A long time family business in Magnolia has been sold and will reopen on February 10th.
Jason and Christina Arnold are the new owners. They had planned to be in place on February 1. However, a death in their family has forced them to close the restaurant for a week.
They posted a note on the door of Luigi’s explaining their situation:
My wife Christina and I are very excited to be taking over Luigi’s and giving you many more years of service. Unfortunately, a death in the family has forced us to push back out opening date from Feb. 1 to Feb. 10.
We are extremely thankful for your continued interest and appreciate your patience and understanding during this difficult time. It is our pleasure to serve you and yours – and we are proud to be a part of the Magnolia Community. See you on Thursday Feb. 10!
We asked to speak with the former owners of Luigi’s last week when we learned that the restaurant had been sold but they declined to comment and would not participate in our story. We do not know why they decided to sell the restaurant.
This is only good news if they don’t screw up the menu – including the great dinner salads and yummy garlic bread. Lower prices wouldn’t hurt, either.
Right, I heard the new owners have a secret way to lower the prices and keep everything else the same. That always works.
You can deliver spagetti and meatballs for less than the $12+ they were judging. Ever go out to eat?
You’re right. I’ve heard Subway has a foot long meatball sub for about $5.99.
Or maybe if spaghetti is spelled incorrectly on the menu the food is cheaper?
When I go out, getting cheap spaghetti and meatballs isn’t my goal.
Your snarky comment aside…wanting more competitive prices from a restaurant that never had more than a few tables filled at any time is a bad thing?
Agreed.
You focusing on cheaper prices instead of better food says more about your palette than your wallet.
you must have never gone there then… because you got a dinner salad, garlic bread and a huge plate of spagetti for $9.50 with tax it comes to $10.45.. if you want cheap food buy some prego and make it yourself. Good luck with it, bet you will still spend more then $10.45
Right, I heard the new owners have a secret way to lower the prices and keep everything else the same. That always works.
Lived in Magnolia for 22 years and haven’t been as many times as I’ve been to the Gim Wah
ZERO
I hoe the New Owners Spruce it up a bit
What a worthless post…what would you know about either restaurant if you have never been to them?
We will miss Christopher and Liza. Best spaghetti in town and garlic bread. It won’t be the same. Jmotorman
Always liked Luigi’s for drop in casual dinners. Sorry to see the old regime fold up. But here is hoping that the new regime will be just as good!!! Welcome!!!!
Hopefully the new owners can keep some of the traditional favorites, while still modernizing the menu a bit. I’d like to see some daily specials and new dishes. Best wishes to all– the folks who got their money out of it and can reture as well as the new owners.
Hopefully the new owners can keep some of the traditional favorites, while still modernizing the menu a bit. I’d like to see some daily specials and new dishes. Best wishes to all– the folks who got their money out of it and can reture as well as the new owners.
It’s a nice space. It needs some TLC and perhaps a bit of marketing. As a matter of fact, the Village should get on the stick in that regard.
Luigi’s closing is a death in the family. No disrespect to the new owners, but they have a very high bar to clear
Luigi’s closing is a death in the family. No disrespect to the new owners, but they have a very high bar to clear
Luigi’s closing is a death in the family. No disrespect to the new owners, but they have a very high bar to clear
Luigi and I have had 17 wonderful years in Magnolia, and we want to thank everyone for your support and friendship. We will miss being part of the community that we have loved all these years. It’s time for luigi and I to take it easy for awhile. We left Luigis in great hands, and it’s our hope and wish that you show them all the love and support you have given us all these years. We wish everyone health and happiness, until we meet again… Luigi & Liza
Luigi and Liza – My husband and I will miss your warmth toward your customers and your amazingly wonderful pizza. Your crust was the best we have had and the toppings were fresh and flavorful and wonderful combinations. We tried the new owner’s pizza last weekend and were very disappointed. The combinations were limited (pepperoni on most, no Mediterranean, flavorless tomatoes, hardly any feta when feta was listed as a topping). The crust is flavorless. We are sorry to say that we won’t be ordering from them. It is unclear why they so severely changed the menu when keeping the name of a Magnolia “institution”. Good luck to the two of you. We will miss your business.
I’m surprised to hear someone give a review like this. Our family decided to give the new owners a try, and are VERY glad we did. It is a breath of fresh air having a newer style of pie in the Village and our experience was excellent! The new owners are rather cordial and personable, and despite the claims in the above review (Flavorless crust??? Are you insane???) the pizza is delicious! I would like to see a kid’s menu from the new owners, but they are more than accommodating offering 1/2 orders of the pastas for our children and even encouraging substitutions or 1/2 and 1/2 toppings on the pizzas. Getting all bent out of shape because the new owners didn’t change the name is just plain silly.
I’m surprised to hear someone give a review like this. Our family decided to give the new owners a try, and are VERY glad we did. It is a breath of fresh air having a newer style of pie in the Village and our experience was excellent! The new owners are rather cordial and personable, and despite the claims in the above review (Flavorless crust??? Are you insane???) the pizza is delicious! I would like to see a kid’s menu from the new owners, but they are more than accommodating offering 1/2 orders of the pastas for our children and even encouraging substitutions or 1/2 and 1/2 toppings on the pizzas. Getting all bent out of shape because the new owners didn’t change the name is just plain silly.
As long-time Luigi’s customers with great fondness for Chris and Eliza and their wonderful boys, we have been thrilled to see what Christina and Jason have done so far with this restaurant. Fresh organic greens in fantastic, creative salads. Lighter and unique pasta dishes. More flavorful ingredients. A roasted pepper and Feta appetizer to die for. Homemade desserts. Nice wines. They are lovely people, willing to accommodate customers, and are slowly updating the menu to reflect the variety that people want, and the flavors that Christina delights in offering. Jason tells us that they will be changing the name of the restaurant as soon as they get enough money ahead to get a new sign. We love the fact the Christina and Jason have taken over this favorite spot and are giving it and their customers tender loving care. This is a place where you can eat healthily and delightfully on a modest budget.
Well, I gave the “new” Luigi’s another chance tonight. Gale is at a bridal shower, and while I love being surrounded by beautiful women, I decided I didn’t want to be the only man there:-) With me there, the ladies might feel uncomfortable man-bashing:-)
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Since we were disappointed the first two times we tried the new owners in the first month they opened (February 2011), and Gale now refuses to go in the place (it’s that Italian vendetta thing:-) I decided to go in and giver their macronada a try. They didn’t have it in the beginning, but apparently they got a lot of requests for it, so they put it on their menu.
The first two times, one sit down dinner, and one take out, we were not happy with the results. The owners seem like nice enough folks. We’ve only talked to Jason who’s out front, and his wife, Christina is in the kitchen. The first time we ordered pasta – I think Gale got the meat sauce and I went with the marinara. The pasta was overcooked, under-drained with standing water in the plate, and the sauce tasted like someone had dumped a bunch of sugar in it, but with little other spice. Oh, and when Gale got her side Caesar, it was made with iceberg lettuce. Don’t know if they’ve fixed that or not.
The next try was sandwiches to go – they are doing sandwiches, meatball, Italian sub, etc. I got Gale the meatball sandwich, and I went with the Italian sub. The meatballs were just okay, not much flavor, and there was the overly sweet tomato sauce again. My sub was passable, but the quality of the salami and ham weren’t that great in my opinion. We both like Romio’s sandwiches better.
After dropping Gale off, I decided to go and give the macronada a try. They have something they call, “The best salad anyone has ever had” or something like that. That should probably be a clue – no one names a salad that. Anyway, the salad is mixed greens with some kind of special dressing, some walnuts that I think are dipped in honey then dusted with cinnamon (those were good) and a couple of dried cranberries. The salad (admittedly it’s included in the price of the macronada – $11.95) amounted to about 10 leaves of various greens, about 6 little walnut chunks the size of large raisins, and the aforementioned pair of dried cranberries. It may have been the smallest salad I’ve ever seen, but fairly tasty. I ordered a glass of pinot grigio for $6, and that was okay.
Then came the much-anticipated macronada. Again, overcooked pasta, but at least drained this time. There was some yellow liquid in the bottom of the bowl that had a butter flavor, but was far short of the old macronada swimming in butter. And as hard as I looked, I could not find one piece of garlic in the dish – Chris used to throw in about a handful of sliced fresh garlic and brown that in the butter making the dish reek of garlic – you gotta be a garlic lover, and we are. There was a mild garlic flavor, but nothing like the old days. Even the feta cheese didn’t seem to have much flavor, but by then I may have just been so PO’d that I didn’t care. I reached for the shaker of parmesan cheese, and ground a bunch of black pepper on it to give it flavor. My guess is that they make up some butter concoction, probably with garlic powder, for the garlic bread, and that’s what goes in the macronada.
So, now I’m depressed that Luigi’s has dropped off our list of inexpensive and tasty places for a bite to eat close to home. I understand that everyone cooks differently. My grandmothers fried chicken or bolognese sauce will be different from every other grandmother’s cooking, but I want flavor in my food. I want tomato sauce that tastes like tomatoes, and hopefully with some herbs and spices, not sugar. If a dish advertises garlic, I want to taste garlic, big time.
I won’t go so far as to tell people not to try it – everyone likes something different, but if you were a fan of Chris’ great macronada, or mediterranean pizza, you’re probably not going to get too excited about the new Luigi’s.