Fred and Rita Grimaldi opened a small restaurant on Bleecker Street in Utica in 1943. They were young newlyweds, married with one child. They lived over the restaurant, which served lunches and dinner, and gave away pieces of garlic pizza.

During the next seven decades, three generations of Grimaldis opened and ran restaurants across Upstate New York. The scallopini, linguini with clams and house-cut chops became a part of family celebrations and wedding receptions for loyal customers from Syracuse to Albany. Stars like Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra stopped by. In Syracuse, the Grimaldi kitchen trained future restaurateurs who went on to open Rico's Ristorante, Casa di Copani and Joey's Classic Italian Dining.