By Donna Cornelius
Mary Susan Cashio is having a ball.
The Vestavia Hills native just opened her own restaurant in Birmingham’s Lakeview District. Its main attraction? Meatballs.
Cashio’s Meatball Market, which opened Oct. 3, owes its existence to two very different experiences – family dinners in Birmingham and food expeditions in New York City.
The young restaurateur said some of her favorite childhood memories are of her “Grandma Angel,” Angela Cashio, making meatballs, spaghetti and other Italian dishes for festive family meals.
“My dad is one of seven kids,” Mary Susan Cashio said. “Our family has gotten so big that now these dinners are more of a holiday tradition. Christmas is our big gathering.”
After graduating from Vestavia Hills High School, Cashio earned a bachelor’s degree in consumer affairs from the University of Alabama.
“When I’d come home from college, I’d work at Bromberg’s,” she said. “They encouraged me to go to the GIA – the Gemological Institute of America – in New York City.”
Cashio moved to New York and decided to take advantage of the city’s many culinary options.
“I was going to be there for only six months, so I ate everything,” she said. “That’s where I began to see some of the restaurant concepts that Birmingham was missing out on.”
After graduating from the GIA, Cashio came home and again worked at Bromberg’s. Then a job with a diamond broker took her back to NYC, which she called “a different world.”
“There’s a different energy there,” she said. “It wears you out, but you come back refreshed.”
Cashio came back home not only refreshed, but with a determination to open her own restaurant. She pulled her father, Richard Cashio, out of retirement to help – which took some convincing, she said.
“My dad did ‘what if’ scenarios and asked me questions,” she said. “After a while, I gave him enough responses to satisfy him, and he said, ‘I’ve got your back.’”
She said her father eventually will bow out of his daughter’s restaurant business. But in the meantime, the venture has given their relationship a new dynamic.
“He told somebody, ‘She only hangs up on me three times a week now,’” she said, laughing. “My mom has stayed out of it. She said, ‘It’s yours and your dad’s thing.’”
Cashio didn’t find it hard to choose a food focus for her restaurant.
“I like Italian. I am Italian,” she said. “Our menu is not strictly Italian but Italian-inspired. I thought: meatballs. We can do something with that.”
Finding the right location was another key component of her business plan.
“We chose Lakeview because it’s so up and coming,” Cashio said about the Birmingham hot spot. “They didn’t have anything like this. It’s a fun area, and the other business owners have been so welcoming and supportive.”
For the restaurant’s interior design, Cashio worked with Appleseed Workshop, a Birmingham design/build company, to get the look she wanted.
“This is a small space, so I wanted plenty of white and mirrors,” she said.
Cushions on the white chairs and banquette are what Cashio calls “tomato sauce red.” Alabama white marble is from Sylacauga. Light fixtures and other elements are round to match the meatball theme. Television sets are cleverly mounted behind one-way mirrors on one wall; even if you’re sitting opposite the sets, you can see them reflected in the mirror you’re facing.
A graphic artist painted a pasta-faced lady on one mirror – she’s been nicknamed “Betty Spaghetti” – and livened up both restrooms. In the men’s room are painted portraits of celebrities such as Diana Ross, Dolly Parton and Madonna. In the women’s room are Frank Sinatra, Prince, Mick Jagger and other smooth operators.
Cashio’s can seat 39 inside and another eight to 12 people outside.
Chef Grayson Taft, an Alabama native who began his culinary education in his high school’s culinary arts program, is a meatball master who also has plenty of experience in pastry-making. He’ll be making not only regular menu items but special meatballs, too.
Cashio explained the ordering process.
“You come in, sit down and mark your menus,” she said. “From then on, it’s full service.”
Customers first choose their meatball – Cashio’s Classic Beef, chicken, Italian sausage, veggie or the special – and then their sauce: Classic Cashio’s Family Recipe, spicy marinara, three cheese, alfredo, mushroom marsala or pesto. Next they can add a side. Options include several pastas, white beans, braised greens, smashed potatoes, risotto, broccolini and polenta. All can be served on the side or under the meatballs.
Cashio’s also offers sandwiches – sliders, subs and paninis – and salads.
For starters, you can get buffalo chicken balls, mozzarella balls, bruschetta, antipasta and calamari. A meatball flight features the chef’s choice of five balls and sauces.
For desserts, there’s cannoli, seasonal crème Brulee and tiramisu.
“We have four beers on tap and up to 24 in bottles and cans,” Cashio said. “We’re keeping a lot of our beers local plus having the staples. We have a lot of wines on the wine list. My mom, Amy, drinks nicer wine than I do, so we have some we’re calling ‘Amy’s Reserve.’ Our cocktail list is more classic.”
Chef Taft and the Cashios are having fun thinking up innovative meatball combinations to offer as specials.
“Grayson did a catfish ball for our opening,” Cashio said. “My dad wants to have boudin balls for Mardi Gras. For Thanksgiving, we may try to do turkey and dressing balls. My other grandmother, Betty Ferguson, did chicken and dumplings, so we may think about doing something with that.”
Meatballs are so much in Cashio’s mind that she even got an idea while on vacation.
“I was on a girls’ trip to Key West with my mom and thought, maybe we could do a Key lime pie ball,” she said.
Cashio said her “Grandma Angel” inspired some of the restaurant’s dishes.
“Our classic ball and classic sauce are close to recipes from her and from my mom, who learned from her,” she said. “We had my dad’s birthday party in August and turned it into kind of a soft opening. My grandmother gave her blessing to all her recipes that we’re using.”
Cashio’s Meatball Market is at 728 29th St. South in Birmingham’s Lakeview District. It opens at 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner and has brunch on Saturday. For more information, visit cashiosmeatballmarket.com or follow the restaurant on social media.
