Marcelli’s Italian Restaurant, the mom and pop joint run by the family that’s been making ravioli in Eureka for 90 years, will close for good after tonight’s dinner service. The ravioli will still be made in the back and shipped to stores for at least a little while, but the Marcelli family has no comment yet on long-term plans for the business and the building, which it owns.
The recipe for ravioli and sauce dates back to Attilio Marcelli, who immigrated from Northern Italy, partnered with two other men on a Eureka factory in 1911 and later bought it outright. The ravioli factory has been passed down father to son, ending with Angelo and his son Mike who run the business Mike’s great grandfather started, with Angelo’s wife, Roberta, handling the cooking in the Fifth Street restaurant.
The family decided back in May to shut down, says Mike Marcelli, adding that it’s lack of help, not lack of business that led them to the decision. “If we could find help to cook, we’d still be doing it,” he says. He says it was either close now or in another four years at the most anyway, and his parents would like to travel and enjoy life.
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This article appears in Move the Decimal Point.
Gunna miss that little haven
The best food anywhere in this part of the state. Sad to see it close. It’s been a problem finding workers ever since Obama rolled back the welfare reform of the Clinton era.
Lived here 45 years and never saw it!
Too many people today expect “success” with others doing most of the work.
Pare down the business with just a few best meals, limit the open hours, price competitively, offer generous portions and as business begins to grow you can pay more to attract competent help.
It was Obama’s fault! lol, nothing like taking responsibility for your own mistakes. Incidentally, although I would never put a foot in Mazzotti’s, the Arcata Plaza has two exceedingly successful sushi restaurants, one block apart.