One of the most popular Italian restaurants in St. Louis is closing its doors at the end of September. The final day of service at LoRusso’s Cucina (3121 Watson) will be September 29, according to owner Terri LoRusso, wife of the late chef/co-owner Rich LoRusso, who died in 2022, following a battle with ALS.
The decision was not made quickly or easily. “There were so many factors weighing into it, this was the perfect time to do it,” says Terri. “The lease had been month to month after June, and I just wasn’t interested in signing another one. To me, that was the sign that it was time.”
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At the same time, however, the restaurant recently had the busiest weekend night of the summer on Saturday, during Labor Day weekend, when Terri held an impromptu meeting with the team to make the announcement. “The staff, many of them 20-plus year employees, agreed to stay until the end,” she says, “and that was before I told them I was giving $500 bonuses to everyone who stayed.”
“Back when Rich was sick, he told me to sell it then, but I couldn’t do it… It was too important to him and to me,” adds Terri. “But we did lose money through the pandemic, and, quite honestly, it has been a struggle since. Couple that with increased costs—for labor, product, insurance, practically every line item across the board—and I decided the time to close is now.
“I guess I could have sold the business,” she says, “but I didn’t want to take the chance that it would possibly have become less than it was. Sometimes, it’s best to take control.”
When asked what’s next, Terri plans to spend more time with her four grandchildren as well as travel, something she hasn’t been able to do for over five years. During the pandemic, while tending to her husband’s needs, she was simultaneously taking care of her mother next door who suffered from Alzheimer’s. Then came Terri’s breast cancer diagnosis (now in remission). “It’s been one thing after another, in addition to running the restaurant,” she says. “There’s been so much dishevelment since Rich passed away, I haven’t even taken the time to go through his things.”
The Backstory
Rich LoRusso had been a chef at Godfather’s Ristorante and the Mayfair Hotel when his wife convinced him to open his own place, which the couple did in a tiny storefront along Hampton Avenue in 1986. Following a rave review in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, LoRusso’s relocated to a larger space on Watson Road, where it has been for the last 36 years.
Over the years, Rich became one of the most beloved, well-respected chefs in town. His smile and wisecracks were ubiquitous, and when one person reflected that they “loved every minute I was around this man,” it summarized the city’s collective thought.
Over the years, the LoRussos have contributed their time and energy to several charitable causes. One of the chef’s pastas (and occasionally, his signature Wild Mushroom Trio) was a given at CarneyVal, the annual fundraiser for Carney’s Kids, a charity founded by KTRS radio funnyman John Carney, who says LoRusso’s generosity was also well-known on the golf circuit. “For decades, Rich was a fixture at every charity golf event, stationed at one of the holes doling out stories, sandwiches, and mini bowls of pasta,” Carney recalls. (“You’d think that by osmosis that would have made him a better golfer after all those years—it never did,” Carney quips.)
Former LoRusso’s employee Cara DiFranco, a longtime family friend and the person responsible for organizing a Rich LoRusso fundraiser, recalled that when her father was dying of cancer during the holiday season, LoRusso elected to cook Christmas dinner for her family of 18, “instead of spending that time with his family. That’s just the kind of guy he is.”
Reservations at LoRusso’s Cucina can be made via Tock through September 29.
