As Luigi’s staff prepared for the Saturday night crowd on June 5, Sebastian Latch grabbed a carpet sweeper and did his part. The 7-year-old is not on the payroll yet, but if he follows in his cousins’ footsteps, he’ll be bussing tables in a little less than a decade.
Three of his cousins are part of the fifth generation who are making their start in the family-owned business.
“There’s something special about working here,” said Kalli Stewart, a 19-year-old Augusta University student, who has grown up in Luigi’s and has worked as a waitress and hostess.
MORE: Agape Chocolate Uses Profits to Feed Hungry Children
She remembers playing hide-and-seek under the tables when she was a little girl.
Her mother, Penelope Ballas-Stewart, is the restaurant manager, and her story is similar to that of her daughter.
“This is the only job I’ve ever had,” said Ballas-Stewart, who will take over the reins when her father, Chuck Ballas Jr., retires.
Nicholas “Papou Nick” Ballas started Luigi’s at 590 Broad St. in 1949. He immigrated to the United States from Greece around 1920, and settled in New England before heading South, where he started a restaurant, according to the history at the restaurant’s website.
Because most people in Augusta were more familiar with Italian food instead of Greek, he put Italian dishes on the menu. His portrait hangs over the front entrance.
By the mid-1950s, his health began to fail and his son, Chuck, and daughter-in-law, Penny, moved from Massachusetts to help out the elder Ballas.
Chuck Ballas Jr. called his mother, Penny Ballas, a key figure in the restaurant’s success.
“She put her all into this place,” he said.
Penny Ballas died at the age of 91 in 2020, but she still had a part in Luigi’s until the pandemic shut the restaurant’s doors for several months. Chuck Ballas Jr. said that his wife, Debi, has been another key to its success.
[adrotate banner=”54″]
Chuck Sr. and Penny Ballas operated the restaurant until 1987 when Chuck Ballas Sr. retired.
Chuck Ballas Jr. had worked a variety of jobs, including retail and construction before starting a pizza joint called Lil’ Luigi’s in the late 1970s. He operated it until working at both Luigi’s and Lil’ Luigi’s became too much. He sold Lil’ Luigi’s to a cousin, who eventually closed it.
Over the years, he tweaked some of the original recipes, adding ingredients to enhance the flavor.
The building is one of the oldest commercial buildings in the city of Augusta, according to Erick Montgomery, executive director of Historic Augusta, who said that some of the earliest records indicate the building was owned by David Reid in 1828. The Reid family founded Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church. Chuck Ballas Jr. said the building was constructed in 1815.
The building escaped the 1916 fire which destroyed multiple structures in downtown Augusta, including some directly across the street from what is now Luigi’s, he said.
The restaurant was connected to two adjacent buildings, according to Chuck Ballas Jr.
The inside of Luigi’s hasn’t changed much. It has pressed tin ceilings, crystal chandeliers and its signature jukeboxes with its jukebox table selectors. The songs of Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra and others from the 1940s and 1950s still ring out during Luigi’s business hours.
Golf-related items decorate the walls. Many Masters champions have frequented Luigi’s over the decades. Golfer Ben Crenshaw was a guest during the 2021 tournament.
The pandemic took its toll on Luigi’s, according to Ballas-Stewart. Out of concern for COVID-19, she said they shut the doors longer than other restaurants did, but she said they are hopeful for the future. And business seems to be on the rebound.
MORE: KAMO Has 74-Year History in Augusta
As she eyes the future, Ballas-Stewart looks up.
The second floor of the building has an oval room with beautiful curved walls and at one time was a nightspot known as the Honeydew Lounge. The room also served as a meeting space for an Augusta medical group. Faded lettering appears on the walls.
“It is unbelievable,” she said of the area.
Luigi’s is open from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com.
[adrotate banner=”44″]
