News + Reviews - Liliana's Italian Kitchen | Pasta, Pizza & Fresh Italian Sandwiches

We Won St. Louis Magazine's Pizza Bracket Again

Tue, 05 Oct 2021 16:00:00 GMT

Liliana’s WON St. Louis Magazine’s Food Fight: Pizza Bracket again... With 64 competitors and 6 rounds of eliminations, this is the second year in a row we have clinched the title! We are so grateful for everyone who voted for us. THANK YOU!

We were also the runner up in the “Pizza Connoissers of St. Louis” pizza bracket. Thanks to everyone who voted of us in that bracket as well! Pizza Connoissers of St. Louis is a Facebook Group. If you are on Facebook and would like to join: click here

Honored by St. Louis Magazine's A-List Recognition

Tue, 23 Jun 2020 17:00:00 GMT

We are so honored by the recognition that Liliana's Italian Kitchen received from St. Louis Magazine and their A-List 2020 awards. A BIG THANKS to all who voted for Lilianas!

Hidden Gem Restaurant: WINNER
Pizza (St. Louis Style): FINALIST
Italian Restaurant: Final 5 Entrant

When was the last time you dined with us? Our dining room is open for lunch & dinner (and our drive thru window remains open).

Don’t forget to call us for your catering needs too: (314) 729-1800 . And just in case you were wondering, we will be open on July 4th.

Come visit us!

George Mahe features Liliana's Pizza on Great Day St. Louis

Thu, 30 Jan 2020 15:00:00 GMT

Did anyone else see George Mahe on KMOV Channel 4’s Great Day St. Louis talking about St. Louis Magazine's pizza issue? Three delcious, local pizzas were featured in this clip , and yours truly was honored to be one. Be sure to listen to what George says about us and our Garlic Shrimp pizza! It is definitely one of our favorites (and yes, you can get it with lobster too). Then make sure a pizza from Liliana's is in your future!

The best new restaurants in St. Louis 2019

Tue, 24 Sep 2019 18:00:00 GMT

All of us at Liliana’s Italian Kitchen are both so very pound and so very humbled to have been included in the 2019 list of “The best new restaurants in St. Louis 2019” as determined by St. Louis Magazine. What a great recognition and definitely something all of us are excited about! Please note that this article appears in St. Louis Magazine's October 2019 issue as part of their "Best New Restaurants" feature. Some highlights:

In a Nutshell: In a humble strip center, veteran restaurateurs Tim and Kathy Pieri revive old-school Italian charm, from Rat Pack and Sopranos references to an oversized chalkboard menu with specials.

Dish: The combination of a winning homemade pizza crust and top-notch toppings (fried spinach, garlic shrimp, white anchovies, giardiniera, goat cheese) has made many a convert.

Drink: Go near (Bud Select), go far (Birra Moretti), or go nearby (Logboat Wheat Porter), but go for a beer with that pizza.

Tip: The Pieris campaigned to have customers drop off “Grandma’s dishes” and came up with enough plates for several restaurants: “Expensive, gaudy, classy—we love them all.”

Read full St. Louis Magazine Article

Liliana’s Italian Kitchen hasn’t been open a year, but diners know a good thing when they see it

Mon, 17 Jun 2019 16:36:00 GMT

Although an especially smug diner might find the decor passé, the strip mall location garish, and the St. Louis–style house salad unhip, there’s nothing pedestrian about satisfying food prepared with sincerity and care.

No matter what time you come into Liliana’s Italian Kitchen, you’ll find diners twirling forkfuls of tomato-sauced noodles, folding slices of piping-hot pizza, and devouring meaty sandwiches. You might also see a few people waiting for to-go orders by the deli case or at the takeout window. It’s impressive, considering that Liliana’s remains open between traditional lunch and dinner hours. The Italian-American restaurant hasn’t been open a year, but neighborhood diners know a good thing when they see it.

The 75-seat interior is painted marinara red and decorated with black-and-white photos of the Rat Pack. Empty double magnums of Chianti line a wall that separates the dining room and bar area. Twinkle lights are strung around the windows, and a large chalkboard lists daily specials. Sinatra plays softly in the background.

Like everything served at Liliana’s, starters are generous. Ethereal wisps of fried spinach top the fried calamari. Crispy-skinned chicken wings are coated in a blanket of shaved Parmesan and served with aioli. Bruschetta are laden with goat cheese and bacon and balanced with arugula, roasted red peppers, and balsamic.

Pastas are old-school classics: meat or eggplant lasagna, cannelloni, beef ravioli. The garlic shrimp rigatoni with roasted red peppers, fried spinach, tender shrimp, and a light cream sauce is particularly noteworthy. The meat-laden sauce on the enormously portioned spaghetti and meatballs adds a satisfying texture and a surprising amount of flavor.

Read full St. Louis Magazine Review

Liliana’s Old-School Italian Includes the City’s Best St. Louis-Style Pizza

Wed, 27 Feb 2019 15:00:00 GMT

Tim Pieri's passion for pizza goes far beyond a hobby, a job or even a love affair. It's his life's calling, a journey that started some 35 years ago with his first gig in the restaurant business, manning the ovens at the beloved Rossino's (may it rest in peace). Everything about the long-shuttered Central West End spot spoke to him — the pizza, the warm aroma of roasted garlic and Parmesan that perfumed the air, the old-school, dimly lit atmosphere. In his mind, it was everything a restaurant should be.

Even when he moved to Key West as a young adult, Pieri could not shake the pizza bug. Instead of landing a job at a beach bar or seafood shack, he found himself at a pizzeria, working there to perfect his craft before returning to St. Louis to jump back into the city's restaurant scene.

Though he was primed for a career in the pizza business, his life took a detour when, after returning home, he got a job managing the legendary downtown restaurant and nightclub Harry's Restaurant & Bar. After ten years, he became a 49 percent owner of the massive operation and ran the place for another fifteen before it served its last customers in 2016.

Through it all, Pieri's passion for pie never faded. In fact, he was so enamored with St. Louis-style pizza that he set out to write a book on the subject. His research took him to nearly every pizzeria in the St. Louis area — 70 restaurants in total — and made him an expert in all things Provel.

Read full Riverfront Times Review

Our critic savors 7 favorite dishes of 2018

Thu, 20 Dec 2018 15:00:00 GMT

St. Louis-style pizza • Tim and Kathy Pieri’s throwback Italian restaurant, named for their teenage daughter, will charm you one way or another. To my non-native-St. Louisan surprise, it was Liliana’s take on St. Louis-style pizza that won me over. Its crust, though very thin, has chew and character and can support topping combinations both basic and elaborate. Order a pie and try not to sing along with the Sinatra playing on the sound system.

Where 11836 Tesson Ferry Road • Menu Pizza, pasta and more Italian-American favorites • Hours Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Sunday (closed Monday)

Read full St. Louis Post-Dispatch Review

Liliana's Italian Kitchen is an old-school pizza-and-pasta charmer

Thu, 18 Oct 2018 14:00:00 GMT

The first time I walked into Liliana’s Italian Kitchen, Frank Sinatra was playing on the sound system. OK. As I waddle into middle age, I’m willing to grant one on-the-nose detail to a new restaurant. Then I noted Liliana’s sandwiches: the Tony, the Anthony Jr., the Paulie. OK. I also love “The Sopranos,” and softened by parenthood as well as middle-age, I can let a second cliché slide.

You can push me only so far, though. Was there a candle stuck inside a Chianti bottle on my table?

There wasn’t.

I probably would have forgiven it if there were.

Three-month-old Liliana’s doesn’t lean so much as bound into the St. Louis tradition of Italian-American dining. The restaurant’s bona fides begin with its unremarkable shopping-strip storefront on Tesson Ferry Road, roughly halfway between South Lindbergh Boulevard and Interstate 270. Fittingly, on my first visit I spotted the shopping strip’s electronic sign advertising Liliana’s as family-friendly before I saw Liliana’s itself.

Read full St. Louis Post-Dispatch Review

Dinner & A Show: Liliana’s Italian Kitchen

Thu, 20 Sep 2018 14:00:00 GMT

As its name suggests, Liliana’s Italian Kitchen, a casual restaurant that opened in Sappington in July, is serving home-style Italian cooking.

The eatery comes from husband and wife Tim and Kathy Pieri, who named the restaurant after their 13-year-old daughter. Tim Pieri brings 30 years of industry experience to the table, including co-owning Harry’s Restaurant & Bar, which closed in late 2016.

Liliana’s Italian Kitchen fills the approximately 2,800-square-foot space previously occupied by Molldeli’s Delicatessen, which the Pieris purchased in June with the intention to convert into its current incarnation. Molldeli’s Delicatessen’s previous owner, Brad Brockmeier, serves as Liliana’s Italian Kitchen’s general manager.

“My main thing was just creating a casual place with great food at a great price that people could enjoy,” Tim Pieri says. “It’s very family-oriented.”

The cozy space, which holds seats for 75 guests, received a coat of red paint, new furniture and classic décor from the Rat Pack era. A pickup window and delivery are also available for guests not looking to dine in.

Read full Ladue News Article

Liliana’s Italian Kitchen Now Open in South County, Serving St. Louis-Style Pizza, Pasta and More

Fri, 17 Aug 2018 14:00:00 GMT

A new casual Italian restaurant recently opened in Sappington. Liliana’s Italian Kitchen debuted on July 25, serving up homestyle Italian cooking.

The concept comes from husband and wife Tim and Kathy Pieri, who named the restaurant after their 13-year-old daughter. Tim brings 30 years of industry experience to the table, including serving as a co-owner of Harry’s Restaurant & Bar, which closed in late 2016.

Liliana’s fills the approximately 2,800-square-foot space previously occupied by Molldeli’s Delicatessen, which the Pieris purchased in June with the intention to convert into its current incarnation. Molldeli’s previous owner, Brad Brockmeier, serves as Liliana’s general manager.

“My main thing was just creating a casual place with great food at a great price that people could enjoy,” Tim says. “It’s very family-oriented.”

The cozy space, which holds seats for 75 guests, received a coat of red paint, new furniture and classic decor from the Rat Pack era. A pick-up window and delivery are also available for guests not looking to dine in.

Read full Feast Magazine Article

Liliana’s Italian Kitchen will open in South County next month

Fri, 08 Jun 2018 14:00:00 GMT

South County will welcome Liliana’s Italian Kitchen in the former home of Molldeli’s Delicatessen at 11836 Tesson Ferry Road in Sappington the first weekend of July.

Co-owners Tim and Kathy Pieri bought Molldeli’s in May and plan to integrate some of those sandwich recipes in the Liliana’s menu, which will feature items like pasta, pizza and in-house roasted meat. The couple plans to release the menu, which also includes family recipes, toward the middle of June. The majority of offerings at the new restaurant will range from $10 to $16.

“We will be bringing Brad Brockmeier on board to oversee the back of house, as well as take the title of general manager,” Tim Pieri said. “Brad was the previous owner and chef of Molldeli’s, along with his mother.”

The casual, family-friendly eatery, named after the Pieris’ daughter, will offer catering as well as delivery for catering and regular orders.

“I want this to be a place where people feel at home with the family-style environment and heartwarming recipes,” Pieri said.

Read full Sauce Magazine Article