Criscitelli Family Increases Its Power Grip on Little Italy

We noted earlier that Sal Anthony’s SPQR had closed. Now we’ve discovered it’s under the ownership of the Criscitelli family, which owns five other joints on Mulberry Street — Pellegrino’s, Novello, Il Palazzo, La Nonna, and Giuliani favorite Da Nico. (If the name of the new owners sounds familiar, you may recall that Perry Criscitelli was forced to step down as San Gennaro head when he was said to be a made member of the Bonnano family — charges he denied.) Perry’s son, Nick, tell us he plans to “return the restaurant to the fine dining they had when they originally opened 28 years ago,” while keeping the entrées around $19. With the reopening a couple of weeks away, a chef has yet to be picked, but a construction crew is already hard at work redoing the walls, ceilings, and lighting. At least one longtime patron was bummed when we broke the news to him: “That’s the only restaurant I’ve ever eaten at in Little Italy. My family knew the owner, so he gave us better food.”

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Filed Under: da nico, Il Palazzo, la nonna, little italy, nick criscitelli, pellegrino's, perry criscitelli, Reopenings, rudy giuliani, sal anthony's spqr

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