It isn’t every day that a family-owned and run restaurant reaches the milestone of being in business for 30 years.
In Shawano, there is one such place.
Luigi’s Pizza and Pasta in Shawano celebrated its 30th anniversary on Dec. 26.
Two brothers and their wives, Sal and Josie Badalamenti and Domenic and Fara Badalamenti, came to Shawano in 1995 from the small village of Cinisi, Sicily, via a stop in New Jersey to run a pizza restaurant. They had no background in running a restaurant, but they persevered with hard work and put in long hours to make it work.
Luigi’s opened in Shawano on Dec. 26, 1995.
In preparation for the 30th anniversary celebration, Sal and Josie Badalamenti’s youngest son, Domenic S. Badalamenti, 19, began thinking about how to make it special.
While bartending at Luigi’s, he received questions from customers about the restaurant’s story.
This prompted him to post stories on the restaurant’s Facebook page to feature the upcoming anniversary and to give fans a history of the restaurant, its special owners and their family.
The posts started Dec. 1 and continued through Jan. 6. The posts can still be read on the restaurant’s Facebook page, Luigis Pizza and Pasta.
A common theme seen in all of the posts is love of family. The Badalamenti family is tight-knit and loving.
“I thought it would be a cool idea. I got the inspiration from The Mill in Bonduel,” Badalamenti said as he explained why he chose to post on Facebook. “For a long time, I’ve been following the Mill’s stories and noticed that there’s a lot of interaction with people on Facebook.”
He said that he admired how NiCole Fischer wrote The Mill stories, and he added that Luigi’s also has a lot of stories to tell.
The posts are filled with the history of Luigi’s emphasizing the Badalamentis’ love of family and traditions, with a little bit of humor thrown in.
One of his Facebook posts includes this comment: “One thing about spending so much time with my family is that to them, family is everything. My family would do anything for one another. It’s a type of bond you cannot fake. So, no matter what life their dream life could have been, it will never replace what their life is today.”
He mentioned that as the stories were added, feedback from readers was positive.
“It was nice, because a lot of comments were: ‘I can’t wait until you post your next one,’” Badalamenti said. “That was really nice.”
His three siblings, Emanuele, Vince and Felicia, also provided posts to honor their family and the anniversary.
“This is a part of my family’s history, and it’s something I’ll never be able to forget,” Badalamenti said. “It’s kind of nice to have that.”
Badalamenti also brought back the original restaurant logo from 1995 to pay tribute to the anniversary.
“I brought it back, from when we first opened, and put it on T-shirts and other things,” he said. “We also gave 30% off to all of our customers on the anniversary day.”
Luigi’s continued the celebration with an ugly sweater event.
“It brought in a lot of our regulars, who’ve been coming in for a really long time,” he said.
Badalamenti is passionate about Luigi’s. He’s a part of the management team and wants to continue to grow with the restaurant.
When talking about Luigi’s, Badalamenti often mentions his parents’ work ethics.
“My dad is here almost 70 hours per week. He never comes out of the kitchen, so he doesn’t get the recognition that he deserves,” he said.
Badalamenti has some plans for the restaurant’s future, such as having a brewery brew a signature Luigi’s tap beer that he would create himself.
There is an upcoming announcement that Badalamenti said will complement the restaurant, but he isn’t able to divulge what that is yet — only saying it will be a positive and novel addition to the Shawano area and would open in summer 2027.
“I can’t announce it,” Badalamenti said. “It’s too far away now. It’s a slow process, but we’re working on it.”
He is hoping to take over the restaurant at some point. He said that his three siblings aren’t interested in joining him in the venture.
By growing up in the industry, Badalamenti feels that he already has a background in many of the business aspects of owning a restaurant.
“The nice thing about it is that I’ve already talked with my dad about a lot of these things,” he said. “I told him that I was worried about how I could do everything that he does. He told me not to worry; we’ll figure it all out when the time comes.”
There are quite a few years ahead of him to work on what is necessary to take things over. His parents, aunt and uncle aren’t going anywhere yet, he said. Luigi’s will continue to evolve, and Badalamenti plans to be part of that family business future.
“As for many people, always asking me will you take over the restaurant. Well, the answer is I don’t know,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “Is that my goal right now? 100% I would love to. I am no longer in school and decided to pursue going into the family business, and many people know what my plans are that I can’t announce yet but will soon, but I do plan to take over the restaurant one day.”
Domenic S. Badalamenti, 19, taps a beer in the bar of Luigi’s Pizza and Pasta in Shawano. To promote the restaurant’s 30th anniversary, Badalamenti posted a series of stories on the restaurant’s Facebook page. He also brought back Luigi’s old logo and put it on T-shirts, as seen here. (Lynn Zaffrann)
