Finance degree, business drive are key ingredients for burgeoning restaurateur
- Rick Weber
- Alumni
- Contributors: James Greco, Photos
5 – minute read
Antonio knows.
In the same way that the “Bo Knows” advertising campaign launched two-sport athlete Bo Jackson and Nike into the nation’s consciousness in the late 1980s, burgeoning entrepreneur Antonio Longobardo could probably barge his way into Southwest Florida’s consciousness as a spokesman for the ever-expanding restaurant business — his own and the area’s.
The Florida Gulf Coast University graduate literally grew up in the industry, hanging around his family’s two eateries — Anthony’s Trattoria locations in Bonita Springs and Naples — as a young boy. He worked at the host stand at 10, in the kitchen at 16 and serving tables at 18.
“I always knew I wanted to start my own business,” Longobardo says. “I had a passion to set up my own path since I was a kid. Seeing what a positive impact local restaurants can have on a community — in particular one as tight-knit as Southwest Florida — always inspired me.”
And now, the 2018 finance graduate owns his own expanding, award-winning empire: Luigi’s Pizza É Pasta in Miromar Outlets, Pezzo Pizza + Bar in Estero and LowBrow Pizza & Beer in Naples.
Longobardo credits the Lutgert College of Business finance program and professors with developing in him a curiosity about how to succeed and a firm, factual base from which to do it. Like almost half of FGCU graduates, he stayed in Southwest Florida and contributes his knowledge and skills to benefit the community and the regional economy.
“FGCU did a great job preparing me for my business career,” he says. “I had great professors that were very engaging and helpful. Three classes really left a lasting knowledge and impression with me: Real Estate Investing, Business Finance and Capstone. Each provided pertinent information, and more importantly, the correct way to discern information in making the best possible business decisions.”
An entrepreneurial empire
In 2021, Longobardo bought an asset sale of an old business named Luna Pizza, refurbished the space and opened his own business as Luigi’s.
Two years later, with Luigi’s running smoothly and winning a 2022 Naples Daily News contest for best pizza, he executed his full-service dining concept with Pezzo, his idea for a gourmet pizza and craft cocktail bar in an elegant, dark, romantic setting. The Fort Myers News-Press named it one of the five best new restaurants in Southwest Florida in 2023, and it also was a 2023-24 Gulfshore Business finalist for best pizza.
Longobardo purchased LowBrow in July 2023 from founders Chris Jones and Henrik Lagergren, whom he knew. He loved the concept: a fun place with irreverent sayings (“LowBrow is a gluten-friendly facility” and “Don’t save room for dessert … we don’t have any”) and made-from-scratch pizzas that had been named the area’s best for seven straight years by Gulfshore Business. He kept the name and menu, but spruced it up and added a full bar. Presto! Even better.
“It made so much sense to purchase the concept and use my best qualities of fine-tuning a business like that to make it really shine,” he says. “Happy to say, eight months in, we are beating the previous year’s numbers by 15%, and are looking forward to taking the concept to the next level.”
Purpose and passion
It’s not just hype. You don’t create three completely different award-winning restaurants without a palpable purpose and a passion for people.
“The objective is always to make the customer happy,” Longobardo says. “That is why we are here. That is why we spend countless hours prepping, cleaning and working to provide a great experience for our guests. I make sure we go above and beyond so that each guest leaves happy. It is the most satisfying thing that can happen. Every day, I get to have that fulfillment.
“We have been very blessed to be very well-received in the community, and it makes me smile every time to know that when someone comes and sits down at one of these restaurants, they made a conscious decision to do so. That is the result of countless hours of hard work from a great staff we have put together, and I’m so proud of the work everyone has put in.”
He’s grateful and satisfied — but not finished. Longobardo is now building out another LowBrow location in Midtown Bonita, a Mercato-style project just east of Interstate 75 on Bonita Beach Road that he plans to open in 2026.
“We will have a truly unique space,” he says. “We really are planning some interesting and one-of-a-kind things for this location. After that, I have a pretty aggressive plan to open 10 locations by 2030, so the next year will be crucial. I could not be happier to be down here and contributing to the vibrancy of this community.”