Aurelio's Pizza of Richton Park

Aurelio's Pizza of Richton Park is a pizza place in Richton Park, IL, serving pizza, pasta, Italian beef sandwiches, salads, appetizers, and desserts. The restaurant sits along Sauk Trail, roughly a quarter mile from the Richton Park train station, about half a mile from Governors Highway, and the same distance from Keokuk Park and the Richton Park Post Office.

The Richton Park location is part of the Aurelio's Pizza franchise, a brand built on the original Aurelio's® tradition of family, quality products, and a commitment to the community that traces back to 1959 in Homewood, Illinois. The Aurelio family has continued to uphold the business ideals established by the founder, Joe Aurelio, who opened the first restaurant at 2041 Ridge Road on August 20, 1959. That original storefront held about four tables and a small kitchen with a single pizza oven. In 1959 pizza was still a relatively new concept, and Joe sold only six or seven pizzas a day at first, leaning on his homemade Italian beef sandwiches to keep the business going. He adjusted the dough and sauce recipes and switched to fresh, homemade Italian sausage rather than pre-cooked, and those changes helped pizza sales grow. Joe ran the restaurant seven days a week as cook, waiter, and delivery driver, building his customer base one customer at a time. By 1962 the business had outgrown the original space, and Joe rented the adjoining storefronts at 2045 Ridge Road. Aurelio's® offers online ordering through a rewards app, as well as catering, gift cards, and a fan store.

After more than six decades under the same family name, Aurelio's of Richton Park brings that same Homewood tradition to Sauk Trail in the south suburbs.