The founders, Alex and Elsa Di Peppe, came from Italy to the US to pursue the American Dream in the 1950s. They opened their first Italian restaurant in 1969 in South San Gabriel and relocated it to Arcadia in 1978, which has remained until now. Their son Larry took over the business in 1985. 

Its specialty is Southern Italian food with extra red sauce and pizza. There are just two full-time employees and seven part-time employees. 

The challenges they faced before and now are the COVID pandemic and the difficulty of passing down a family business when the next generation has other interests or a higher income from another job. For example, Larry’s son has a better job to make a living, so he does not want his son to live a hard life like him again.

The beauty of this business is that they watched each other grow up together. Larry mentioned one sweet story: Two of his customers came to his restaurant when they were little children, and they got married, and they invited Larry to perform the wedding. Also, customers supported him a lot during COVID.  The sweetest part of the old legacy: Our life was there at the restaurant–and still exists.

Thank you to the English as a Second Language (ESLN) students from Pasadena City College for partnering with us on this special project. As part of their U.S. Cultural Traditions and Social Change class in Spring 2024, the students gathered stories and information directly from local legacy businesses, capturing their unique contributions to our community. We are proud to showcase their authored profiles and celebrate their hard work. A special thank you to Anthony Zhu, Grace Gong, and Frank Han for working closely with Alex Di Peppe’s Italian Restaurant. Your dedication has brought these stories to life beautifully!