Lillo’s Pizza closes its doors

By Connor Linskey
Posted 4/28/21

It survived a deadly fire but not a pandemic. After 46 years on Main Street in Walden, Lillo’s Pizza closed its doors last Wednesday.

Owner Lillo Calvaruso decided to close the business due …

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Lillo’s Pizza closes its doors

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It survived a deadly fire but not a pandemic. After 46 years on Main Street in Walden, Lillo’s Pizza closed its doors last Wednesday.

Owner Lillo Calvaruso decided to close the business due to dwindling sales caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The business has been family owned and operated since 1975. Calvaruso began there as co-owner before taking the reins as solo owner. The past several years he has run the business as its sole employee.

Calvaruso noted that the decision to close his restaurant was a difficult one. The establishment will forever hold a big place in his heart.

“The business has been my life,” he said. “My customers have been part of my family.”

Customers were disappointed to see the restaurant close.

“It’s my childhood…,” Walden resident Ron Lewis Jr. said regarding Lillo’s Pizza. “It’s everything.”

“It’s part of Walden history,...” said Toby Stiles, a Pine Bush resident who grew up in Walden. “Part of Walden is gonna be missed with him [Lillo’s Pizza] closing down. This was Walden.”

The original pizzera was destroyed in a fire that tragically claimed five lives in 1984. It was started when a tenant living in an upstairs apartment fell asleep with a lit cigarette. The charred building was razed, and a new brick building was built on the spot at 67 Main Street.

Walden resident Pargie Hughes Cragan noted that she has many great memories of ordering food from Lillo’s Pizza.

“I’m sure if you refer to any memory of your time in Walden, Lillo’s comes to mind,” Cragan said on her Facebook page. “So many great memories. You knew it was a special night in the Hughes house if we were ordering from Lillo’s (ain’t cheap feeding five kids!). My dad finally got his transfer to the Newburgh Unemployment office so we ordered from Lillo’s, my brother got a part in a movie with Richard Pryor so we ordered from Lillo’s…”

Cragan went on to underscore how much the restaurant will be missed.
“Not many businesses in Walden have lasted as long as Lillo’s,” she said. “Never has a bad meal been served! Thank you Maria and Lillo for your friendship and for all the wonderful memories… We love you.”