GONZALES — Luigi’s Restaurant was recently named Small Business of the Year by the Monterey County Business Council. Luigi’s is one of four businesses in Monterey County to earn the honor.
Luigi’s has been located in South County for about four years this past May. Luigi’s is a sister company to Gino’s Restaurant in Salinas, the Bagel Corner, Angelina’s and Pastabilities, which is the families’ newest location. The five businesses are owned by the Bozzo, Filice and Lavardo families.
“It was a real shock,” said General Manager Ben Velez. “It was very humbling and very great for us to get that recognition by the county in such a short time as a small business. We’ve had a lot of experience with our locations and this has been a real testament to how much people really love this place in the South County area.”
According to Velez, Luigi’s Restaurant was nominated for the award by the local Rabobank across the street from the Gonzales location at 346 Alta St. The Small Business of the Year award was presented to Luigi’s at a ceremony in Monterey at the Embassy Suites.
When asked why Luigi’s was so successful in South County, Velez said a lot of it had to do with their religious beliefs and putting God first.
“That’s kind of how we’ve run all of our businesses, we put God first and our families, and then work,” Velez said. “Being able to manage everything and deal with day to day struggles, we have to have someone to lean on. The restaurant business is not easy, but we love it.”
Luigi’s Restaurant and the other family-owned businesses have an interest in helping the community, especially the younger generation.
According to Velez, when Luigi’s first opened in Gonzales it hired close to 20 high school students.
“What was nice about working with them was that they’ve never really had a job before, so it was easy to instruct them on how we wanted it done,” Velez said. “What was really great was that many of the high school students were from the Gonzales area, so this is the new big thing in their area. They felt so excited when their families came in.”
Currently Luigi’s Restaurant employs 18 workers, including Chef Martin Sedano, who not only makes amazing dishes but also has had a lot of input on the menu and the daily specials.
“Service and the food really bring people back,” Velez said. “The food is what people really come for and we try to really focus and try to strive to be better every day with service and the food.”
Luigi’s Restaurant is well praised, earning customers from across the Atlantic Ocean to Serbia and Denmark.
