A restaurant standing the test of time is always an impressive feat, particularly in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, which had a major impact on the hospitality industry, and leading to the permanent closure of many independent shops, businesses, and restaurants.
It continues as a family run affair, with the couple's youngest daughter, Anna Maranto-Babel, stepping up to the helm in 2011 after Steve and Ruth semi-retired. Anna is currently on maternity leave with her beautiful four month old daughter, Lucia, so her husband Joe Babel has taken the reins to ensure the continued success of this Lark Lane institution.
The chef and businessman, originally from Sicily, moved to Chicago in 1962 and met wife Ruth, 70, from Huyton while on holiday in Sicily in 1976. The pair's "holiday romance" quickly turned to true love and after living in America for a little while - which Ruth "hated" - they moved back to Liverpool and made it their home.
They didn't have a kitchen, and had to wash their dishes in the bath. Laughing, Ruth added: "18 months we lived up there. If the doorbell rang for the veg, we had to go running down the stairs and then locking up here, you just felt like there was going to be ghosts." Over the decades, the family have seen major changes, both in the city itself and at Maranto's. Steve said: "Liverpool was down and out and on its knees, and what [I've seen] happen to Liverpool since I've been here, it's truly miraculous - the way it's [grown]."
Anna and her sister have always known life with Maranto's. Anna described the restaurant as being "like our older brother in a way", and is happy to be introducing her own children to their unofficial 'uncle'. She said: "Last night, me, Joe and the kids were here and my son goes in there [to the kitchen] and makes pizza, standing on a crate, and that's what I used to do [as a child].