DEMOPOLIS &8212; The newest restaurant in town opened its door on Oct. 3, but the road to an Italian eatery in west Alabama&8217;s Black Belt Region took turns through Cuba, Chicago and Miami.

Bartolo&8217;s specializes in authentic Italian cuisine.

According to Anna, owner of the restaurant, her father, Juan Canovas, always worked in Italian restaurants and enjoyed cooking it.

Anna&8217;s husband, Juan Martinez, is also an owner of the restaurant.

Bartolo&8217;s is a family restaurant run by a family with a rich history.

Anna is originally from Chicago, but lived in Miami for 23 years. She is of Cuban and Spanish decent. Juan is from Havana, Cuba.

According to Anna, cooking is a part of her family&8217;s history.

The colors throughout Bartolo&8217;s are rich, heavy colors that a person would usually see in a painting of a restaurant of Italy. Opera music plays throughout the restaurant, and low lighting in the evening give it an authentic Italian romance theme.

The staff at Bartolo&8217;s is outgoing with good experience.

This is the first business the Martinez family has owned.

According to Juan, the secret to having a good restaurant so people will come back is to be consistent and unchanging.

Bartolo&8217;s is opened for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Their dinner hours are from 5 p.m. to 9p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and Sundays and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Bartolo&8217;s also offers a variety of international coffees and an entire list of wines from which to choose.