Meglio's Grill and Bar - background and history

The origins of this restaurant are rooted in the history of south St. Louis and it's proud Italian community. Recipes that became favorites in the St. Louis area for decades came from the kitchen of our grandmother, Angelina Meglio.

Born near the Italian Adriatic coast in the small town of San Martino in Pensilis (translated), Angelina Guistaniano learned from an early age the lessons of hard work and self reliance. When she was nine, her father had decided like many others of this period to pursue a better life in America. Her mother continued to work in the fields as a farm laborer, while Angelina helped at home by learning to cook and taking care of her younger brother. She also attended sewing school with funds sent back by her father.

A family picture from 1916 with younger brother Tony and Angelina flanking Mama Carmela Guistaniano. Angelina’s father Francesco had already moved to America two years before. Like many Italians in St. Louis during this time, he had landed work at the massive Laclede Brick Works facility. He sent money back to Italy and saved to bring his family over with him. In March of 1920, mother and children finally embark on a grueling three month transatlantic passage. That was the first and last boat ride Angelina would ever take in her life.

She settled with her family in south St. Louis in July of 1920. In 1923, she met and married

Antonio Meglio, who had found his way to St. Louis from Buffalo after serving in the infantry in

World War One, He had emigrated to America thirteen years before from a farm near the

remote village of Pietraroja (translated). Together they raised five children, two daughters and

three sons. Like so many good immigrant families then and now, they were raised with an

unswerving respect for hard work, love of family and devotion to God and the Church.

In 1953, Luigi's Restaurant was born at the location of 3123 Watson Road near Hampton Avenue in south St. Louis. Word spread quickly, and soon it was standing room only as patrons lined the sidewalk to sample the wonderful flavors created in her then tiny kitchen. It was also during this time that pizza was to become a permanent part of the American palette, and Luigi’s pizza soon became the standard by which St. Louis style pizza would be identified.

The popularity of Luigi’s pizza grew so quickly that the restaurant’s capacity became strained. With necessity being the mother of invention, the family was forced to improvise. Working with Harry Wright, a local contractor and machine builder, Luca Meglio had two standard gas-fired Baker’s Pride ovens joined together with the addition of a conveyor belt feed system. The result of this was the first continuous feed pizza oven, an invention that has become a standard in the industry ever since.

Within three years, the small location expanded to take over space from adjoining businesses. Three more restaurants were opened in the years to follow, as well as a pizza plant that was later sold. The Meglio family owned and operated Luigi's Restaurants in the St. Louis area from 1953 until 1981.

John Meglio’s journey into the restaurant business extended from this legacy. Though too young at the time to have worked in the Luigi’s franchise, he nonetheless grew up surrounded by our family’s food and traditions. His interest drove him to seek out this knowledge with regular Saturday visits to grandma Angelina’s kitchen. As many who visited her over the years can attest, no one could escape a visit to Angelina’s home without being tempted and bewitched by some magical concoction from her knowing hands. John’s curiosity during these visits allowed him to go behind the performance curtain. There she personally taught him her many recipes and secret methods.

The passion for this food never left him, and while working in various jobs over the years he never lost his desire to do something more. In 2004, he finally decided he had to “put up or shut up”. He took a severance from his present company and started to lay the groundwork to launch his own restaurant. In November 2005, Meglio’s Italian Grill and Bar opened its doors. With a great deal of effort, old recipes were recreated and new ones introduced. The result is here. For a taste of something uniquely St. Louis, bring your appetite and be prepared to transport your taste buds to a better place.