About

The Echo Bridge Restaurant has been owned and operated by the Virgilio family throughout three generations. The spirit of the Echo Bridge Restaurant comes from before the restaurant had even opened.

The Virgilio family was from a small town in Italy called Navelli, in the Abruzzo region. John Virgilio and his wife Maria brought their three children, Antoinette, Frederico and Clemente, to America in 1954. They originally chose to live in Brooklyn, New York to live with John’s parents and two younger brothers, Mario and Sergio. After a construction accident, John was forced to move here to Newton, where Maria had three older brothers to help John find work. He started working in restaurants such as Sandy’s, in West Newton, and Art Carroll’s, in Newton Highlands, until he decided he wanted a place of his own.

In 1962, the Echo Bridge Restaurant came for sale and John called his brother Mario to come buy the restaurant with him. They opened the Echo Bridge Restaurant and Cafe with the help of Maria, John’s three children, and Sergio as some of the workers. John and his wife would work in the kitchen and Mario would work in the bar, which is why you will sometimes hear people refer to us as “Mario’s”. Eventually, Sergio, Antoinette and Fred all opened their own restaurants and Clem stayed with John and Mario to help with the Echo Bridge. Clem married his high school sweetheart, Carol Coletti, in 1974 and they had three children, Paul, David and Donna.

John retired in 1982 and Clem then became Mario’s partner in the business until 1992 when Mario retired and Clem and his family were the sole owners. Carol worked in the restaurant throughout the years as well as their three children when they were all old enough to help. David now owns his own electrical business and has two children with his wife, Carolyn. Paul and Donna are still working in the restaurant and look forward to taking the reins.

The core of the menu has stayed the same throughout the 50 years of business, with homemade pizza dough made daily, homemade Lasagna and delicious specialties like the Chicken parmigiana. Even though some of the menu has stayed similar, there have been some popular additions like Chicken Rigatoni and Broccoli, Fried Calamari, tasty sandwiches and affordable daily specials which keep people coming back for more!! Not only has the menu expanded but the actual restaurant itself has too! When John and Mario opened in 1962, the Echo Bridge Restaurant and Café consisted of only a small bar and small dining room seating about 40. As the business began to grow and more space became available John and Mario expanded into what used to be a Hair Salon, a Corner Drug store and a small Butcher/Variety store which used to occupy the space that now creates our Bar area and two Dining areas totaling 163 seats. All of this possible because of the loyal patronage of our great customers!!

Thank you to everyone for your support!

Clem and Carol and the entire Virgilio Family