Barone's Restaurant To Close After 27 Years

PLEASANTON, CA — Barone’s Restaurant, a community cornerstone specializing in fine Italian dining, announced Thursday that it will close on December 22, after 27 years.

“The last few years have been difficult for us all, with Covid, inflationary pressures, and staffing shortages impacting day-to-day operations,” owners Joe and Maricela Barone wrote on the restaurant website. “We want to thank all of our wonderful patrons for their years of support - and for creating so many lasting memories with us and our great staff. We hope these last couple of months are a time for us to come together and make our final dining experiences just as special.

Patch reached out to the Barone family for further comment.

The restaurant has been offering upscale Italian cuisine, as well as numerous community events, at the corner of Main and St. John Street since 1995. According to the website, Joe and Maricela married in 1993, and two years later, fulfilled a longtime dream by buying the site of the historic Casanova’s Restaurant.

“After a bit of luck and a lot of hard work, Barone's Restaurant & Gardens has become a cornerstone of the community, and a ‘second home’ for many over the past nearly 30 years,” the website reads.

The comments reacting to the Facebook announcement can attest to that. “You will certainly be missed as this was my favorite restaurant in town,” one user wrote.

“We loved your hospitality, food and atmosphere that you created for Barone’s,” wrote another. “We will forever miss your both true passion of the icon Barone’s and will always have great memories of you both and your beautiful restaurant.”

“Thank you for all the fantastic meals and memories, Joe and Mari! We will truly miss Barone’s Restaurant,” wrote another.

The Barones initially tried to close the restaurant in early 2021, and proposed plans to redevelop the site into an 11-unit residential housing complex, according to a Pleasanton Weekly report. The plan was rejected by the Planning Commission, who cited the need to include commercial space per the updated Downtown Specific Plan and asked the couple to submit an alternate plan. The site’s future is currently unclear.