Barone's Restaurant Closing

PLEASANTON, CA — Barone’s Restaurant, a community cornerstone specializing in fine Italian dining, announced Tuesday that it will close Saturday after 29 years.

“When we first opened our doors all those years ago, we couldn’t have imagined the incredible journey Barone’s would take us on,” owners Joe and Maricela Barone wrote on their social media pages. “Barone’s has been more than just a restaurant - it has been the place where we raised our family and where friends became family…We are deeply grateful for the love, support, and friendship you have shown us throughout the years. Barone’s wouldn’t have become the vibrant, welcoming gathering place it is today without all of you.”

The restaurant also announced that it was closing in November 2022 due to “Covid, inflationary pressures, and staffing shortages.” Patch reached out to Barone’s for clarification.

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.

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.