SALEM, Ohio – In the one year that it has been open, The Rumpled Queen has earned a place among the area’s finest restaurants.
The downtown gastropub fulfilled the dream of chef-owner Annie Gano, who wanted her first restaurant to be in the city where she grew up.
Her style can be found in every aspect.
She created the recipe for each entree, making it a complex but comforting take on a classic dish.
The decor has the same casual formality and charming detail.
As Gano puts it, “it’s a whimsical place.”
After spending years working in the kitchens and managerial offices of high-end restaurant chains in large cities, she developed a vision for the place she wanted to open.
But she wasn’t sure if it would catch on in Salem.
“When I was opening, I was really terrified,” she says. “This is so different from what Salem had. There are a lot of bars here, a lot of burgers, wings and pizza. It was a little nerve wracking to bring something new and with a higher price point than what Salem is used to. But people have been coming out of the woodwork in support of it and love having a different option.”
Those folks are actually coming from far and wide.
“Some of our regulars drive here from Pittsburgh,” Gano says. “We had a couple of ladies who had read about us, drove in from Columbus for dinner and then drove back home that night.”
The Queen has also become a crown jewel in the renaissance of busy downtown Salem, which boasts a storefront occupancy nearing 100%.
To lay the groundwork for launching it, Gano worked with Julie Needs, director of the Sustainable Opportunity Development Center of Salem. Needs shared with Gano a marketing study that proved there was a need for a high-end restaurant in the city.
The Rumpled Queen has become a magnet for visitors to the city.
“It introduced something truly unique,” Needs says. “It elevated [downtown]. Annie makes it a very chef-driven experience, and it raises the bar for what’s possible in Salem. People are coming from all over to visit and they’re saying, ‘wow, this community has a lot to offer. I want to come back. What else can we visit here?’”
The economic development director says she’s seen an increase in inquiries for downtown spaces since the restaurant opened.
“The Rumpled Queen is helping to make Salem a destination,” she says.
Past and Present
Gano’s connection to the building the restaurant occupies goes back to her childhood – and then some.
The structure at 387 S. Broadway Ave. had previously been the location of DeRienzo’s Italian Foods, a landmark restaurant that had been open for 91 years before it closed in 2024.
She recalls having dinner there with her family every Thursday when she was growing up. Her parents went on their first date there.
As a salute to its history, Gano keeps the aging portrait photos of DeRienzo’s founders on the wall near the entrance.
The name of her restaurant came from a source that suits its shaggy but regal nature.
“I had a dog named Queen, and I always envisioned my first restaurant being called Queen’s or Queeny’s,” she says. “She was a German shepherd, and she was just chaos, she was crazy. She didn’t like anybody except me.” Queen died five years ago.
Because the name didn’t quite fit with the evening dinner spot she was creating, Gano and her sister kicked around other names that play off the word.
They considered names like The Elegant Queen and The Formal Queen, but rejected them as sounding stuffy and boring.
“I said we needed something that’s more whimsical, because it’s a pretty whimsical space,” she says. “We’re not rumpled but my dog was. My sister came up with The Rumpled Queen, and it stuck.”
A large and humorous portrait painting of a black dog looks over the bar area. It’s Queeny, doffed in a crown, bedecked in jewels and holding a martini glass.
The portrait is a sly curio in a room where the playfulness is everywhere – but only quietly revealed.
For example, the cutlery, dishware and glasses on each table are a hodgepodge of different sets.
“All of our plateware is mismatched formal dining pieces,” Gano says. “It’s china that your grandma used to have but that no one really uses.”
Most of the wall decor was purchased at thrift stores or antique shops.
“Everything is kind of intentionally mismatched or a little rumpled, but also elevated at the same time,” Gano says.
The chairs were restored by Gano’s mother. The stained zinc tabletops were created by her father at his company, TruCut, a metal parts-maker with facilities in Sebring and Salem. TruCut is now owned by Gano’s brother.
Chef’s Background
After graduating from Salem High School, Gano enrolled at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.
As part of her training, she spent a summer working at the Michelin-starred Naha restaurant in Chicago. She fell in love with that city and moved there after graduating to work as a line cook with the Hogsalt Hospitality restaurant group.
Within a few years, Gano was named chef of Hogsalt’s revered Au Cheval, and helped the restaurant earn the “Best Burger in America” recognition from the Food Network.
She would work her way up to the executive culinary director position at Hogsalt, overseeing the opening and daily operations of over 20 restaurants in Chicago, New York and Paris.
After eight years in Chicago, Gano decided she wanted to be closer to home and took a position as director of operations with the Richard DeShantz Restaurant Group in Pittsburgh.
She oversaw the openings of five new restaurants and directed the daily operations of the group’s nine restaurants in Pittsburgh.
It was at this time that she started planning a restaurant of her own, and began looking at sites in her hometown.
When the property that once housed DeRienzo’s became available, she knew she had found the right spot.
Gano purchased the building and refurbished it.
She turned the adjacent gravel parking lot into an outdoor dining area that adds to the whimsical flavor. The patio has a fountain, pergola, fireplace and a brick oven wall structure. It seats 65, which doubles the restaurant’s capacity in warm weather.
The menu includes a handful of large plate entrees that include Gano’s take on gnocchi with mushrooms, braised chicken, risotto with scallops, Faroe Island salmon and a few other dinner favorites.
There is also a brunch menu for Sundays.
The wine selection brings more surprises. It was curated by Michelle Matthews, a sommelier and a friend of Gano.
“We have a lot of bottles that people have not heard of and that are not on other wine lists,” Gano says. “That was something that we really wanted to do – bring in some new fun wines.”
The bar offers an array of specialty cocktails, a custom wine list and several local craft beers as well as domestics and imports.
Desserts
A special element of The Rumpled Queen is its exquisite desserts, which are made by Gary Welling.
“He makes all of our bread and does our pastries from scratch,” Gano says. “He even makes cinnamon rolls for brunch on the weekend. He has full reign over baking and pastry.”
While the restaurant is a dream come true for Gano, it is nothing less than a miracle for Welling.
An acclaimed pastry chef, he moved back to his hometown of Salem three years ago to care for his mother, who had fallen ill. He never thought he would find a place in town where he could put his refined skills to use until The Rumpled Queen arrived out of the blue.
Welling studied at Johnson and Wales University in Providence, R.I., a premier culinary school. He spent most of his adult life as chef instructor at the university, and later as head of its baking and pastry program.
How did it feel to find such a job in Salem?
“I pinch myself every day,” Welling says. “When I returned to Salem three years ago to care for my ailing mother, who has since passed away, I uprooted my life and career and everything. And I never thought I would find a place around here where I could do this and show my talents. And the dream happened. For me to be here in such an incredible place where I can do my craft is just amazing. I never thought I would be able to again do my profession at the level I was used to.”
Welling’s dessert menu includes items like the chocolate brownie torte with passion fruit curd and a vanilla bean mascarpone whip with mangoes and a crispy meringue stick; PB&J creme brulee; and a banana pecan semifreddo with house-made vanilla wafers and burnished meringue bananas.
The Rumpled Queen is open from 4-9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; 4-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. For reservations, go to therumpledqueen.com.
Pictured at top: Annie Gano, owner and chef of The Rumpled Queen, stands in front of the restaurant.
