TULSA, Okla. –
Some family heirlooms belong behind glass, but at D’Alessandro’s Italian restaurant in Tulsa, generations of family history are served on a plate.
The family-owned restaurant is at 18th and Boston, where owner Sonny D’Alessandro is keeping his family’s Italian cooking traditions alive while honoring the legacy of his late father.
From signature sauces to recipes passed down through generations, the restaurant tells a story that began long before its doors opened in Tulsa.
“Our family originates from Basilicata, which is a small region in the south of Italy,” Sonny said.
That family history is reflected throughout the restaurant, including in photographs hanging on the walls. One of those pictures features Sonny’s grandfather, whose experience in the restaurant business helped shape the generations that followed.
Sonny’s father, Buzz D’Alessandro, grew up learning the ins and outs of the kitchen before eventually opening his first restaurant in downtown Tulsa in 1990.
The family’s restaurant story didn’t end there. In 2004, Sonny and his father opened D’Alessandro’s together at its current location, continuing a tradition built around food, family and bringing people together.
While the photographs offer a glimpse into the past, Sonny says the best way to experience the family’s history is through the food.
From the carbonara and Caesar salad to the family’s signature red sauce, the dishes represent years of cooking traditions that Sonny is determined to preserve.
But for Sonny, keeping those recipes alive has taken on an even deeper meaning.
His father died last year, leaving behind not only the restaurant they built together but also a legacy of making people feel welcome.
Sonny says his father wanted D’Alessandro’s to be more than a place to sit down for dinner. He wanted it to be somewhere customers could come together during life’s happiest moments and find comfort during its most difficult ones.
“I think my dad really prided himself, and this place, on being a place where you could find comfort and solace on the worst day, at the same time celebrate and be happy on the best day too,” Sonny said.
That philosophy remains part of the restaurant today, as Sonny continues serving the dishes his family has prepared for generations.
For him, every plate is another opportunity to carry forward the work his father started and preserve a piece of family history for the customers who continue walking through the doors.
And while the recipes may remain closely guarded family secrets, the tradition of sharing them with Tulsa is one Sonny intends to keep alive.
“I reserve the right to keep a few trade secrets,” he said.
D’Alessandro’s is located at the corner of 18th and Boston in Tulsa. The restaurant is open Tuesday through Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 5 to 10 p.m.
Dining and Cooking