“We grew up here,” said Angie St. Hilaire, who along with her husband, Earl, and some siblings, owns Lewiston’s legendary Luiggi’s pizzeria, “and so we’re thrilled that now we own a big part of Lewiston-Auburn’s history, its culture.”

This is the 60th anniversary year for Luiggi’s, where loyal customers start arriving in search of familiar Italian food as early as mid morning, a holdover pattern, Earl said, “from the days of shift work at the mills, were 9 a.m. would be dinner time for lots of folks.”

Earl has owned Luiggi’s iconic next-door neighbor, The Blue Goose, for the past 10 years, “so when the chance came for us to buy Luiggi’s just last year, we jumped at it,” Angie said. The Goose has been a Lewiston landmark since the end of prohibition, when it opened as the Golden Tavern in 1933, but this is the first time in the long history of the sister establishments that they have actually been in the same family.

“And family is what we’re all about,” Angie explained. Angie and Earl often complete each other’s sentences, and both are clearly thrilled to have assumed responsibility for Luiggi’s legacy.

“People come here every week and have exactly the same meal. People have been coming here for generations after middle school and high school dances,” Angie said of Luiggi’s.

“They’ve met here, gotten married, moved away, come back with their kids. It’s home.” Earl added, “It really does feel like where ‘everybody knows your name.’”

“People who don’t even know each other come in at lunch time and sit together and talk,” Angie said, finishing Earl’s thought.

“We didn’t really want to change anything when we came in last year.” Angie explained, “When you’ve got a good thing going, don’t mess with it!”

The menu is unchanged, and so are the recipes. Luiggi’s famous sauce is the same. Wednesday night’s Spaghetti Nights – spaghetti, meatball, salad and a soda for $4.50 – remains a big part of life in Lewiston, and Luiggi’s unique variation on Italian sandwiches, the Fergy, remains perhaps the single most-popular item on the menu.

“Oh, we’ve added beer and wine,” Earl said, “but this is still all about being a family restaurant.”

Traffic is way up, too. “We’ve expanded our catering services – law firms, Lewiston High sports events, community spaghetti suppers. We’re deeply involved with the hockey community; we’re expanding our outreach to the Bates community,” he added. “We’ve joined the Chamber of Commerce, Angie is getting out into the community more, as well.”

“We’re excited to be part of this year’s Bands on the Run event, too,” Angie said, referring to the half-marathon and 5K race on June 23, a major fundraiser for Museum L-A.

And sometime in the next six months or so, another Luiggi’s – a little more upscale, but just as family-friendly and kid-oriented as the original – will be rising on the site last occupied by Graziano’s Italian restaurant in Lisbon.

“We want to fill the void that was left when Graziano’s closed,” Earl said. “but this will definitely be Luiggi’s!”

“We’re still all about being local,” Angie added. “Eat local, buy local.” Luiggi’s buys as many of their ingredients as they can from nearbly vendors. “We’re not a chain, and never want to be,” she said.

Co-owners of Luiggi’s include Dennis and Kelly St. Hilaire, and Marc and LuAnn Frenette. “Between our family and [our siblings’], there are nine kids in the next generation. And even though the oldest is only 12, they can’t wait to come to work here,” Angie said.

“They’ve been coming into the Goose since they were toddlers,” Earl added. “These are family places. They’re part of our family; they’re part of the Lewiston-Auburn family; they feel like family to our customers. They feel like home.”

“And that,” Angie said, “is just the way we want it to be.”