Mauro Lusardi jokes about writing a book titled “Fifty Years Behind Bars” - a witty nod to his decades in the restaurant business alongside his brother Luigi. The two co-founders of the Lusardi restaurant empire have spent nearly half a century crafting a culinary legacy that spans generations. It all started with a leap of faith from Parma, Italy to Manhattan.

When they arrived in New York in 1971, Mauro and Luigi began as busboys and dishwashers, gradually working their way up to waiters before taking the plunge into ownership. Today, the brothers preside over an astonishing culinary empire: five family-owned restaurants on one side of Second Avenue between 77th and 78th streets.