Grumpy all year long

The Grumpy Italian eatery celebrates its first year in business

When the Grumpy Italian Eatery first opened at 113 W. Bridge Ave. in Saratoga, owner Steve Deorio knew that to make his business last he would have to carve out a spot for himself in a community that sported multiple restaurants. One of the things knew he could do was focus on consistency.

"When we started off, our business plan consisted of one word and that was consistency. Consistency with our hours, consistency with our service and consistency with our food," said Deorio. "A year later, things are going great. We enjoy it. We feel it's a privilege to be able to serve people within this community and beyond with really good, home cooked, truly authentic Italian food."

Originally starting out with pizzas, the Grumpy Italian has extended into sandwiches and pasta. And every dish is homemade. Additionally, Deorio aims to use as much as he can while wasting as little as possible.

"We started off with a line of pizzas; all our pizzas, the dough is homemade, the sauce is homemade, the meatballs are homemade. We went into sandwiches and, basically, everything that we do is connected. We carry out three bags of trash every day. I don't believe in wasting food, I cook like everybody is coming to my dining room for dinner," Deorio said.

Not only does he cook like people are coming to his dining room, but he treats the front of the house the same way. A sign at the register reads "No Wi-Fi. Talk to each other."

"We don't have Wi-Fi in this business. We have it for strictly our business use, but it was important that I did not have it here so you cannot get on your phone, you cannot sit there and ignore the person you're with and I deliberately sit people together if they like it," said Deorio. "It gives an opportunity as we, as Saratogans, to approach the tourists as a friendly area and, as neighbors and friends, it gives us a chance to catch up. As a kid, I used to sit down and watch my dad mingle with his friends. I couldn't wait to get to that age and just to listen to the stories and tell the stories and that's what this place is about: the way it used to be."

The other thing Deorio knew was branding and, shortly after opening their doors, the Grumpy Italian introduced a line of shirts that bore puns such as "Olives Matter" and "Let's Legalize Marinara," phrases that cause those glancing at it to take a second look.

"They're on the racy side, much like this whole place," Deorio said.

The merchandise, however, goes beyond punny shirts and includes hats and coffee mugs with the Grumpy Italian logo - an Italian chef with a sour look on his face and his hands brought up in the gesture of 'Are you kidding me?'

"We just like to keep it interesting because this is my last big hurrah (sic) in life and I'm going to make it as fun as I possibly can," added Deorio.

Judging from the Grumpy Italian's Facebook page, customers are having fun just as much as Deorio. Deorio's wife, Eden, manages the social media for the business and posts very regularly, often with photos of customers enjoying the food or picking out a shirt or hat to wear. Those photos are later printed off and placed on the walls of the eatery.

"That was my wife's idea," said Deorio. "We like to do it because we have a theme of New York here. Even though I grew up in Denver, I'm a big fan of back east. I like the pizza, I like the presentation of the people, I like the hustle and bustle of the city. All the eyes and all the people that we've taken pictures with, it's like a crowd as you're walking down the streets of New York and they're all happy. That is a check and balance to each and every one of us to make sure that we're doing our job right."

Right now, "every one of us" means just Deorio, his wife and his sister, LeAnn Uhling. While he works the kitchen, Eden and LeAnn work the front of the house.

"We've had, really, some great employees and we appreciate all the hard work that they did," Deorio said, "but at the same time, we also know that we need to be here on a daily basis. We need to know that we're going to work on a daily basis and that's why Eden and I decided, during the winter months, to take the reins into our own hands and do it ourselves."

Because the Deorio's are doing it on their own during the winter months means that, for nearly two months, the doors of the Grumpy Italian will be closed effective Dec. 15. Eden, who is originally from the Philippines, will be returning to her home country along with Deorio and their son, David-Anthony. According to Deorio, though, he will reopen, for pizzas only, the weekend of the Ice Fishing Derby and will officially reopen on Feb. 1 once Eden returns to the Valley.

When the Grumpy Italian returns in 2019, customers should expect few changes. The no Wi-Fi rules will still be enforced, the Deorios will still greet people with smiles and the punny shirts will still be on the rack. The changes people can expect will be two-for-one spaghetti dinners on Tuesday, which has already begun to roll out, and further use of the "I'm a Grumpy senior" and "I'm a Grumpy student" discount cards.

"When I was a kid my dad had a business down in Denver and, to this day, the sign still stands there. The one thing I used to look at everyday when I worked ...'Where pride and workmanship still exist.' Even though this isn't really a work, it's a craft because each one of our pizzas are handcrafted, we believe in that in our heart, that this is a place where pride and workmanship still exist," said Deorio. "So I'm going to continue that slogan that my dad put in 60-some years ago and continue it out here."

 

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