Alongi’s Italian Restaurant Since 1933

Every Independent restaurateur should ask themselves, “How well do I teach customers my family story?” After all, emphasizing your roots, your personal story, and why you are so passionate about preparing truly superior food is something that big chains simply cannot copy.

Regardless of your ethnic background, sharing your personal story can be a powerful way to develop closer relationships with your customers and help them feel like members of your extended family. But the reality is that, unless you are sharing that story in writing where guests can easily see it, you are missing a HUGE opportunity to personalize your business.

One restaurateur who does understand the importance of sharing his family’s story is Guy Alongi. Guy’s family has been pleasing DuQuoin, IL, locals with superior-quality pizza and Italian dinners for more than eighty years. In fact, the Alongi family even amended their restaurant’s name (Alongi’s Italian Restaurant Since 1933) to include its founding date to emphasize its multigenerational ownership and community longevity.

On their menu, website, and Facebook page, the Alongis proudly tell customers how brothers Guy and Frank Alongi first started their DuQuoin tavern, “Guy’s Place,” in the 1930s … and how the restaurant has grown and evolved through four generations of family owners!

To highlight their restaurant’s proud history, dining room walls prominently display historic family and restaurant photos through the generations. (Editor’s note: Give your treasured family photos greater significance in customers’ eyes by including labels explaining which family members are shown, where and when each photo was taken, special memories, etc.)

To further emphasize their Old Country roots, whenever family members travel to their ancestral hometown of Cinisi, Sicily, they snap plenty of photos of centuries-old buildings, local vineyards, picturesque landscapes, etc., to regularly share with their guests via Facebook and Instagram.

Helping bring their heritage to life via social media also promotes word of mouth among younger “millennial” patrons who especially enjoy family-owned businesses that honor Old World traditions and preparation methods.

Sharing family stories can be a valuable way to help personalize your restaurant. However, most importantly, the Alongis know that it is their consistently flavorful food which has kept loyal customers coming back for generation after generation!