Longtime Charlotte restaurant The Randazzo’s Grid Iron has closed its doors
Charlotte has lost another longtime restaurant — The Randazzo’s Grid Iron closed its doors on April 4. Although the phenomenon of Charlotte’s iconic eateries closing is all too familiar, it still stings just as bad. The casual restaurant known for its Italian dishes, steaks and bar food served the Steele Creek area for decades, offering diners a fun atmosphere to watch sports, play cornhole and relax.
Grid Iron opened in 2001 and Bobbi Randazzo and her late husband Joe Randazzo took over the restaurant in 2011 — yet their experience in the food industry began decades earlier. “My husband was a generational restaurant man through and through — having moved to the states from Italy and in 1971 opening his first restaurant in New York City. This was the first one of 26 more he would come to own and operate throughout his lifetime,” Bobbi Randazzo posted to the restaurant’s Facebook page.
The Randazzos created something special — as made evident by customers taking to Facebook to send the family well wishes. “Great, great Italian food,” Susan Godbold Stuppnig wrote.
“So sad to see you go. We will be there Monday to say goodbye to you and your staff,” commented Therese Wittich Schoborg.
“This makes us so sad to see you leave! Bobbi, we would love to keep in touch with you,” Tracy Tucker Armstrong’s wrote.
A lifetime of feeding others
Before taking over The Grid Iron, the Randazzo family operated Papa Pino’s in Fort Mill and Tony’s Pizza in Monroe. When Tony’s Pizza opened in 1989, Joe Randazzos’ father, Tony, was preparing meatballs and lasagne in a York County, South Carolina kitchen and a refrigerated truck transported the food to the Monroe restaurant.
Bobbi praised her husband’s work ethic on Facebook: “Joe Randazzo lived and breathed his creations and long accomplishments in this painstaking industry and gave everyone who cared to listen the tools not only to excel on our team but in one’s journey through life as well.” A former employee confirmed this sentiment, commenting: “Joe taught me so much in the 17 years I knew him and worked for him at various locations. He was truly a BOSS. In every essence of the word.”
Like so many restaurants in Charlotte, The Randazzo’s Grid Iron provided more than just food — it offered a gathering space. We’ll certainly miss the beer specials, the pasta primavera and the Panthers black and blue burger — but we’ll also miss the community. Watch parties, cornhole tournaments, music bingo, costume nights.
The Randazzo family offered so much to the Steele Creek area long before it saw tremendous growth. And the restaurant’s curtain call was just as fitting — a complimentary dinner buffet — and lots of farewells.
An interview request to the Randazzo family was not immediately returned. This story may be updated.
This story was originally published April 19, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
