The DiCarlo Story

By Cindy Ladage

The DiCarlo story, is a story of love, hard work and dedication.  DiCarlo’s is owned and operated by Salvatore and Vita DiCarlo, both born in Sicily, Italy.  The DiCarlo’s have been in business in Virden, where they have resided, since March 26, 1976, 45 years and counting!  Sal and Vita have raised three children and are proud grandparents to seven grandchildren.

“On June 6, 1966, we moved to America, St. Louis to be exact, I was ten years old, and it was me and my parents along with my three sisters,” shared Vita.  “We came on a ship, and it took us a whole week to get across the ocean and we entered the United States through Ellis Island, New York, a sight I will never forget.  As we made our way to St. Louis, we stayed with an uncle for a while until my parents could find jobs.  My sisters and I went to catholic school, where there the nuns taught us how to speak English,” added Vita.

Vita and her family would go back to Italy often and visit her grandmother and the rest of the family.  Fast forward to Vita being 18, during one of her visits back home, a family friend wanted to introduce her to a nice young man, Salvatore, age 27.  When they met, Vita says, “he was very bashful”, but the two hit it off and became engaged before leaving to go back to the states. They wrote each other and talked on the phone for about a year.  While back home, Vita had to prepare herself for becoming an American citizen in order for Salvatore to come stateside and get married.

Once Salvatore came to the states, they had three months to get married, or he would have to back to Italy.  Vita at the time was also working a full-time day shift at an insurance company and a night shift at Famous Barr just about every day of the week to save money, so that they could open a pizzeria after they got married. Once Salvatore was in the United States, he went to Flora, Illinois, and stayed with relatives of Vita to learn the pizza business and the recipes.  Vita’s uncle Joe DiMaggio, (no relation to the famed ball player) and her cousin Vita and her husband Salvatore Galati were the ones to teach the DiCarlos about running a pizzeria.  Vita states that she would drive back and forth from Flora to St. Louis to see Salvatore.

Salvatore and Vita married in January of 1976, and with just enough money Vita had saved, they were on a quest for a small town to open their very own pizzeria. Driving around one day they came into Virden, Vita said, “it was a cute little town and we liked it.”

“Ray and Shirley Wonaronski were one of the very first people to welcome us into town.  We rented some space that was big enough for 40 people from the Wonaronskis,” Vita stated.  They were also briefly open in Pawnee operating two stores with the help of family.

The DiCarlos business took off, Salvatore began to modify some of the recipes to what people know and love today.  The DiCarlo’s make fresh every day the pizza dough and sauces.  “Salvatore also makes the Alfredo sauce and chili that is used for our taco salads and Mexican spaghettis,” Vita added. 

They worked non-stop for ten years before they took any sort of time off for vacation.  “We start our day around five or six a.m. prepping all the dough and sauces, my husband mainly does this, and I come in and help is there is too much to prep,” said Vita.

Since the pandemic hit DiCarlos has had to adjust their hours. “When it first came about, we closed down for a week, I was scared, my husband was considered high risk, suffering from a heart disease and I have a special needs grandson, we had to make sure we would all be safe.  We didn’t know what was going to happen.  I slowly got enough courage to open back up after a week.  I thought about all my employees that depend on their job with us as the only source of income.  We opened back up to offering only curbside pick-up and delivery, business has gone down some, but we are thankful we are able to still continue to move forward.  We are still continuing like so because now we can’t find help to open up fully.  I hope that we can soon because I miss seeing the customers, they are like family.  We appreciate all the continued support,” Vita stated.

“W have had people come from all over and many regulars.  Being located on the old Route 66 highway we have seen many people from California and even from countries like France traveling down the highway and stop in to eat.  It is really something when we see people from all over come to try our food.  We hope things can get back to normal as soon as possible and we can find the help we need to open back up and see our great customers,” Vita added.

Salvatore and Vita have three children, Carlo is the oldest and he is married to Kate, and they have two boys, Salvatore (11) and Nino (8) and they reside in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.  Next is Anna Maria who is married to Francesco Lentini of Auburn, they have two children, Pietro (9), and Luisa (5).  They own and operate Franchinos in Auburn.  Lastly is their daughter Josephine who is married to Lance Hickey of Virden, and they have three children, Anthony (9), Cristina (5), and Lorenzo (4).  Josephine currently works at the pizzeria as well alongside her parents.

To place an order for curbside or delivery call (217) 965-5323.