PARMA, Ohio – The death in June of Grace Loschiavo, who founded Antonio’s Pizza with her husband Tony in 1967, has left many mourners.
Not only did Parma lose a respected community businessman, but the legendary Antonio’s Pizza at The Shoppes at Parma also closed its doors forever.
Now comes the news that members of the Loschiavo family are reviving Parma’s pizza institution.
“Of course, a lot of people were upset,” said grandson Vince Loschiavo, who, along with his father Fred and brother Anthony, currently runs 18 other restaurants, including Antonio’s Pizza, The BrewWall and Tony Maloney’s.
“They had many beautiful memories there. Then, in addition to the loss of our grandmother, it was difficult to bear my uncle’s decision to close the restaurant, which needed renovation.”
Initially, Vince and his company considered purchasing The Shoppes at Parma location from the Loschiavo estate, but a better option soon emerged.
Before her death, Loschiavo was in the process of selling the original Antonio’s Pizza at 5722 Chevrolet Blvd. in Parma.
During the family’s mourning period, a deal with a potential buyer fell through.
“We decided why not buy the original Antonio’s from her estate and turn it into a special heritage restaurant,” he said. “We’ll give it a nostalgic look, but still give it a slightly modern touch.”
“The idea is to really take the customer back to memories of Antonio’s. We feel that even though the Parma community has lost Parmatown, they can now return to the original location and really have a nice dining experience.”
The renamed Original Antonio’s Pizzeria is scheduled to open later this year.
After a nearly $1 million renovation, the 33,000-square-foot restaurant will seat 60 to 120 people.
“We want to keep it small and intimate,” he said.
“We will be working with Richardson Design, who will handle much of the interior design of our restaurants.”
When asked what his grandparents would say about the family keeping the name Antonio’s Pizza alive in Parma, Vince answered without hesitation.
“I would have thought that both my grandfather and grandmother would cry tears of joy,” he said.
“It’s really a restaurant to honor them, to honor their legacy, and what better place to do that than the first Antonio’s.”
Read more news from the Parma Sun Post Here.
