza” which, happily, held its shape nicely despite being loaded with gooey mozzarella and thin-sliced pepperoni ($12.50). But it was the sauce on top, rich and tasting lusciously of tomato, that won raves.

All the sauces at Silvio’s are made in house, said the Italian-born Silvio in a later phone call, using recipes honed from his years of working at restaurants in Switzerland, Germany and Montreal before he came to Rhode Island more than four decades ago. (Just about everything served is made on the premises, in fact, except the pasta, which is imported from Italy, and the desserts, which are from restaurant provider Bindi.) The pizza was so delicious we had to force ourselves not to finish it because other things already had been ordered.

Soon there was a big plate of snail salad ($8), something you don’t find at a lot of restaurants, just like fried smelts, which also are on the menu. One look and I could see the snail salad was homemade, not the usual thin slices of whelk — a saltwater marine mollusk that lives in a spiral shell — but thick and hearty cuts that were tender despite their size. The snails were mixed with slices of black olives, celery, red onion, pickled peppers and shredded lettuce dressed in a light, not vinegary marinade. Silvio said his marinade is not vinegary, as you often find elsewhere, or smothered with oregano either. “Everyone puts oregano and garlic all over everything, but that’s not Italian. I use oregano only for a very few dishes.”

A glass of Ruffino Chianti ($7.50) was just the right accompaniment for my Chicken Cutlet Fantasia ($16.95), which looked like an erupting volcano on the plate, piled high and dripping with that rich tomato sauce we’d loved on the pizza. Fantasia is a glorified and glorious take on Chicken Parmigiana. Besides that dish’s breaded and pan-fried chicken (very tender) topped with mozzarella and tomato sauce, there was sliced eggplant and ricotta, making for a wonderful blend of mild and tangy flavors. On the side were thin-sliced, buttery and very tender red potatoes, along with tasty slices of grilled zucchini and roasted red peppers.

The glass of slightly sweet Clean Slate Riesling ($8.50) was the right choice for the Alla Silvio ($18.95), five very large shrimp with artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers served over rigatoni in a light sauce whose key ingredients are chicken broth and lots of butter. The thick slices of warm, homemade focaccia on the side were perfect for dunking in the rich, golden broth.

Hazelnuts dominated our dessert choices. A Semifreddo Torroncino ($4.75) was a delicious cylinder of very light, very sweet, slightly frozen cream topped with hazelnuts. The Mini Hazelnut Ganache ($6.50) was a miniature four-layer cake, with two layers of sponge cake and fudgy ganache topped with — you guessed it! — hazelnuts. It was hazelnut heaven, yet it didn’t overwhelm memories of the rest of the meal.

For on the way out I considered stopping next door at Rosa Mia to pick up a pizza for the next day. In the end I decided not to. Yet there’s comfort in knowing that they deliver!

Silvio’s Restaurant and Bar, 133 Greenville Ave., Johnston. (401) 231-5060. Dressy casual. Wheelchair accessible. Reservations. AE, MC, V, DIS. Parking lot. Dinner 4:30 to 10 p.m. Wed. to Sun. The bar is open to 1 a.m. with some menu items available to closing. Rosa Mia, (401) 231-9770, is open 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. seven days with pizzas and select menu items for takeout and delivery. Appetizers $3.50 to $10.95. Entrées $9 to $26.95. Wines are $7.50 to $8.50 by the glass; $17 to $83 for a bottle.BILL OF FARE

Dinner for two at Silvio’s Restaurant and Bar might look something like this:

Ruffino Chianti…$7.50

Clean Slate Riesling…$8.50

Snail salad…$8.00

Alla Silvio…$18.95

Chicken Fantasia…$16.95

Semifreddo Torroncino…$4.75

Total food and drink…$64.65

Tax…$5.17

Tip…$13.00

Total bill…$82.82

mjanuson@projo.com