This piece was originally published on the WKU Talisman website.
When the Tamburrino family moved to Bowling Green seven years ago to be closer to family, Brian Tamburrino said he never imagined they would own a restaurant. Now, they both said they can’t imagine their lives without Tamburrino’s Pizzeria.
“I used to live in Chicago,” Brian Tamburrino said. “We just moved here like seven, eight years ago, but being in the food industry like this was never, ever, ever on my radar.”
Brian Tamburrino said his wife, Michelle Tamburrino, pushed him to begin selling his food.
He said the idea for the business grew slowly, from selling food out of their home to a ghost kitchen to the brick-and-mortar restaurant that they run today.
A ghost kitchen is “a commercial cooking facility used for the preparation of food consumed off the premises,” according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
After selling his food from his house, the business eventually got too large, and they moved to a ghost kitchen in Doug’s Motor City, which was carry-out only. Brian Tamburrino said that after a while, customers began to want more.
“Most of the people picking up were saying, you know, we want to dine in,” Brian Tamburrino said. “And we were just super limited, it was tiny.”
The business’s new location opened up, and Tamburrino’s Pizzeria made the transition to the brick-and-mortar restaurant in August earlier this year, Brian Tamburrino said. The restaurant is known for its Chicago-style deep dish pizzas, he said.
For customers like Aaron Bioni, the restaurant became a quick favorite. He said that his family tried the restaurant for the first time last week, and they were already back for more.
“I’ve lived in Bowling Green for probably 15-20 years, and this is the first place that actually knows how to cook real pizza,” Bioni said.
He said he discovered the restaurant through a news article written about the restaurant from a few months ago, and decided he needed to try it out.
Biono said that Tamburrino’s Pizzeria is now the only place he’ll eat pizza, and that a single 16-inch deep-dish pizza will feed him and his wife, their three kids, his mother-in-law and his sister-in-law. He said that one of his favorite items on the menu is the orange sauce that is served with the breadsticks.
Inside the restaurant, red and white checkered tablecloths cover the tables and a chalkboard on the wall reminds Michelle Tamburrino of her previous experience in childcare. She said she also gives out pizza, slap bracelets and stickers to kids. One corner displays Brian Tamburrino’s Chicago Bears merchandise.
Only a week after opening their doors, Brian Tamburrino began to experience pain in his foot. Brian Tamburrino said there were two times when he was admitted to the hospital for around a week and a half straight. He said he had to have a part of his foot amputated.
“Because for me, I want to be with him, like when he was in the hospital,” Michelle Tamburrino said. “He’d want me to stay with him, and then I’m trying to run the business by myself, and trying to balance work was hard. Even now.”
Brian Tamburrino said that he wouldn’t have been able to get through it without the support of his family.
Michelle Tamburrino said she struggled with balancing wanting to be with her husband when he was in the hospital and running the business while he was away.
There are still days when Brian Tamburrino has doctor’s appointments, but they both said they are finding ways to make things work.
“So now, if I step away, she’s here,” Brian Tamburrino said. “So it’s definitely, without her, my wife, my daughter, I don’t think we’d even be open still.”
The family also began a GoFundMe called “Brian’s Road to Recovery” on Oct. 12. According to the website, the money raised will go towards his recovery, bills and keeping the restaurant running while he recovers. They have raised over $5,680 through 70 donations.
“It’s just been huge,” Tamburrino said. “It’s been for real touching that that many people care for someone that’s just making pizza.”
Despite their struggles, Brian Tamburrino said Tamburrino’s Pizzeria has continued to grow. The restaurant is now open on Mondays as well, a day that used to be used for cleaning and preparation. He said the restaurant also recently acquired its liquor license.
“I mean, between my wife and I, we’re probably each working 80-100 hours a week and seven days a week,” Tamburrino said.
To the customers they serve, the work is appreciated. Tamburrino said there are 40-50 customers that they see weekly, and the Tamburrino’s Pizza Facebook page has 6.9 thousand followers.
As for the future of the business, Tamburrino said he hopes to retire in about 10 years and pass it down to his family, his son specifically.
“My goal is, has always been to give that part of the business to my children,” Brian Tamburrino said.
