Luigi’s Homemade Italian Food, the family-owned favorite beloved by locals and which served generations of Colorado Springs families for almost seven decades, has closed.
“After nearly 67 years in business, Luigi’s Restaurant is closing its doors. We have sold our building and closed the business,” said an unsigned written statement from the owners posted late Monday morning to the restaurant’s Facebook page. “We had planned on 2025 being our last year. We had an opportunity, and we took it. Les and I want to enjoy life before we get (too) old to do so.”
Married couple Gina Costley and Les Costley co-owned and ran the family business, working at Luigi’s for more than 30 years. Gina Costley’s parents, Leo and Anne Cervetti, opened the restaurant in 1958, in a small building adjacent to their home on East Mill Street. The restaurant quickly outgrew its original location, so in 1966, the family moved the restaurant to 947 S. Tejon St., where it operated ever since.
The Costleys had been working toward closing the restaurant for the last few years, the statement said.
Les and Gina Costley, shown in 2021, own Luigi’s Handmade Italian Food. Gina’s family opened the restaurant in 1958.
Christian Murdock/The Gazette
“There’s no sinister reason” for the closure, the couple said in a similar farewell statement posted to the restaurant’s website on Monday. “It’s just a quality of life decision.”
Billing itself on its website as “one of the oldest continuously family-owned and operated restaurants in Colorado Springs,” Luigi’s — its namesake an homage to Gina Costley’s great-grandfather — quickly grew a reputation and following for its recipes, taken from Costley’s father’s family.
Luigi’s dishes were known for their high-quality ingredients, and they changed little in the decades since the restaurant’s founding. Luigi’s opened with only a few tables and a small menu of spaghetti, lasagna and pizza, which over the years expanded to include staples like chicken marsala, chicken parmesan, manicotti, ravioli and fettucine. Luigi’s made its own sauces, meatballs, Italian sausage and several of its pastas.
Receive a weekly roundup of business news around El Paso County.
Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.
It became the place to enjoy a regular dinner, host business events, bring a date or celebrate milestone events. Original customers continued to return over the years — making regular patrons as well of their children and grandchildren.
Customers, many who have been eating at the restaurant for decades, reminisced on social media about their favorite dishes from Luigi’s, lamented the restaurant’s closure and wished the Costleys well in their retirement.
“Thank you for giving the Springs this gem for so long. I was 13 when I first stepped foot in your establishment. Thirty-six years later, it was like I stepped into a time machine. I will miss being able to have dinner fireside, but I congratulate you on an awesome career. Much love!” Gerald V Kahre commented on the Facebook post announcing the closure.
Karen Roderick, who reminisced about having her first date at Luigi’s with her now husband of more than 33 years, shared the sentiment.
“Thank you for your many years of beautiful memories and classic Italian Old World food,” Roderick commented on Facebook. “We wish you the best in retirement. All things shift, not end. We will remember. … I make my own manicotti with a crepe based on yours. Pillowy and soft like no other. Blessings. Grazie.”
On social media and on their website, the Costleys thanked their customers, Gina Costley’s parents and sisters, the couple’s extended family and their employees for their support over the years.
“We look forward to just staying home and relaxing on our deck. We want to spend time with our family and friends.
“We have sold our building, but our business is still on the market. Hopefully, one day, Luigi’s will rise again with new owners who will love it as much as our family has loved it,” the Costleys wrote.