RigaTony's Authentic Italian

About the Business

Specialties

Our restaurant moved from Chandler to Tempe on April 1st 2010. We have made literally thousands of friends in the last 16 years and it was a difficult decision to move even five miles down the road, but our lease had ended and it seemed like a perfect time to find a location that would make dining at RigaTony's easier and more enjoyable. We now have virtually unlimited parking (I hear a big hooray out there), patio dining, a separate take-out area, and a little more elbow room in our dining room. We serve Authentic Italian Food and have specials every week created by our amazing Chef Hutson. Go to our website for to view our menu and specials. Hope to see you soon! -Mike Lopercio, Owner & Chief Bottle Washer.

History

Established in 1994.

I longed to open a neighborhood Italian restaurant, the kind I had grown up with in Syracuse or had been enamored with when I visited Little Italy in New York City. Mexican restaurants have always been the staple of the Phoenix area but whenever I went out to eat I was always looking for that great home cooked Italian meal and I was usually disappointed. At some point in the early 90's I started making notes about what I would do if I could ever get the opportunity to create my own Italian restaurant from scratch. The inspiration for my visual was to imagine that I was constructing and developing my restaurant in New York's Little Italy district. I would distill, and unabashedly "borrow" the best elements of those vintage Italian-American restaurants; the aromas, the culture, the music, the mood and most important... the food. I filled a notebook full of notes and collected family recipes over the course of a couple of years and RigaTony's first opened in Chandler, August of 1994.

Meet the Business Owner

Business owner information

Chrissy L.

Business Owner

Chrissy was born in Livermore, CA to John & Barbara Dougherty. Chrissy's dad was of Irish decent born in Wichita, KS and her mom is Portuguese born and raised in Livermore. Chrissy has two sisters; Terry and Katie and one brother; Jimmy. Chrissy's status as middle daughter has served her loud voice and endless need to be heard well.Chrissy's family moved from Livermore to Casa Grande, AZ then to Reno, NV then to Pottsville, PA and back to Queen Creek, AZ in a quick matter of 9 years as her father's career lead them around the US. At the time (teen years) this seemed like a tragedy for the ages, but ultimately ended up being the perfect proving grounds for Chrissy to embrace, enjoy and adapt to varying cultures, situations and experiences.At the age of 13 Chrissy worked at Baskin Robbins in Reno. This may sound young to you, but it's true (there are docs to prove it) and child labor laws were different there 36 years ago! At 14 Chrissy became a Shift Supervisor and she was off to th