Lalo’s Grill & Pizza recently opened in the former Balducci’s Restaurant space (12527 Bennington) in Maryland Heights. After opening October 1, the new restaurant appears to be off to a fine start, in part because much of the menu seems to have been preserved from Balducci’s.
The Menu
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The same pizzas are made on the same style of weathered metal discs, with a cracker-thin crust cut into checkerboard squares. The cheese pushes the diameter’s boundaries, and the toppings include both the typical and more unexpected, such as chipotle chicken and barbecue sauce.
There are the sandwiches of yore: the French dip, the turkey melt, the chicken “Parm,” a Reuben. The corned beef has just the right corona of fat, the sauerkraut’s got that delectable tangy sting. The half-pound burgers take up nearly a menu page. Swiss and mushroom capping the patties. Or bleu cheese and bacon. A “rounder,” served open faced on sourdough, the burger meat buried under a mound of the house chili that practically begs for a beer.
The Atmosphere
The interior hasn’t changed much. The same travel posters and maps of regional Italy hang on the walls. Same confession booth-size cubbyholes along the walls make sharing a pizza seem like an intimate assignation for a couple. The same tables can be easily pushed together to celebrate a softball team’s winning season or a birthday bash. They have the same smooth, wipeable tabletops, because generations of kids and clumsy grandparents mean lots of spills.
The bar at Lalo’s is no longer than an SUV. It’s full one evening with half a dozen guys having a serious discussion over fantasy football picks. Lalo’s is also a spot where you can sit down and tuck into a bacon cheeseburger while in evening wear and fit right in because the other customers, in jeans and sweatshirts, would just figure you were coming from a wedding or a prom.
The Background
There are four owner/operators: Randy McDonald, his father, Randy, Sr., and two brothers, Miguel and Lalo Rodriguez. The younger McDonald and the Rodriguez brothers previously worked together at two restaurants: Mike Duffy’s in Town & Country and Prado’s at Lake St. Louis, where Miguel was the head chef.
The trio also operates LA Taco Cantina in Maryland Heights, which they purchased from the original owner in 2021. “When this new opportunity presented itself, we wanted to do something besides Mexican,” McDonald says, “so we went in the bar and grill direction, with an emphasis on pizza, since the ovens were already there and people associate the address with pizza.”
