“Everything we do is really focused on making people happy. That's the most rewarding thing. We could do 300 dinners, if we [mess] up one, I don't sleep,” Vitiello said.
Food was always front and center in the Bronx native’s family, and Vitiello remembers his mother, father, aunts and uncles all cooking in the kitchen. He worked in the restaurant industry downstate as a teen and eventually enrolled in the New York Restaurant School before opening up the first Augie’s in Larchmont in 1990. Thirteen years later, he sold that location to an employee and moved to the Capital Region, opening Augie’s on Route 50.
That location was leveled in a 2013 fire and just two months later, Vitiello opened Augie’s on Low Street in Ballston Spa. A few years later, Vitiello, who lives in Saratoga Springs, added an Augie’s To Go location on Lake Avenue in Spa City, offering prepared trays and takeout. The Ballston Spa venue is sizable, with four dining rooms, the walls adorned with track memorabilia, along with signed photos from New York Yankees players (whom Vitiello previously catered for).
There’s also plenty of elephant statuettes, their tusks all pointing up, echoing the restaurant’s logo. Vitiello recently sat down with The Gazette to talk about his culinary roots and what’s kept customers coming back to Augie’s. Q: What brought you to the restaurant industry? Did you grow up cooking with your family members? A: In an Italian household, you are around cooking quite a.