Bettolino Kitchen

Some restaurants are built from recipes.

Bettolino Kitchen was built from generations.

Long before Bettolino opened its doors in Redondo Beach in 2015, the story began in Gardena in 1959 when Gaetano and Frances Giuliano opened Giuliano's Deli. What started as a neighborhood deli became the foundation of a family legacy that would stretch across four generations and nearly seventy years of South Bay history.

Andreanna Liguore grew up inside that legacy.

Her father, Steve Giuliano, spent his childhood working and learning alongside the family at Giuliano's. Years later, Steve and his wife Dori invested their life savings to open Gaetano's Restaurant in Torrance in 1993. Andreanna was just eight years old when the doors opened. Her brother Vince was eleven.

For the Giuliano family, the restaurant business was never simply a career. It was a way of life.

But the journey was not without hardship.

Only a year after opening Gaetano's, Steve passed away unexpectedly. Dori suddenly found herself raising two children while trying to keep a young restaurant alive. Many doubted the restaurant would survive.

It did.

Through determination, family support and the loyalty of the South Bay community, Dori carried the business forward. Watching her mother navigate one of the most difficult periods of her life became one of the defining influences on Andreanna's own approach to leadership and business.

Years later, those same lessons would help guide the family through another difficult chapter when restaurants across the country faced uncertainty during the pandemic.

After growing up in restaurants, Andreanna and Vince both left for college in San Diego. They worked in restaurants while attending school, but as often happens in family businesses, the industry kept calling them back.

It was during those years in San Diego that Andreanna met Sean Liguore.

The two met while working in the restaurant industry and quickly discovered a shared passion for hospitality and creating memorable experiences for guests. According to Andreanna, Sean was born for this business, bringing a level of attention to detail and customer service that perfectly complemented her family's deep restaurant roots.

In 2015, Andreanna, Sean and Vince decided to create something of their own.

Their goal was not to recreate the restaurants that came before them. Instead, they wanted to build a modern California Italian restaurant inspired by generations of family tradition while embracing the ingredients, creativity and lifestyle of Southern California.

Bettolino Kitchen was born.

Today, traces of that family history can still be found throughout the restaurant.

The bread served at Bettolino is baked daily and delivered from Giuliano's in Gardena, the same family business that started it all nearly seventy years ago. The deli is now operated by Andreanna's Uncle Paul and Aunt Joanne, continuing the tradition started by Gaetano and Frances decades earlier.

The menu reflects generations of Italian influence while embracing local California ingredients. Handmade pastas remain the restaurant's signature, while sustainably sourced seafood, organic meats, fresh baked desserts, handcrafted cocktails and seasonal produce help define Bettolino's modern approach to Italian dining.

Among the most popular dishes are the Tagliatelle Bolognese and the Tortelloni al Limone, two dishes that showcase the balance between old-world technique and California creativity that Bettolino has become known for.

But perhaps the most important thing Bettolino serves is not on the menu.

Over the years, Sean and Andreanna have watched first dates become engagements. Engagements become rehearsal dinners. Baby showers become birthday celebrations. Families return year after year to celebrate milestones around the same tables.

That sense of community is why Bettolino created its Giving Tuesday program, donating a portion of sales each week to local schools, charities and organizations throughout the South Bay. Giving back is not a marketing strategy for the family. It is something they watched their parents and grandparents do long before Bettolino existed.

Today, Bettolino Kitchen stands as the latest chapter in a story that started in 1959 with a small Italian deli in Gardena.

Four generations later, the mission remains remarkably similar: create a place where people gather, celebrate and feel at home.

For the Giuliano and Liguore families, Bettolino is not simply a restaurant.

It is the continuation of a family story that is still being written.