Copyright Mechanicsburg Patriot News
Nick Cantone, a charismatic Harrisburg-area restaurant owner with a larger-than-life personality has died. Cantone, 77, passed away on Oct. 28, according to his brother, Tom Cantone of Mystic, Connecticut. He did not share a cause of death. As the owner of Cantone’s Southern Italian Cuisine in Lower Paxton Township, Nick Cantone was well known on the restaurant scene for more than three decades. His restaurant attracted politicians, movers and shakers and families. But later on Nick Cantone would have a reputation for a string of run-ins with authorities, including gambling. “Nick was a personality,” said Dimitri Zozos of Silver Spring Township and a John Harris High School classmate. “He was gregarious and outgoing and always spoke his mind.” His restaurant career started in 1979 with Cantone’s Sports Tavern, which he later converted into the full-fledged Italian restaurant. Tom Cantone said his brother was one of the first owners to incorporate simultaneous sports viewing on multiple televisions. The restaurant, located in the Paxtonia neighborhood, was built on his family’s recipes for southern Italian cuisine such as sautéed veal dishes, chicken, seafood and steaks. Calling the restaurant a family affair, Tom Cantone said their mother, Ann Cantone, nicknamed “Mrs. C,” prepared food, including Italian desserts. Their father, Louis Cantone, did the books for many years. Celebrities such as Tony Curtis, Tony Bennett, Billy Crystal, David Brenner, George Carlin, Joe Paterno and Phil Simms ate at the restaurant. The cast of “The Sopranos” visited Cantone’s on one occasion. “His restaurant was the epicenter of a thriving community who gathered there to celebrate family and friends and special events,” Tom Cantone said. Nick Cantone’s larger-than-life persona made him a local celebrity. He didn’t think twice about such stunts as a $10,000 wager with the late Vince Catalano of Catalano’s Lounge & Restaurant in Wormleysburg, to see which one of them would quit smoking first. When he opened Cantone’s Downtown in Harrisburg in 2002 he brought in B.B. King for the opening. In 2013, he participated in PennLive’s Pizza Party, helping to select the best pizza restaurant in the Harrisburg region. Beyond his restaurant persona, however, Nick Cantone had another side. In 1992, he was sentenced to 23 months of probation on bookmaking charges. Then, in 2009, state police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement agents seized grids in a Super Bowl pool from the restaurant following a monthlong investigation into illegal gambling accusations. At the time, Cantone called the raid unfair. “The state has legalized gambling in so many aspects when it’s beneficial to them, but the average little guy that wants to indulge in public camaraderie is in violation of the law,” he told PennLive. “It’s the epitome of hypocrisy.” He was also one of the first Pennsylvania business owners cited for violating the state’s indoor smoking ban in public restaurants, which took effect in 2008. By 2010, he turned the restaurant into a private Sons of Italy club so his clientele could smoke. Mike Davis of Lower Paxton Township, who met Cantone growing up on Allison Hill while attending elementary school and playing baseball, remained a lifelong friend. “He had a mischievous streak in him,” Davis recalls. “He’s fortunate his mother was the PTA president. She got him out of a few jams growing up.” Through the years, the two friends stayed in touch, with Davis calling Cantone’s sports bar his “Cheers” and the place where he met baseball legend Pete Rose. In many ways, Davis said Nick Cantone was well suited for restaurant ownership. “He told me I’m nothing but an old saloon keeper. That’s all I want to be,” Davis said. “He was a special guy. He had charisma.” Information about funeral services is pending.
