How this Peninsula restaurant owner is fighting loneliness one bowl of pasta at a time

BURLINGAME, Calif. (KGO) -- With heaping trays of pasta, cheese-covered garlic bread and a seemingly endless bowl of salad, Elio D'Urzo is doing buffet lunch at his restaurant a little differently.

"This is a house, it's not a restaurant, everybody knows each other," D'Urzo said.

D'Urzo has owned Ristorante Sapore Italiano in Burlingame for 24 years.

About three weeks ago, he slashed the prices of their lunch buffet to just $9.99 from noon to 2 p.m. every weekday.

It would normally be $32 a person.

"With no advertising, the first day, there was 60 people," D'Urzo said.

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He came up with the idea after having a regular group of seniors coming in for lunch to play poker with him during the pandemic.

This was a group he loved bonding and sharing stories with so much, he didn't charge full price.

"I just charge a little bit, just my cost of the food and then I say, why don't I do this for everybody, just for a couple hours," he said.

This comes seven months after San Mateo County declared loneliness a public health crisis and pledged to promote social connection in local communities.

"This is all about connectivity, social isolation is real and coming out of the pandemic, although it's been a couple years, people are still dealing with it, so people don't want to go out of their house," David Canepa, a San Mateo County Supervisor said.

In a county survey last year, 45% of residents said they feel alone.

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Canepa says the restaurant's plan is the "the Italian way."

"What we forget about as Americans, we forget about our seniors," he said. "We're all so focused on our families and our careers but this moment, this owner has said, 'You're not forgotten and you do have a place.'"

It's something that hits close to home for 82-year-old Burlingame resident Judy Jingirian.

"I mean where do you go for comradery, good Italian food and an Italian atmosphere?" Jingirian said.

She lost her husband last year.

"I think it's amazing, I mean where can you go, you can't even get a hamburger for $9.99 and when the ladies heard about it, they said fantastic, it will bring more seniors out," Jingirian said.

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Mirna Gonzales says her church will be taking a group of seniors to Ristorante Sapore Italiano at least once a month.

"It's just wonderful, it's a godsend and a gift from heaven," Gonzales said. "We try to do things for the seniors because they are the loneliest, most frail, the most, a lot of times, not able to afford things."

As for how long these prices may stay on the menu, D'Urzo says it's indefinite.

"I think I'm going to continue it until I can't," he said.