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Downtown Mountain View’s newest restaurant isn’t meant to feel new. Step inside and go back in time – servers wear black bow ties, the menu offers classics like Cobb salad, meatballs and cioppino and old black-and-white Italian and American films play on loop.
Johnny & Sanny’s is a nostalgic Italian American concept from the team behind Doppio Zero, a Southern Italian restaurant with five Bay Area locations. Opening Friday, May 2, Johnny & Sanny’s replaces co-founders Gianni Chilorio and Angelo Sannino’s former concept Vida Tapas Y Cócteles. The Spanish restaurant closed March 30 after two years in Mountain View due to a lack of business, Chilorio said.
“This time around will be better, because that’s our food,” Chilorio said. “We know this food. We can make it ourselves.”
Egg-battered zucchini fries with Parmigiano Reggiano and lemon basil aioli ($16) at Johnny & Sanny’s in downtown Mountain View. Courtesy Johnny & Sanny’s. 
Roasted tomato caprese with avocado ($17) at Johnny & Sanny’s in downtown Mountain View. Courtesy Johnny & Sanny’s. 
Beef and pork meatballs with tomato sauce and pizza bread ($16) at Johnny & Sanny’s in downtown Mountain View. Courtesy Johnny & Sanny’s.
Chilorio and Sannino both hail from Italy, with Chilorio immigrating from Taranto to San Francisco in 1980 and Sannino from Naples in 2002. The name Johnny & Sanny’s is derived from the co-founders’ names, and the restaurant’s inspiration is rooted in Chilorio’s memories of the 1980s in San Francisco.
“I was a young man working at an Italian restaurant,” Chilorio said. “Italian restaurants were very different, very American-ized, the fettuccine alfredo, pesto sauce, steak.”
Although “still a young man,” he said, Chilorio feels nostalgic for this old-school fare, which he said has become less common in the area. With a pricepoint slightly less than Vida, Johnny & Sanny’s menu features antipasti such as sourdough garlic bread and prawn cocktail ($12-$17), soups including minestrone and clam chowder ($12-$14), salads such as Caesar and shrimp Louie ($14-$19), housemade pastas including fettuccine and spaghetti mare ($22-$32) and even meatball sandwiches on housemade sourdough bread ($17).
Pepperoni pizza Romana with San Marzano tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese ($22) at Johnny & Sanny’s in downtown Mountain View. Courtesy Johnny & Sanny’s. 
Cioppino with garlic, white wine, clams, mussels, calamari, shrimp and crab in a light spicy tomato broth ($44) at Johnny & Sanny’s in downtown Mountain View. Courtesy Johnny & Sanny’s.
You won’t find Doppio Zero’s classic Neapolitan pizza on the menu. Instead, find four types of pizza Romana, featuring a thin, crispy crust: Margherita, pepperoni, sausage and vegetarian ($18-$22).
Entrees ($27-$44), including veal, chicken or sole piccata and grilled New York or rib-eye steak, come with a side of mashed potatoes, french fries, broccolini, housemade spaghetti or roasted Brussels sprouts. For dessert, find spumoni, tiramisu and towering sundaes.
Lychee amore is a light and refreshing cocktail with Haiken lychee vodka, lemon and strawberry ($16) at Johnny & Sanny’s in downtown Mountain View. Courtesy Johnny & Sanny’s. 
La Dolce Vita is Johnny & Sanny’s take on an old fashioned, using bourbon, banana, cacao and bitters ($16). Courtesy Johnny & Sanny’s.
The drinks program features Sannino’s curated wine list of Italian and Californian bottles as well as six draft beers ($8), including a pale lager from Biella, Italy. Cocktails ($14-$17) are spins on classics, such as an old fashioned made with banana and cacao (“La Dolce Vita”) and a gin and tonic with lavender and blue jasmine tea-infused gin (“Mambo Italiano”). Three mocktails featuring flavors of lychee, guava and hibiscus are also available ($10) as well as espresso, cappuccinos and lattes ($4-$6).
Vida’s remodeling process took about a month to transform it into the retro glam of Johnny & Sanny’s. Expect velvet seating, marble tables and a bar, with decor like black-and-white photos of salumerias and wine bottles. Private dining is available at the Dolce Vita Room as well as the Teatro Room.
“I’m excited to go back in time a little bit,” Chilorio said. “Making people happy makes me happy. That’s why we keep doing this.”
Johnny & Sanny’s, 110 Castro St., Mountain View; 650-282-5251, Instagram: @johnnyandsannys. Open Monday to Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4:30-10 p.m., Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4:30-11 p.m., Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
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