Meet the Owner
Gay Capparelli
How
Capparelli's On Main
Began
Gay Capparelli, the owner, has learned third generation recipes from her grandparents Gaetano and Rose Capparelli. The patriarch of the family, Gaetano “Guy” Capparelli Sr. migrated from Calabria, Italy to Ellis Island as a young boy at the age of ten and worked in bakeries as an apprentice for many years to become a master of his trade. He later married Rose “Grandma Capp” Pellicci in 1934 and together, they began opening restaurants in Western Pennsylvania.
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After a trip to San Antonio, they fell in love with the city and decided to make it their permanent residence where Gay grew up working side by side with her family and later opening her first restaurant on Blanco Road at 25 years old.
Capparelli’s On Main was converted from an antique store and opened into an Italian restaurant in May 2001. Gay had a vision to expand on the existing recipes by offering a larger variety of dishes including seafood while creating a more intimate, upscale dining experience.
While owning a small business, Gay focuses on values that are important to her like quality, consistency, community, and supporting other local businesses as well as family above all. The restaurant’s overall mission is to provide an option for the community and its visitors to enjoy homemade Italian food while making patrons feel comfortable in our family environment.