BURLINGAME, Calif. (KGO) — With heaping portions of pasta, garlic bread topped with cheese and a seemingly endless bowl of salad, Elio D’Urzo creates a different take on the lunch buffet in his restaurant.

“This is a house, not a restaurant, everyone knows everyone,” said D’Urzo.

D’Urzo has owned Ristorante Sapore Italiano in Burlingame for 24 years.

About three weeks ago, he cut the price of the lunch buffet every weekday from noon to 2 p.m. to just $9.99.

Normally it would be $32 per person.

“Without advertising, there were 60 people there on the first day,” said D’Urzo.

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He came up with the idea after a group of seniors regularly came to his house for lunch during the pandemic to play poker with him.

Because he enjoyed connecting with this group and sharing stories with them so much, he did not charge full price.

“I only charge a small amount, just my food costs, and then I say: Why don’t I do this for everyone, just for a few hours,” he said.

This comes seven months after San Mateo County declared loneliness a public health crisis and promised to encourage social connection in local communities.

“This is all about connectivity. Social isolation is real and people are still struggling with it after the pandemic, even though it’s been a few years now. They don’t want to leave their house,” said San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa.

In a county survey last year, 45% of residents said they felt alone.

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Canepa says the restaurant’s plan is “the Italian way.”

“What we forget as Americans is our seniors,” he said. “We’re all so focused on our families and our careers, but in that moment, that owner said, ‘You are not forgotten and you have a place.'”

It’s something that hits close to home for 82-year-old Judy Jingirian of Burlingame.

“I mean, where do you go to find camaraderie, good Italian food and an Italian atmosphere?” Jingirian said.

She lost her husband last year.

“I think it’s incredible. I mean, where can you go, you can’t even get a hamburger for $9.99 and when the ladies heard about it, they said, fantastic, this will attract more seniors,” Jingirian said.

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Mirna Gonzales says her church will bring a group of seniors to Ristorante Sapore Italiano at least once a month.

“It’s just wonderful, a gift from God,” Gonzales said. “We’re trying to do something for the seniors because they’re the loneliest, the most frail and often can’t afford anything.”

How long these prices will remain on the menu is uncertain, according to D’Urzo.

“I think I’ll keep going until I can’t anymore,” he said.