Longtime restaurateur Joe Sanfilippo recently delivered a one-two punch, simultaneously announcing the closing of Filippo’s Italian Kitchen and Bar (120 Chesterfield Valley) in Chesterfield and his retirement from the restaurant industry. The dining establishment closed after service this past Saturday, May 22.
“It wasn’t for lack of business,” Sanfilippo says. “Our numbers were up from 2019—we survived, and we succeeded. I’m going out on my own terms.”
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Like many in the business, it was the long hours and lack of staff that prompted the decision to close. “I was cooking, working the floor, and washing dishes—I haven’t had a dishwasher for two months,” he says. “When I started in this business, I controlled my day. Recently, my days were controlled by my staff, with me stressing over who would and wouldn’t show up.”
Just before opening the Chesterfield restaurant, in 2011, Sanfilippo recalled how his career began, when hotelier Charles Drury decided to back an unknown 23-year-old who had never owned a restaurant. The resulting J.F. Sanfilippo’s was located next to the Drury Inn on North Broadway in downtown St. Louis. “Mr. and Mrs. Drury are my second set of parents,” Sanfilippo said. “Not sure where I’d have been without them. We operated for 20 years with a handshake and a lease with only a few bullet points.”
Sanfilippo closed the convention-driven downtown restaurant at the end of 2018, so he could focus on the Chesterfield location. The decision to close Filippo’s might have been made sooner, he says, had it not been for the help of family members, including his brother and aunts. “But that can only go on so long,” he says. In addition, the passing of his uncle and 89-year-old mother spurred him to reflect on his priorities. “I work out five days a week,” he says. “I might have looked healthy, but I was dying on the inside.” He opted for a quick closure, rather than announcing an official closing date.
His short term plans: “Go to Paul Manno’s on Friday night, attend a wedding this Saturday, spend a week in Mexico,” and then in mid-June, begin a second career of sorts by selling cars. A friend owns Glendale Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram, he says, and they agreed that the hospitality principles that Sanfilippo learned and taught for more than 30 years will easily transfer to the car business.
“I’m good at assessing what the customer wants and needs,” Sanfilippo says. “I can’t wait to apply that to selling Jeeps!”
