Sole Proprietor, Rico Lorenzini was born in Italy in 1938 in the small town of Ponte Buggianese in Tuscany, northwest of Florence. As a young man he worked at his uncle's restaurant in the city of Turin, in Northern Italy. He later moved to Milan where he trained for a few years before returning to Tuscany. Very close to his hometown is Montecatini Terme, a city renowned for its therapeutic spring waters. There, he worked at a five star hotel,
"Il Centrale."

Rico immigrated to the United States in 1958 to join his father who had immigrated to Pittsburgh in 1955. After being in this country for less than a month, not being able to speak English, he started as a line cook at a famous restaurant in Mount Washington. In less than five years He became the Executive Chef and kept the position until his resignation in February of 1977. Rico's special talent for preparing new and creative dishes for his clientele made him known as one of the best chef in the city of Pittsburgh.

Rico's Restaurant opened on West Liberty Avenue with a partner in July of 1977. After only a few years, Rico separated from his partner and opened a place of his own at the current site in North Hills on November 3rd, 1979. John Fred Pitrie owned the building until 1953, operating a hotel known as the Pine Ridge Hotel. In 1955 Louis J. Silvioni (of Silvioni's Restaurant on Babcock Blvd) bought the property and later opened the Montelu Restaurant, which became L'Antico Restaurant in 1977. In 1979 the restaurant changed ownership again and became Rico's Restaurant, accommodating only fifty people. Through the years, Rico enlarged the building to add a banquet room that holds one hundred guests (1981), a spacious bar and a comfortable lounge. Finally, an additional dining room and a wine cellar that accommodates our extensive wine list, a vertical selection of over 250 wines with more than 3500 bottles. The restaurant currently seats nearly three hundred people.

Executive Chef, Dennis DeLuca, is the only employee that was with Rico when he opened in 1979. Nevertheless he is not the only one with numerous years of experience in Rico's kitchen. Chef Anne Marie Greco has been here since 1993 and Chef Mark Nickel joined Rico's in 2003 after eight years at Piccolo Mondo Restaurant, the last three years of which he was the Executive Chef. Even though there is a lot of trust and talent in Rico's kitchen, Rico continues to supervise and add his special touch. Rico owned Piccolo Mondo Restaurant in Green Tree (South Hills of Pittsburgh) from 1986 until 2002. His son David was the General Manager from 1989 until December of 2002, when the restaurant was sold and David returned to Rico's to add his own successful techniques.

For those of you wondering if Rico has retired and gone off to Italy since David has returned, do not worry; your friend is still here ready and waiting to greet you even though he is semi-retired�. Rico only works fifty to sixty hours a week now! From the beginning of 2007 we have been in a remodeling phase. Some of the changes we have made include: a large 46" flat screen HDTV in our lounge area, a completely renovated banquet room and new canopies above the bar windows and over the entrance. We have more plans for the up-coming years.

Please come and visit us!