The slogan, "When you're here, you're family," may have been coined by a popular Italian restaurant chain, but it could be more aptly applied to the new Ingrilli's Italian restaurant in Franklin, owned by the same family behind Caterina's Italian Ristorante in West Allis.
Tony and Kathy Ingrilli own the two Italian restaurants, and one glance at the employee roster tells you that the business is a family affair. Their son-in-law, Rob Daniels, is the chef at Ingrilli's, another son-in-law, Tom Schiller, manages the bar. Son Antonio manages the fine dining restaurant, Caterina's, and his wife, Monique, handles the accounting for both. And their two daughters, Nicole and Lisa, wear many hats at Ingrilli's restaurant.
It's fitting that the beginnings of this family business began over 30 years ago at John's Pizza, a little joint on Milwaukee's West Side. Tony Ingrilli moved to Milwaukee from Sicily in 1964 and his first job was making pizza at the restaurant.
It didn't take long for Tony to open Ingrilli's Villa, a restaurant specializing in pizzas, on 92nd and Beloit.
"I think, at the time, we were the only restaurant in the city on that side of town that was open after bar hours," says Kathy. "There were lines of people waiting to get in at times."
The Ingrilli's went on to open a deli in 1976, becoming one of the first local businesses to sell frozen pizzas. The pizzas were sold in grocery stores everywhere in Southeastern Wisconsin, and helped to make Ingrilli a household name.
From there, the Ingrillis opened what proved to be their most popular endeavor yet: Caterina's Italian Ristorante, a fine dining Italian restaurant featuring both Northern and Southern Italian cuisine. Twenty years later, the Ingrillis' three children and their spouses all found their way back to Caterina's. Being part of the family business was becoming so popular, the Ingrilli's decided to buy the building for their newest restaurant last June.
"We did it because our children were so directly involved with Caterina's," says Kathy.
The new Ingrilli's restaurant has taken a more casual approach to Italian cuisine than Caterina's. And, to the pleasure of their long-time customers, the Ingrilli's have reintroduced the famous pizzas. "I think we'll bring back a lot of the old customers," says Kathy.
Whatever you decide to order, according to Kathy, the Ingrilli name promises fresh ingredients and a-made-from-scratch approach. "We pride ourselves in being fresh and homemade," says Kathy. "Every thing you order on the menu was created that day."
Ingrilli's had its grand opening in February, and business has been booming. That's not a surprise to the Ingrillis, though, who plan on being around for a long time to come.
"Twenty years from now I hope that the restaurant is still running well and we're all secure," says Kathy's daughter, Nicole Daniels.
Daniels and husband Rob have a three-year-old son, Gavin, and Antonio Ingrilli and wife Monique have one on the way. Daniels says she wouldn't mind if Gavin decided to work in the business, too, but she wants to give her son the same choices her parents gave her.
"I want him to have the opportunity to choose whatever he wants to do. Our parents let us do that," says Daniels.
Ingrilli's is located on 3137 W. Rawson Ave. in Franklin. All menu items are available for pick-up. The restaurant is open Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m., Friday 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Saturday 4 p.m.-11 p.m., and Sunday 4 p.m.-10 p.m. For reservations or orders call the restaurant at (414) 304-0400.
