Our Story

Fred Kirshy and Louie Hallal were cousins who learned the trade the long way — working and running Italian restaurants and diners around Pawtucket, Rhode Island through the 1950s and '60s.

They decided to go out on their own and landed in Brooksville, opening Luigi's in a small spot between what was then Publix and Hogan's Drug Store. The menu was pizza and sandwiches. That was it.

It was hard, the way it always is for a new small business. They stuck it out on a philosophy that took three words to explain: treat people right.

Before Brooksville there was Brooklyn. The family had been in the restaurant business a long time before Luigi's ever opened its doors in Florida.

Shortly after the move to Broad Street, George Kirshy Sr made the trek down from Brooklyn to join his father in the family business. He never left.

After nine years in the original room, Luigi's moved just down the road to 750 South Broad Street — the heart of Brooksville, and still our address today. The new place seated three times as many people, and the menu grew with it: lasagna, ravioli, manicotti, hoagies, salads, beer on draft.

The local paper came out to write it up. "For nine years," it began, "Luigi's has been a favorite spot for the Brooksville lunch bunch."

George Kirshy Jr joined the business full-time as a manager, after serving as a Major in the United States Army. Third generation, same kitchen.

Many things about Luigi's have changed over the years, but the recipes, the food, and the philosophy of always treating people right remain exactly the same.

— George Kirshy Sr and family

George still starts every morning making the fresh dough for our pizzas and breadsticks, the homemade meatballs, the Italian dressing, and a good deal more besides.

Mrs. Steckle and her family were among Luigi's very first customers, back in 1970. They kept coming for more than fifty years.

When Doris turned ninety, we put it on the sign out front. That is more or less the whole business, explained.