All in the Family

Piccini Italian Takeout is turning 1 year old in February, and you’re invited to celebrate this special anniversary along with the South Bay family that’s been running local restaurants for four generations! Meet owners Vince and Giordana Giuliano, the husband and wife who fell in love with each other as well as the hospitality industry.

Vince came by his passion for the food business naturally. His great-grandfather ran Giuliano’s Deli in Gardena decades ago, and his parents opened Gaetano’s Deli in Torrance in 1993. They later made the bold and successful move to transform the deli into a full-fledged, sit-down restaurant. Today the eatery is still going strong—home to delicious, authentic, homemade Italian food.

Growing up in the food business, Vince learned all aspects of the industry from a young age and had the opportunity to attend Apicius culinary school in Florence, Italy, while working at nearby restaurants. He returned to work at Gaetano’s after college and soon met Giordana, a native of Palos Verdes. 

After graduating from the University of Michigan, Giordana worked on various advertising and marketing accounts such as Toyota, Kia, Mitsubishi, The Bay Club Company and MotorTrend—making it a natural next step for her to become head of marketing for the family-owned restaurants while she and Vince fell in love.

For the past 10 years, the takeout department at Gaetano’s has continued to grow 15% annually—including throughout the pandemic. This led Vince and Giordana to their next venture: opening an Italian takeout spot just a few miles away.

Giordana and Vince with team leaders Jose Gomez and Teg Sanghera

“Our eyes have been set on a fast-casual or takeout-only concept for a while. We opened Piccini Italian Takeout in February 2022 and named it after our two little boys, Luca and Nico,” Giordana explains, pointing out that Piccini means “little ones” in Italian.

Piccini offers restaurant-quality food, friendly service and reasonable prices—all in a takeout setting. Focused on pizza, pasta, sandwiches and salads, Piccini is quick and convenient, offering both in-store and curbside pickup. Vince and Giordana are hoping to open additional locations in the near future.

As lifelong residents of the South Bay, it is important to the couple to support the community they love. Piccini Italian Takeout offers a “Round Up and Give Back” program where each month a different local nonprofit is selected as the beneficiary. Piccini offers guests the opportunity to round up their check to the nearest dollar, knowing the restaurant will match the donation up to $1,000 and give the proceeds to the featured philanthropic organization.

While Gaetano’s is still serving high-quality food thanks to a truly hospitable team of professionals, Vince says he knew the time was right to also offer the Piccini concept to the community. “We know what a fast-paced life you have, and sometimes putting together a meal is the last thing you want to do,” he says. “That’s where Piccini comes in. We want our guests to sit back, relax and spend more time together without the stress of preparing a meal.”