Over the past decade, the restaurant scene of Huntington has grown into quite the destination of ambition, creativity and delectability. Such success can be attributed to many daring entrepreneurs and restaurants, some of which still operate today. This week, Huntington Hotspots explores one such monument in the Huntington restaurant scene.
From a humble house to a thriving business, La Famiglia has been serving the Huntington community since 2011. The idea began with Huntingtonians Ralph and Terri Hagy and their two sons: Jordan and Joe. In an interview with The Parthenon, Jordan explained their foray into the restaurant business.
“We always liked to cook, and we’d done some of the smaller catering events, non-professionally, of course. Just kind of cooking for different groups of people that’s in the community,” Jordan said. “And through that we just kind of fell into the restaurant business.”
Rather than buy a whole new location, the Hagy’s decided to convert the house Joe and Jordan lived in through college into the restaurant. This transformation lends itself to the coziness of La Famiglia as if diners were going to their “grandmother’s house for dinner.”
Today, the business is a destination for hearty, home cooked Italian meals with a casual fine dining environment. However, this was not always the vision for La Famiglia.
“We thought it would just be like a sandwich shop or pizza place mainly doing lunches and carry outs. (We) never really dreamed it would evolve into the full-scale kind of restaurant that it has,” Jordan said.
Planned or not, full scale is exactly what La Famiglia has become. In 2019, the Hagy’s expanded their business to include a location on Marshall’s campus. Jordan explained how this move was meant to give back to the school that had been a home to so much of his own family.
“My whole family was at Marshall. My mom and dad, my brother, his wife, my wife and I, we all graduated from Marshall, so for us to be able to have a La Famiglia on Marshall’s campus is just kind of crazy, honestly,” Jordan said.
The expansion has created many fans among Marshall students, each for their own reasons. Student Kayley Huntley became a frequent customer for its efficient service.
“I like La Famiglia because it’s usually one of the fastest lines, and I like their alfredo mac and cheese,” Huntley said.
Student Alyssa Thoms fell in love with the campus location because of its replication of a North Carolina classic.
“Their barbeque chicken pizza is the closest thing I’ve had to what they make back home. It’s so yummy,” Thoms said.
The Hagys’ plan to continue the tradition of giving back to the Marshall community through the opening of their new market, Via Lombardia, in the future Cybersecurity Building on Hal Greer.
“We’re going to have a basically almost 4,000 square foot Italian market which will feature Italian coffees, imported gelatos, some different styles of pizza,” Jordan said. “We’ll be able to retail down there and have a nice kind of a marketplace for anyone who wants to try cooking at home and source these different unique flavors that we can bring in.”
This venture is set to break ground in 2027, though La Famiglia lovers should keep their eyes peeled for teaser materials coming out soon.
Anyone interested in learning more about La Famiglia or visiting their locations can visit their website, lafamigliawv.com, or find them at 1327 6th Avenue Huntington, West Virginia.
Claire Johnson can be contacted at [email protected].
