For the Gallelli family behind Albertino’s in Collingswood, a restaurant has never been just about what is served on the plate.
It’s about gathering around the table, sharing stories, celebrating milestones and making strangers feel like family. It’s about recipes passed from one generation to the next, the familiar sounds of Italian music drifting through the dining room and the relationships that extend well beyond the restaurant’s doors.
And now, more than ever, it’s about preserving the legacy of the man who helped make it all possible.
What began as a father-daughter venture has grown into a family affair, with sisters Maria, Monique and Vittoria Gallelli and their mother, also named Maria, carrying forward the traditions, values and culinary expertise of their late father and husband, Marco Albert Gallelli, whose passion for food and hospitality remains at the heart of Albertino’s.
“We want you to feel like family,” the Gallellis shared. “It’s not just about the food. It’s about the experience when you come.”
An unexpected journey
For the younger Maria Gallelli, a career in the restaurant industry wasn’t always part of the plan.
After studying communications at Penn State, she pursued her childhood dream of working in fashion. She landed a position with Versace shortly after graduation and later worked for Hugo Boss, building a career in public relations in New York City.
On paper, everything seemed to be falling into place. But despite achieving the professional goals she had worked toward, something was missing.
During a work event in New York, she experienced what she now describes as a life-changing moment.
“You get everything you ever wanted, or you’re where you want to be, and it doesn’t feel like what it should feel,” she recalled.
She eventually left her job without another opportunity lined up, uncertain of what would come next.
Then, during a conversation with her boyfriend at the time, an unexpected suggestion emerged: Why not open a restaurant?
The idea brought Maria back to her father, Marco, who had spent much of his career in the hospitality industry.
Marco had worked in some of Philadelphia’s well-known fine-dining establishments, developing an appreciation for attentive service, carefully prepared food and the small details that transform an ordinary dinner into a memorable experience.
He also had experience as a restaurant owner.
In the early 2000s, Marco joined his brother and another business partner in opening the original Albertino’s on East Passyunk Avenue in South Philadelphia. Although the restaurant was successful, the partnership eventually ended, and Marco later faced serious health challenges.
For Maria, the opportunity to open a restaurant together offered a new beginning.
“Dad, do you want to open a restaurant?” she remembered asking.
Initially surprised by the suggestion, Marco soon embraced the idea. Father and daughter began researching locations and imagining what their restaurant could become.
After a potential deal in Philadelphia fell through, Marco discovered a space in Berlin, New Jersey.
Maria, who had spent years working toward a career in New York, wasn’t exactly familiar with the South Jersey community.
“Where’s Berlin?” she recalled asking.
But when she arrived to see the property, something clicked.
“I didn’t fall in love with the place, but I was like, this is it,” she said. “I had peace.”
The family opened the restaurant in 2019, working with limited resources and relying heavily on their own determination.
They painted chairs, decorated the space and handled much of the work themselves.
Marco took charge of the kitchen while his daughter Maria managed the dining room. Her mother and sisters, Monique and Vittoria, helped wherever they were needed.
The restaurant quickly developed a loyal following, including customers who visited weekly and became close friends.
Some of those original customers still make the trip to Collingswood today.
Finding a home in Collingswood
When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the restaurant industry in 2020, the Gallellis adapted.
They offered curbside pickup, adjusted the menu to accommodate takeout and eventually introduced outdoor dining. With few employees and limited financial resources, keeping the restaurant operating became an all-hands-on-deck effort.
But Marco was already thinking about what might come next.
Around Christmas, he surprised his family with another idea.
“What would you do if I told you I found a place in Collingswood?” he asked.
His wife remembered her initial reaction.
“Don’t you start,” she told him, knowing her husband’s enthusiasm for new business opportunities.
He brought the family to Collingswood, where the downtown’s holiday decorations and welcoming atmosphere made an immediate impression.
The available restaurant space, however, needed extensive work.
The kitchen was largely empty, and the interior looked nothing like the inviting dining room customers know today.
Still, Marco saw its potential.
The family committed to the move, sold their Berlin restaurant and once again rolled up their sleeves.
They found furniture through Facebook Marketplace, painted and renovated the space themselves, and relied on the help of a contractor who became an unexpected part of the project.
Even a snowstorm couldn’t stop them from moving forward.
After months of preparation and a soft opening, Albertino’s celebrated its grand opening in Collingswood.
The response was more than the family could have imagined.
Customers from Berlin followed them, while new diners discovered the restaurant through word of mouth and the family’s personal approach to hospitality.
Within the following years, the Gallellis were able to purchase the restaurant property and establish a home in Collingswood.
For a family that had once struggled to afford its first restaurant, the accomplishments were emotional.
“We would cry,” Maria recalled of those early successes. “We were just so grateful to be where we were.”
A family tradition, served fresh
At Albertino’s, the menu reflects generations of Italian family traditions and Marco’s belief that quality should never be compromised.
Raised in South Philadelphia and Italy, Marco brought his culinary knowledge, creativity and high standards into the kitchen.
He believed food should be prepared with care, presented beautifully and served the way it was intended to be enjoyed.
That philosophy continues today.
The restaurant offers a carefully selected menu of freshly prepared Italian dishes, including recipes with roots in the original East Passyunk Avenue restaurant.
Some have been family favorites for decades, while others developed from Marco’s creativity in the kitchen.
Maria has also introduced dishes of her own, including a rigatoni inspired by the flavors of saltimbocca.
One of the restaurant’s most recognizable offerings, however, began with a little experimentation and some convincing.
After Maria began working in the kitchen, she started developing a version of cacio e pepe, the traditional Roman pasta dish made with cheese and black pepper.
The family eventually decided to present it in a large cheese wheel, preparing the pasta tableside.
Marco wasn’t immediately sold on purchasing the wheel.
“He said, ‘I’m not buying it. I’m not buying it,’” the family recalled with laughter.
After months of persuasion, he agreed.
The dish became a hit, inspiring the restaurant’s popular Pasta Wheel Wednesdays and eventually Thursdays.
What had once been relatively quiet weeknights turned into some of the restaurant’s busiest evenings.
The tableside presentation became an experience of its own, giving customers a chance to watch their pasta being prepared and creating another reason to gather around the table.
But the family’s commitment to authenticity extends beyond the food.
Growing up, Maria, Vittoria and Monique learned that dinner was an occasion.
Their family ate together at a properly set table, without television or other distractions. Even simple meals were treated with care.
Marco carried those values into his restaurant, teaching his daughters the importance of clean tables, attentive service, fresh silverware and thoughtful presentation.
Today, those lessons remain part of the Albertino’s experience.
“We want people to have a high-quality experience without feeling uncomfortable,” Maria explained.
A father’s legacy
As the restaurant grew, Maria found herself taking on a role she had never anticipated.
When an employee left the kitchen, she volunteered to step in alongside her father.
She had always loved food and cooking, but had never attended culinary school or imagined herself becoming a professional chef.
Marco became her teacher.
For years, father and daughter worked side-by-side, preparing dishes, developing recipes and navigating the challenges of running a busy restaurant.
He taught her everything from preparing sauces to butchering meat, trimming veal and maintaining the consistency he expected from every plate leaving the kitchen.
Their personalities were similar, and their shared passion sometimes led to disagreements during hectic dinner services.
But they understood one another.
“He told me everything,” Maria said. “I didn’t go to school.”
The lessons would become more important than either could have imagined.
After the Gallellis learned that Marco had lung cancer, he eventually stepped away from the kitchen to focus on his health.
For approximately two years, Maria, her mom, and her sisters continued operating the restaurant while privately navigating his illness.
Many customers had no idea that the chef whose cooking they had come to love was no longer working behind the scenes.
“We were running it,” Maria said. “You haven’t known it, but we were running it.”
The family maintained the same standards Marco had established, while also spending as much time with him as possible.
They shared dinners on days off, stopped by with food and milkshakes, and found comfort in their everyday routines together.
Following his death this past summer, returning to the restaurant was especially difficult.
For years, the family’s introduction to customers had included the familiar explanation that their father was the chef and that everything, from bread to dessert, was freshly prepared by a member of the Gallelli family.
Now, they faced the painful task of changing those words.
Even the restaurant’s music carries memories. Its playlist features songs Marco loved, including Italian music from his younger years.
The dining room also serves as a reminder of the relationships he built.
Customers who knew Marco have shared their condolences, sometimes becoming emotional themselves.
One longtime customer recently returned and asked to thank the chef, unaware of his passing. The family recalled how difficult it was to share the news.
Other customers have offered thoughtful gestures and treasured memories, reminding the Gallellis that Marco’s influence reached far beyond the kitchen.
For Maria, continuing to cook the dishes her father taught her has become a way to keep him close.
The restaurant is not simply a business the family inherited. It is something they built together, through years of sacrifice, hard work and shared experiences.
Today, the Gallelli women are determined to preserve the restaurant that meant so much to Marco, honoring his legacy with every dish they prepare and every guest they welcome.
Customers become family
One of the most distinctive parts of Albertino’s is the relationship the Gallellis have developed with their customers.
Monique and Vittoria are familiar faces in the dining room, welcoming guests, remembering regulars and often greeting longtime customers with hugs and kisses.
Some relationships have grown into friendships that extend well beyond dinner reservations.
Customers have attended family weddings, brought gifts to celebrate milestones and supported the restaurant through difficult times.
One particularly memorable friendship began when the family accommodated a party of eight that had mistakenly arrived at Albertino’s for a reservation intended elsewhere.
The group became regular customers and eventually close friends.
Another longtime customer, affectionately associated with the movie Goodfellas, recently presented the family with a personalized shoeshine box in memory of Marco, a nod to the jokes they used to share.
For the Gallellis, these gestures represent something much more meaningful than repeat business.
They are reminders of the community that has formed around the restaurant.
The family also credits its Christian faith as the foundation of its approach to business and relationships.
Maria, the daughter, describes the family’s journey, from the uncertainty of leaving her career to the challenges of opening restaurants and coping with her father’s illness, as one shaped by faith.
For them, hospitality is an opportunity not only to serve a meal, but also to show kindness, offer encouragement and connect with people from all walks of life.
“It’s more feeding people physically and spiritually,” Maria said.
Looking toward the future
Although Albertino’s has grown considerably from its humble beginnings in Berlin, the Gallellis have no intention of losing the personal touch that makes the restaurant special.
The family is pursuing opportunities through its café (Caffe Cacio e Pepe in Haddon Twp.) and other ventures while remaining committed to preserving the original restaurant’s intimate atmosphere and freshly prepared menu.
For Maria, expanding doesn’t necessarily mean opening a larger dining room or changing the approach her father worked so hard to establish.
Instead, it’s about finding new ways to share the family’s love of food while protecting what makes Albertino’s unique.
The family’s journey has included unexpected career changes, financial challenges, a pandemic, remarkable successes and heartbreaking loss.
Through it all, Maria, Monique, Vittoria and their mother have remained united by their love for one another, their faith and the memories they share.
And every evening, as customers settle into their seats and another plate of pasta leaves the kitchen, Marco’s influence remains present.
In the recipes. In the music. In the attention to detail. And in the family that continues to welcome guests into the place he helped create.
For the Gallellis, carrying on Marco’s legacy is both a responsibility and a privilege.
Because at Albertino’s, there’s always room at the table for family.
