Riccardo’s Ristorante in Schaumburg closes, new concept for location in preparation

The closing of Riccardo’s Ristorante in Schaumburg this week brings to an end a 35-year story involving both the people behind it and the beloved business itself. However, plans are already underway to introduce a new dining concept there.

Or maybe an old one.

Co-owner Katy Garcia said the recent sale of the restaurant’s assets, long planned due to challenges encountered during the pandemic, turned out to be a happy coincidence as her husband and business partner Waldo is currently battling health issues and will be undergoing triple heart bypass surgery.

“It would have been more difficult if this sale had not gone through,” Katy said.

The prospective new operator of the space at 1170 S. Roselle Road plans to open the first Midwest location of what he describes as a very old, very famous restaurant brand from Delhi, India.

Two other parties interested in continuing the Riccardo concept didn’t come forward until after the deal was done, but Katy said she could give each of them everything they needed to know to set up shop elsewhere.

Riccardo’s in Schaumburg opened in August 1989. Katy was the original manager of a partnership that received permission to use the name Riccardo’s in Chicago. Partner Alex Koustas had worked there for 20 years and changed the plan to convert the Schaumburg restaurant into an upscale Giordano’s.

Waldo, who had also made a name for himself as a chef in Chicago, was hired in Schaumburg in 1992. He and Katy met and married there, but she left the company in 1994 to take a job in the aviation industry so she could devote more time to her new role as stepmother.

“It was really hard working here day and night,” she said of her life as a restaurant manager.

Katy rose through the ranks in her new field, despite the catastrophic changes that followed September 11, 2001. When Riccardo’s property faced foreclosure in 2003, she and Waldo were able to step in and take over.

Customers never knew how close the restaurant was to closing at the time, instead of experiencing a quick change of ownership, Katy said.

“We were young and naive,” she laughed. “We thought we could do anything. It was mainly our desire to be a neighborhood business. For many years, my motivation to work was that I could help people. I was always that person. Whatever I had to do, I was that person.”

Over time, the community realized that the owners of Riccardo’s were more than just businesspeople, and Katy received the Schaumburg Township Volunteer of the Year award in 2016.

Former Schaumburg Township Supervisor Mary Wroblewski has been a longtime friend of Katy’s and said she, too, was recently recognized for her service by the Schaumburg chapter of the Sons and Daughters of Italy in America.

“She is a treasure for Schaumburg,” Wroblewski said. “She will be greatly missed by the organizations and all the people in the community. It’s just hard to believe that she will be gone. This was the place to have birthday parties and small graduation parties. Groups would meet there. And to top it all off, the food was great!”

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has hit most restaurants hard, Katy says she actually had to comply with all regulations and close her business because she suffers from a blood clotting disorder that makes her more susceptible to the infectious disease.

At some point, when their lease was up, Katy and Waldo switched to a month-to-month lease to have more freedom in considering their options.

Not even their most loyal customers knew about their plans to resign until the deal they were hoping for was confirmed last weekend.

Even though they are now making plans for themselves, they are still helping others. Katy was there on Tuesday to donate items to St. Peter Lutheran Church.

“We’re just very grateful for all the years that people have come here,” she said. “There comes a point where you just say we have to let go and live our lives.”