The opening of Noto’s Old World Italian Dining on February 4, 1997, was a fulfillment of John A. Noto’s dream. What began as a video arcade and hot dog stand on Lake Michigan Drive has become one of the finest Old World Italian Restaurants in West Michigan with national and international recognition.

In 1979, Noto’s opened our first business venture, Video Electronics, which became Video Grand Stand two years later. Candy and hot dogs were the main menu items, expanding to pizza in 1984.

After the annual Noto Family Christmas Party in 1985, the immediate Noto family discussed turning the video game operation into a full service Italian restaurant. The next morning, January 7, 1985, John A. Noto passed away unexpectedly. From that day on, the Noto family has had an inextinguishable desire to carry out his dream.

The following two years the family worked to develop the standards for the type of restaurant we wanted. and in November 1986, the Johnny Noto’s Italian Ristorante was completed. The summers of 1985 and 1986 consisted of developing name recognition and marketing strategies by operating a vending cart on Monroe Mall where the family made and sold sausage, meatball, Philadelphia beef, and Ultimate Italiano Subs along with our own home-brewed iced tea and lemonade.

In 1990, Johnny Noto’s Pizzeria opened in Kentwood and was relocated near Kentwood High School in 1992 and operated until 1997 when Rite Aide purchased the land which gave us the opportunity to move forward with plans for Johnny Noto’s Villa Classica in Cascade, Michigan.

In 1993 we purchased the property that is now Noto’s Old World Italian Dining at 6600-28th Street in Cascade Township. With Noto’s we have taken the Italian restaurant a step further toward authenticity, hoping to set the pace for Italian dining in Grand Rapids. After numerous trips to Italy and the large restaurants in New York and Chicago, we decided to focus on what we call "Old World Italian Dining", with gourmet Italian cuisine, an extensive Italian wine list, the best spirits and outstanding pastries.

To really describe Old World dining, you have to imagine yourself in old Italy. That is what we are trying to provide – old family recipes, homemade breads, sauces, and desserts - just like they do in Italy. Even with elegant surroundings, we want our customer to feel as comfortable as they would be in Mama’s kitchen.

Noto’s Old World Italian Dining opened on February 4, 1997 and took the fine dining world by storm. In addition to our regular dining room and lounge areas, we had a private dining room for small parties and a larger banquet room that could handle up to 400 guests. Mary, Tony, Tom and Joann Noto all took a hand in the everyday running of the restaurant and banquet rooms.

The next stage was completed in 2005. With the expected growth of Grand Rapids and with the location near the Gerald Ford International Airport (with approximately 34 hotels within a three mile stretch), we envisioned a need for off-site event opportunities. Our new plan added an additional 23,000 square feet including a lower level Wine Cellar with dining for over 100 guests, a main floor addition that created space for 700 in one room, and an upstairs ballroom (accessed by a circular marble stair case) for banquet and meeting events with up to 200 guests. The entire facility is able to host events for over 1,200 seated guests at one time.

Noto’s also added a tower room named Bella Torre (with a covered entry underneath) that provides meeting space, wedding space or reception space for up to 75 attendees. The newly added banquet entrance includes significant space for guest and visitor arrivals. The outside facility includes a café for seating up to 25, a beautiful Chef's Herb Garden and two official-size Bocce Courts.

Thank you for supporting Noto's where we treat our guests like royalty yet serve them as friends.