Articles by Josh Lange

By Joshua Lange

As a northside Mishawakan, I make a pilgrimage to Pasquale Rulli’s at least once a month to pick up pizza. My family and I order two large pizzas, one with fresh Italian sausage and extra cheese, the other with pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms. We eat the pizzas for two days, and yes, it tastes great warmed up.

The restaurant is tucked away on Division Street, off the beaten path compared to modern restaurants that are all in an urban concrete jungle of other businesses and parking lots. Pasquale’s location brings back fond memories of neighborhood businesses and gives a feeling of home. What adds to the charm is that it is right next to the Di Loreto Club, a local Italian American social club.

The Rulli family does a fantastic job with the Italian dining experience and has been a staple of Mishawaka since 1977. While every city has an Italian restaurant, not every city has an Italian American community. Mishawaka has a rich history of an Italian community, and Pasquale Rulli’s embodies it.

The interior of Rulli’s is the encapsulation of Italian American culture; string lights, plastic grape vines, wine bottles, family photos, paintings, Italian chef statues, paper table mats, Italian flags, autographed headshots of famous Italian American actors, and different television posters, like the Sopranos. You sit down looking around and you just know you will have the best Italian food even though you aren’t in Chicago or New York, but in the middle of Mishawaka, Indiana, a city in the Rust Belt of America. While the restaurant is well known, its origin story is not. The story behind Pasquale Rulli’s is inspiring and represents a model Mishawaka business.

On a Tuesday evening, I sat down and spoke to Lloyd Rulli. Lloyd is the son of the founder and namesake, Pasquale Rulli. Lloyd has been working at the restaurant since he was 15 years old. He explained that his father emigrated to Mishawaka in the 1950s and wanted to open an Italian restaurant, but it took over 20 years to get enough money to fulfill his dream. The original location was on Mishawaka Avenue. In the late 1980s, a customer who owned an Italian grocery store wanted to retire and was insistent on selling the Rulli’s her building on Division Street. “My dad didn’t really want to move yet, but then one day, he just shot out a number and she took it, so we made our decision” Lloyd said. They moved to their location on Division Street officially between 1987 and 1988.  

I asked Lloyd what the benefits are of running a neighborhood restaurant, “It’s generational customers” he said. “They (customers) come in and now they’re married and their kids are coming in and now their kids are married and they’re bringing their kids in, So, I mean, you know, it’s like three, four generations of like one family and they’re coming in to eat which is nice because you still get to see them and you get to talk to them and you know you have a good following that way where compared to like a chain restaurant or the bigger restaurants — there’s really no — Spirit.”

He further explained, “we get people that move away and they’ve like been gone for 10 years and they’ll come back and they’ll say, “Do you remember me?” — You do remember them.”

Rulli told me the two hardest things about having a neighborhood restaurant are having long-time customers waiting for tables even if he personally knows them because the wait is first come first served, so there cannot be any favoritism. The second challenge is having to raise prices for their food when costs for the ingredients increase.

Lloyd Rulli hopes that the business will stay a family business far in the future but also understands that working for or operating a neighborhood family restaurant is not for everybody. He is a dedicated worker that makes pizzas every day instead of sitting in an office. Pasquale Rulli’s is a hidden gem and an example of why I love Mishawaka.

It is the duty of anyone who wants to keep neighborhood businesses alive to buy from places like Pasquale Rulli’s whenever possible. Buying locally strengthens the Mishawaka economy and prevents our hard-earned money from immediately leaving circulation. That is why it is crucial for the need of a business spotlight, showing off the great local businesses like Pasquale Rulli’s, a staple that brings Mishawaka together. I may eat a lot of pizza (probably too much), but I can say with certainty Pasquale Rulli’s is my favorite. Pasquale Rulli’s was started by an Italian immigrant who had the American dream, and while Pasquale may have passed, his legacy still lives on through his family and the restaurant they still own and operate.