Courtesy Charlie Gitto, Jr.
Legendary St. Louis restaurateur Charlie Gitto Sr. died Saturday, July 4, following complications from a heart attack.
Growing up, Gitto cut his teeth working in restaurants and sometimes held down three jobs at once. He attended Hadley Technical High School, in deference to his father’s hopes that he’d become a machinist. Instead, after graduation, he dived headfirst into the restaurant industry. Gitto and his late wife, Annie, began with Gitto’s Pizzeria on The Hill in 1956.
Most of St. Louis began to know Gitto via the downtown restaurant, which was originally part of The Pasta House Co., where Charlie was working. Charlie bought it and eventually changed the name to Charlie Gitto’s Pasta House. (Charlie Gitto Jr. opened Charlie Gitto’s on the Hill a while earlier.) Sr.’s spot, now known simply as Charlie Gitto's Downtown, became a fixture on North Sixth Street.
Courtesy Charlie Gitto's
If the late Dorian Magwitz’s Hamilton Jewelers was “where the sports crowd shops”, Charlie Gitto’s was where the sports crowd ate. The proximity to Busch Stadium attracted not just players but managers, scouts, and sportswriters. Gitto’s legendary friendship with Tommy Lasorda of the Dodgers began around 1975, when a scout told Lasorda about the restaurant and the restaurateur. Gitto and Lasorda hit it off almost immediately. Lasorda would even return to town in the offseason to do charity events with Gitto.
In 1982, the Cardinals faced the Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series. The Redbirds won in seven games, the first and last two of which were played here. During the series, not only did Charlie Gitto’s host eight major-league managers, but Lasorda and the inimitable Howard Cosell also talked about the restaurant on national television. The resulting business was the gift that kept on giving.
Gitto was always happy to speak with people, but it’s hard to forget the image of him sitting in the catbird seat, to use the baseball phrase of the great announcer Red Barber. Gitto always, always had his seat at the bar, like it was his office, just sitting, quietly watching and not missing a thing.
