GATES, N.Y. — As the COVID-19 pandemic shutters small businesses, communities can lose decades of tradition. But a century-old Italian restaurant hurt by the pandemic is still fighting to keep that tradition alive.

George D’Ambrosia and friends from his old neighborhood meet at Giuseppe’s nearly every week, for the food they’ve enjoyed since they were kids.

What You Need To Know

  • A century-old Italian restaurant hurt by the pandemic is still fighting to keep tradition alive

  • Giuseppe’s is considered a Gates staple

  • Marcy Chinappi’s great-grandfather opened the business with his brother after they returned from Italy with a special recipe

  • Now Marcy still runs the restaurant with his brother and father nearly 100 years later

“We talk, comradery, meet friends,” D’Ambrosia said. "Sometimes this place is packed, we all know each other. Even if we didn’t come in together, we still all know each other. “We must like the food, because we’re large enough to show how much we like it.”

Marcy Chinappi’s great-grandfather opened the business with his brother after they returned from Italy with a special recipe.

“He did it in a basement, but people started coming and he was making pizzas and the bread and stuff,” Marcy said.

And now, Marcy still runs the restaurant with his brother and father nearly 100 years later.

“We come in, we love it, we work hard every day and that’s how life is,” Marcy said.

And if his 17-year-old son wants to continue the business, it’ll be five generations of business.

“I’m like, dude, you can do this, but I want you to figure out exactly what you want to do,” Marcy said.

The restaurant has moved a few times, but is considered a Gates staple.

“We’ve catered baptisms, communions, graduation parties, weddings, and unfortunately funerals for the same family,” Marcy said. “For the same person.”

And it’s this tradition they tried to bring to Irondequoit in 2018 with a store across from Seabreeze Amusement Park.

“We were doing 200 pizzas a day on average,” Marcy said. “But it just got to be a little too much.”

Thin resources were spread even further during the pandemic, so they made the difficult decision to close after a short three years.

“It looked very abrupt to the community,” Marcy said. “But it was something that, over a couple months, you’re like how much longer can we go?”

Instead, the family wants re-focus on Gates, tradition and beyond.

“What I’m hopeful for is we get through this tough time, just like my great-grandfather did and his kids,” Marcy said. “They went through tough times the same way we did, and consolidating our company the way we did by closing in Irondequoit, we’re able to focus to move into the future. The next step.”

And for longtime residents like D’Ambrosia, that’s a reassuring thing.

“When you grow up and there’s something around that you’ve always been to, it’s always been there, it becomes a part of your life,” D’Ambrosia said. “It becomes a tradition."