Chicken Rollitini at Spirito’s Restaurant on Broadway in Providence.

The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

PROVIDENCE — Most will come for the very good food and elegant atmosphere at Spirito’s Restaurant at the Italo-American Club on Broadway.

Some will stay away because of the building’s history.

I thought twice about suggesting a visit to Spirito’s to my dining companion, whose parents and many relatives had been waked there when it had been the Berarducci Funeral Home.

Greg Spirito, who is partners in the restaurant with his brother David, said over the phone later that “a lot of people are freaked out” that the place was once a funeral home. (More recently it was the home of the L’Epicureo restaurant.) But you could have fooled me on the weeknight I visited, because there were so many cars in the lot that I had to park across the street.

Spirito’s has been in this lovely Victorian building since early November, when the brothers moved from their nine-year stand at the Sons of Italy Hall in East Providence. People who loved the food there will find many of the same items on the menu, with a few new items and specials, but the same reasonable prices. Except for the breads, pizza dough and a couple of desserts, Greg said everything is done in house, including preparing the stuffies and snail salad.

You might guess that a place that looks like Spirito’s, with ornately carved woodwork and ornamentation that rivals what you’ll find in some of the Newport mansions, would have sky-high prices. But entrees on the extensive menu range from $13.95 to $19.95, with only four items on the pricier side of that scale.

A chocolate martini ($8), with swirls of chocolate sauce on top and along the insides, and my Mionetto Prosecco ($7) from Italy seemed a good place to start. So did Spirito’s Farmers Special appetizer ($8.95). Served “zuppa-style,” three thick slices of a baguette topped with slices of tomato swam in a broth of simmered white cannellini beans, capicola, diced red onion and basil. It made for a surprisingly mild sauce in which the tender beans were the dominant force, just perked up enough by the capicola and onion.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s always a good time for pizza, and Spirito’s has six tempting grilled varieties. The eight-slice sausage and mushroom ($9.95) was our traditional choice. With a rich red sauce base, it was topped with melted mozzarella and a generous portion of sliced (not crumbled, unfortunately, but still very good) sweet Italian sausage and a scattering of sliced fresh mushrooms. It wore its grill marks on the bottom. The pizza dough (from Buono’s Bakery, which also supplied the excellent breads) won raves for its satisfyingly rich flavor all on its own. It had been done to a deliciously crispy turn.

Entrees come with soup (this night a tasty chicken escarole with pearl-like acini di pepe pasta) or a salad –– fresh romaine with slices of cucumber and tomato as well as shards of carrot and lots of black olives.

The Chicken Rollitini ($16.95) had two fat and tender breasts enveloping a fragrant sage bread stuffing that had diced capicola and mozzarella added to its mix of flavors and aromas. It was topped with a light sauce that included rosemary, just enough not to overwhelm the delicate flavors, and sliced mushrooms. The presentation was as impressive as it was delicious. On the side were oven-roasted red potatoes. Done to a crisp turn on the outside, they were moist and tender inside. They were partnered with green beans that had been sautéed and dressed up with slender slices of onion and red pepper. This gave a nice boost to the beans, although some of them were a tad overcooked to the point of chewiness.

On the other hand, the Steak ala Spirito ($19.95) had been cooked to perfection, just a shade under medium as requested. The New York sirloin was extraordinarily tender, picking up a hint of the green peppers that sat on top along with mushrooms, onions and oven-roasted potatoes (although the menu said they would be fried potatoes). On the side the pasta of choice was gnocchi rather than the penne or spaghetti that normally comes with it (upping the entrée’s price by another $6). The gnocchi had a light pink vodka sauce and would please any lover of these chubby little curls, cooked to a full-bodied density. (You can also order the gnocchi with a richer marinara sauce and even get a full order as an entrée for $14.95.)

There were a couple of house-made desserts this evening, including a scrumptious tiramisu ($6.95) that was heady with its coffee flavor. It was covered with a sugar-sprinkled creamy top, and had swirls of dark chocolate sauce that made it even more decadent.

Our surroundings, which included a magnificent polished wooden staircase with a huge mirror at the first landing and a stained glass window at the top of the second, were equally rich. All the rooms have fireplaces with fancy wooden mantelpieces, and two large dining rooms have nearly floor-to-ceiling mirrors with ornate wooden frames.

The overall effect is of having stepped back in time to Victorian days. You’d expect at least a butler to appear, but the young staff is energetic, efficient, attentive and eager to please.

We enjoyed a leisurely meal at a lovely place where a new page of history is being written.

Spirito’s Restaurant, 477 Broadway, Providence. (401) 228-8500. spiritosrestaurant.com. Dressy casual. Wheelchair accessible. Child seats. Reservations. AE, M, V, DIS. Parking lot. Lunch 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tues. to Sat. Dinner 4 to 9 p.m. Tues. to Thurs.; to 10 p.m. Fri. and Sat. Appetizers $4.95 to $10.95. Entrees $13.95 to $19.95. Wines are $5.50 to $10 by the glass; $16 to $39 for a bottle. BILL OF FARE

Dinner for two at Spirito’s might look something like this:

Chocolate martini…$8.00

Mionetto Prosecco…$7.00

Farmers Special…$8.95

Chicken rollitini…$16.95

Steak ala Spirito…$19.95

Tiramisu…$6.95

Total food and drink…$67.80

Tax…$5.42

Tip…$14.00

Total bill…$87.22

mjanuson@projo.com