Restaurants We Miss: Cusanelli’s

Big Guy and I stopped for gas near the old Cusanelli’s on Lemay Ferry. We spent the rest of the day talking about it and their fantastic pizzas and old school bar drinks.

I first time I went to Cusanelli’s was for my dad’s retirement party in the 1990’s. He used to work for the old Monsanto Carondelet plant, and this was a favorite haunt for the guys. It was also my mom’s favorite place to go for a LARGE martini to celebrate each new year!

Years later, Big Guy and I started to go back and usually sat in the front dining room with the three-dimensional mural covering the entire wall of Italian street scenes. I had to go online to find a photo of it, but it certainly brought back fond discussions of the history of the place and the great employees who worked there.

It is sad COVID forced the decision to close the restaurant. The Cusanelli family provided a wonderful place for folks to gather and tell stories which will be one of many long-lasting legacies of their business and it being an anchor to the community!