More than half a year after a fire badly damaged his Fresno Italian restaurant in November, Louie Maglieri made the call: He would not reopen in Fresno.
But it wasn’t just because of the fire.
Maglieri, the owner of Oggi Cosi Si Mangia for the past 18 years, was in the process of relocating his life and business to Pismo Beach after what he described as a failure by the Fresno officials to fix persistent issues with the local homeless population.
“The lack of support that I have received from the city, the mayor’s office and the police department has forced me to come to the conclusion that I will no longer reopen in Fresno,” Maglieri wrote in a May 29 Facebook post .
Now, Maglieri said he’s looking forward to a new start on the Central Coast.
His latest venture is already underway: Louie the Lip’s Weenie World, a walk-up Chicago-style hot dog restaurant located on Pomeroy Avenue in downtown Pismo Beach in a spot formerly occupied by Shark Bites.
Maglieri, a Chicago native, said he’s confident his 50 years in the restaurant business will serve him well as he looks to revive the hot dog restaurant he originally launched in Santa Clarita decades ago — and potentially another upscale restaurant down the line.