Friday, July 18, 2025
What keeps customers coming back to Piccolo’s for 45 years? Is it the food, the price, or the convenience? According to longtime customer Tom Grillea, it is all of those things plus one more ingredient: community.
“If it’s that many years and you’re still in business, there's only one way that happens,” he said. “It's good food, customer service and that you care about your customers, and they definitely know how to do it.”
Grillea has been a loyal patron of Piccolo’s for 25 years. When he enters, Piccolo’s team of chefs and servers know to cook up veal cutlet milanese for him and chicken michaelangelo for his wife. He has become personal friends with the store’s owner, Tommy Valenti.
“Tommy and the staff… they take care of you,” he said. “It doesn't feel like you're in a restaurant. Feels like you're almost part of the family.”
With his own family, Grillea likes to feature Piccolo’s at every celebration he can manage — in addition to Friday night dinners.
“If something good is happening, we're going to go back there,” he said. “No doubt we'll be going back.”
When asked why he thinks Piccolo’s is so successful, Valenti considered his options.
“Obviously the food's really good — otherwise we wouldn't be here for 45 years,” he said.
Valenti succeeds his father of the same name, helming a restaurant that is a family business from the ground up.
“The business was started by my father and his brothers designed it,” Valenti said. “They built the place.”
As the owner of Piccolo’s, Valenti has been able to thrive while supporting his local community.
“Piccolo put my kids through college, Piccolo gave me a chance to listen,” he said. “I get to help so many people from Piccolo, whether it's gift baskets, gift cards, food fundraisers, discounts — I truly feel like a humanitarian.”
On a personal level, running the restaurant allowed Valenti to connect with familiar faces around town. Many patrons stepped up during the restaurant’s time of need, and he does not hesitate to repay that loyalty.
“You can't take them for granted,” he said. “You want to talk to them. You want to know what's going on. For the people who need a discount, the people who need a little break, you gotta be receptive.”
The restaurant was hit hard during the Covid-19 pandemic, when foot traffic to stores dropped dramatically. Even now, the scars are still healing for local businesses.
“The shopping center is definitely not what it used to be,” Valenti said. “We never delivered up until Covid. Now most people go to our website to make reservations, to place orders, which helps a lot.”
Piccolo’s survived the drought with the support of its customers and its readiness to change, as it always has.
“We were one of the first to have a restaurant that had no smoking,” Valenti said. “We were basically the first restaurant to have trans fat free oils.
“You try to stay ahead of the curve,” he continued. “The only way to survive in this business is you constantly have to be in motion. If you stand still, there's really only one place to go, and that's down.”
Valenti expressed his gratitude to the regulars and the staff who have kept Piccolo’s alive and strong, and hopefully for many years to come.
“We wouldn't be here if they weren't here,” he said.
