If the walls of the LaGondola restaurants in Decatur could talk, they would tell stories not only of clattering pans and the chatter of patrons, but also of a family.
During the past 26 years, owners Tony and Mary Beth Couri have staffed their two restaurants with the four oldest of their 10 children, friends of their children and a management staff that has become like family to them.
Many of their made-from-scratch recipes were passed down from family.
The Couris believe it's this spirit of family that draws customers to their restaurants and keeps them coming back time and time again.
"I have to give a lot of the credit to my workers and my past workers. They are the mortar and brickwork of the business," Tony Couri said. "Our workers get to know the customers, give them good customer service, know what the regulars order, and I think it makes our customers feel comfortable that we are not always changing faces."
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Some of the Couris' staff have been with them since the mid-1980s, when they opened the two LaGondola Spaghetti House locations in Decatur.
The first came in 1982, in the former K-mart plaza on South Mount Zion Road.
Tony's roots are in the food business. His father's grocery store provided sausage for a cousin's pizza place. That cousin, Richard LaHood, introduced him to LaGondola, and it didn't take much convincing from LaHood for the Couris to buy into the Central Illinois franchise, which is now 14 locations strong.
"I always knew that everything he started worked out really well," Tony Couri said. "He was a very smart businessman, ahead of his time on a lot of things."
The second location, on North Water Street, opened in 1984, and the Couris spent the next several years working from morning until night in both stores to keep things running smoothly. During those early years, they began their family, now nine girls and one adopted boy, and Mary Beth worked in the restaurants until the due date of each of her first six pregnancies.
Though their restaurants were always closed Sundays, in 1991, they decided to close the restaurants Mondays, as well, to allow themselves and their staff time for family and other commitments. It's a decision they have never regretted, particularly as their family grew beyond their initial expectations.
"I was from a family of 10, and Tony was from a family of eight," Mary Beth said. "Tony wanted four, and I wanted six, so we had 10."
The couple feels they owe a great deal to their family baby sitters, Janet and Darrell Hadley, who became an extra set of grandparents to their children. The Hadleys also gave the Couris the opportunity they needed for vital "alone" time. Even today, the couple still makes sure to have a date once a week to keep their relationship on track.
Along with their family, the Couris' business grew throughout the years until they were able to leave more responsibility to their trusted staff, most of which come through referrals from other staff members. They make it a point to work with everyone's schedule, particularly students', to allow their staff time to fulfill other responsibilities.
"When I interview high school students, I always ask them about their grades, and I always tell them that comes first," Tony Couri said. "Their education is their life insurance policy, and their studies are most important. We work around all their studies and around 99 percent of their other activities, like sports or plays. Then, when we need them, they can help us."
To the Couris, life is all about the Golden Rule: "Give, and it shall be given unto you."
They have a loyal staff because they have shown them loyalty. They have loyal customers for the same reason. The Couris have fought to keep their prices low for their fresh-made Italian food, at about $20 for a family-size carry-out meal of ravioli, spaghetti or tortellini, along with a loaf of their famous sweet garlic bread, a loaf of cinnamon bread and a torpedo sandwich made on another full loaf of bread, filled with cheese, lettuce and Italian cold cuts, and a quart of soda. They say this meal goes a long way in feeding their own family of 12.
The Couris also believe in giving to the community. They are involved with the Special Olympics, and their restaurants' walls are filled with plaques from that organization. Since 1987, they have donated food every Wednesday to the Good Samaritan Inn. When they joined the Holy Family school board, they initiated the idea that the school's eighth graders should join other parishioners in serving at Good Samaritan the first Wednesday of every month.
"We feel we are faithful, and we want to share that with our children," Mary Beth Couri said. "That's just the way we handle God being so good to us."
