Entrepreneur oral history with Amedeo DeAngelis

Amedeo DeAngelis is a Pennsylvania native who came to Raleigh in 1963. After attending college, Richard “Amedeo” DeAngelis opened a small Italian restaurant to serve his family’s recipes, and over time the company has grown in size and has become an NC State and Raleigh favorite. His successes throughout his life are definitely ones to be mentioned and one will gain a whole new perspective on what it is like working in the food sector. Amedeo’s Italian roots, homemade recipes, and love for football led to his success in a very competitive sector. Amedeo also recalls segregation times in the South, when black employees weren’t encouraged to use “white” doors. In spite of being retired now, his family is part of the company that has taken over his business, which assures him that traditions will be kept alive for many years.

         I initially came to NC State from Reading, Pennsylvania, for school and to play football. I played both offensive and defensive tackle for the Wolfpack and was on the first ACC Championship team in NC State football history in 1957. In my time at NC State from 1954 to 1958, I noticed that there were not many places that offered subs and hoagies, a staple in the community of Reading. I figured that I would bring one of these places to Raleigh and that this would be a good business opportunity as well as a chance for me to be my own boss. After my college football career at NC State, I returned to Reading where I was a football coach at my former high school. In 1963, I came back to Raleigh and opened Amedeo’s Italian Restaurant in a 600-square foot building with only 16 seats. The menu, as well as the building, grew as it became more popular. More food options were added, such as pizza and a variety of pastas, to satisfy returning customers. Soon the restaurant expanded into neighboring businesses, taking over a Laundromat, a salon and furniture store to become what it is today.

As with all businesses, my restaurant has had its share of ups and downs through its 53 years of existence. Of course with other Raleigh favorites and local restaurants in the area, there has been a lot of competition, but being so close to NC State has helped us stay afloat even during the hardest of times. There are busier points throughout the year, depending on what is going on around the university, as far as sports and other events. Each year, when students are at home for the summer, business is slow. The busiest times of the year are around the time of NC State football and basketball, as well as when the Carolina Hurricanes hockey is in action. When the Hurricanes came to Raleigh, they brought new business for our restaurant.

You might think that the busiest days in the year at the restaurant are Fridays, or Thanksgiving, but in reality the busiest day is freshman move-in day at NC State. Through the 50 years that we have been on Western Boulevard, thousands of students have come and made many lifelong memories, and as they have had children who have ended up going to NC State as well, they bring them for lunch or dinner after they have moved them into their dorm. It is really nice to see the generations of families in the restaurant on that particular day each year.

These people return to the restaurant to reminisce on old memories of when they were in college and because they thoroughly enjoyed the food. The most popular dish in my restaurant is lasagna and other popular options include different sandwiches and a variety of other pastas. We also offer a very interesting drink option that is relatively unique to the restaurant. This drink is cherry cider, which is a combination of apple cider and a delicious cherry syrup. Competition in the food industry is huge and businesses must make sure they set themselves apart. At Amedeo’s, we try to do that by offering unique options and menu items.

Some people ask me where I’ve learned to cook and the answer is “no where, really.” I learned most of what I knew from watching my grandmother and mother cook when I was younger. In those days, they did not have recipe books that told you to put “1.5 ounces of that, 2 ounces of salt.” When they cooked, they figured out the recipe by taste and by a lot of adlibbing. It was family recipes that led to the success of my restaurant.

Working in the food industry is very tedious and takes a lot of time and effort to be successful.  One major problem is the time taken away from one’s family. I am a family man and a lot of times decisions I made concerning the restaurant affected my family. As our restaurant got bigger, the need for managers arose. I could have hired a few, but I did not trust having managers. Therefore, I decided to run the restaurant by myself as much as possible.

When asked what my words of advice would be for someone wanting to go into the food industry, I tell people to make sure they have enough money to start up with. There aren’t too many “mom and pop operations” anymore. It’s mainly corporations and franchises, but having enough for start-up costs is key. Another piece of advice I give is to keep it small and don’t expand. Once you do that you get more employees, which means more headaches and it’s not worth it. Within the foodservice industry, we are an independent restaurant which means we are able to develop our own theme, menu, decor, and services, so... keeping it small has been the best option for us!

As far as marketing goes, I was working at Amedeo’s in the 60’s, which means the main marketing tools back then were word of mouth and advertisements. The ways to reach our clients have completely evolved over the years. We are now on Facebook, Twitter and other various websites.  We have also added a new catering business, which is definitely a lot of hard work but our customers love having their meals catered!  

 Please share with us a fond memory from your life as an entrepreneur…

There was a young man named Lenelle Williamson, who was the first employee I ever hired, in 1963. He was a very young, teenage black man. Of course in the early 60’s in the South, racial segregation was a huge issue and if you were a young black man working at a white man’s establishment in the South, you had to walk a straight and narrow path. There were certain things that you could and could not do, and one of those things was you couldn’t go in and out of the front door; you always had to go in and out of the back door. Since Lenelle was the first employee, it took a couple of weeks for me to realize what was going on, he was always going in and out the back door and everyone else was going through the “white” door. I immediately told Lenelle that I wasn’t raised that way and if it was more convenient for him to go through the front door, he could. This created instant loyalty. The great thing about the story is that Lenelle just retired about a year and a half ago. He worked at the restaurant for over 50 years after that encounter. Back in the days, minimum wage was 85 cents an hour and I immediately realized how special Lenelle was. So I gave him a 15 per cent raise, and Lenelle stayed loyal throughout the years.

In the food industry, not only is staff loyalty important, but customer loyalty is another big part.  Over the years the restaurant has been successful because of consistency across the board.  Being in the business since 1963, it was time for me to hand it down and let someone else take the reigns. In 2010, a company named Wolfgang Inc, consisting of David Harris and Rodney Byrd, purchased the restaurant. My daughter and son-in-law are also shareholders in the business which helps to make sure the traditions stay alive. Customer loyalty has been what keeps us going throughout the years, and even though I am not working at the restaurant anymore, I am confident that customers will still be able to continue to enjoy the unique flavors and environment provided by Amedeo’s.

This oral history was researched and written by McKenzie Livengood and Locan Sims, under the supervision of Bruno S. Ferreira.