Since 1963, Amedeo’s Italian Restaurant has been serving NC State students, fans, alums and the Raleigh community. For decades, they have combined Italian cuisine and a welcoming atmosphere to create a local staple.
Best known for their famous lasagna, Amedeo’s features a wide variety of options for guests to enjoy. Along with lasagna, the restaurant offers classics like pizza, pasta, calzones and subs. Additionally, they have created new dishes like the “Pack Pasta,” which is crafted with grilled cajun chicken, diced tomatoes and broccoli served over fettuccine with a classic alfredo sauce.
David Harris, Amedeo’s majority owner, explained what makes their dishes a league above the rest.
“Everything’s fresh and homemade here,” Harris said. “The lasagna is really people’s favorite, melted in that tin pan.”
From the start, Amedeo’s roots have had a direct tie to NC State. Amedeo DeAngelis, the founder of Amedeo’s, lettered in football for the Wolfpack and then served as an assistant coach for the red-and-white’s freshman team. It was during DeAngelis’ time coaching that he founded Amedeo’s, hoping to bring a taste of home and Italian cuisine to Raleigh — something that the city lacked in the 1960s.
Dave Parker, DeAngelis’ son-in-law, explained how NC State inspired the start of Amedeo’s.
“He knew from being here in school, there was not a really good Italian restaurant around,” Parker said. “His family were unbelievable Italian cooks and they had all the recipes.”
Along with serving classic Italian cuisine, Amedeo’s prioritizes excellent service by treating customers like family. DeAngelis’ mother “Nana” helped establish this practice after moving from Pennsylvania to Raleigh in 1966 and becoming an integral part of the operation.
“Nana moved down to Raleigh and she worked at the restaurant,” Parker said. “She was the face of the restaurant. She was always out in front, she trained all the staff and the cooks and was very hands on. It was like family and people loved that.”
Many of the restaurant’s dishes originate from Nana and the rest of the Deangelis family. By serving family recipes, Amedeo’s truly ties together the home-cooked experience.
“The desserts are all homemade,” Parker said. “Those are Nana’s recipes, the desserts and the cheesecake.”
Amedeo’s also works to make the restaurant accessible for all, including college students, with its frequent specials. Most notably, Amedeo’s Tuesday special allows students to purchase half-priced entrees with a valid student ID when dining-in after 4 p.m. Other daily specials are wide-ranging, featuring deals like two select entrees, with salads and cannolis, for $35 on Wednesdays and half-priced calzones on Thursday evenings.
The food itself is enough to make Amedeo’s worth visiting, but it’s the atmosphere that truly distinguishes it from other dining spots. When visiting the Raleigh staple, guests are always treated like family, whether it’s their first or their hundredth time. The Wolfpack decorations and steadfast support for the Pack, especially on gamedays, amongst staff and patrons adds to the family atmosphere, giving it a unique sense of home.
Amedeo’s popularity also means you can frequently spot NC State royalty. There’s an unofficial tradition of Wolfpack coaches visiting the restaurant which was popularized by Jim Valvano, a national championship winning coach, who was a longtime friend of Deangelis. Today, there are a variety of exciting visitors like Wes Moore, the women’s basketball coach, and Elliot Avent, the head coach of the baseball team.
“Amedeo was really close friends with Jim Valvano,” Parker said. “There was this Italian clique among the coaches. There was Bob Guzzo, the wrestling coach, Sam Esposito the baseball coach, Jim Valvano the men’s basketball coach and George Tarantini the soccer coach. They would all go down to Amedeo’s and Amedeo would hang out with them.”
The men’s basketball coach Will Wade has also embraced Amedeo’s, frequenting the restaurant. Wade is especially known to meet with recruits at the restaurant.
“[Wade] made this his home recruiting ground,” Harris said. “When he’d bring a recruit in, they’d eat here. And he was landing them too so I guess it helped him.”
But it’s not just coaches that you may spot in the restaurant. Before becoming a Hollywood star, Zach Galifianakis worked at Amedeo’s as a waiter while enrolled at NC State. Even as a waiter, Galifianakis’ sense of humor shined through.
“He would take a strand of spaghetti and put it over his ear,” Parker said. “It would hang down and dangle. He’d pretend that it wasn’t there and then he would walk up to a table and he would just get off on the reactions.”
Today, Amedeo’s is running strong, continuing to serve Italian classics to the Raleigh community. 62 years after opening its doors on Western Boulevard, the restaurant continues to do what it has always done best: serve Italian cuisine, show excellent hospitality and create a space for fans, students and alumni to gather. Whether you’re looking for a classic Italian pasta for any occasion or a place to watch Wolfpack athletics with other fans, Amedeo’s is well worth visiting.
