It’s a Utica Thing offers a new vibe with an old Utica feel

UTICA — Charles Digristina has been in the restaurant business for more than 30 years, starting with his first pizzeria that he opened when he was just 19.

One pizzeria eventually turned into three, and then in 2014, he opened a food truck. Digristina named the food truck business “It’s a Utica Thing” after an encounter with a volunteer at a festival in 2013. He gave the volunteer some tomatoes so she could make some sauce. When she wanted to pay, Digristina told her no, just share some sauce with him when it was done.

“That’s what we do in Utica,” he recalls telling her. “It’s a Utica thing.” Digristina’s wife told him to put that slogan on a shirt.

“So, I actually did put it on a shirt, then a hat,” he says. “Then the side of a food truck, and now on a new restaurant.”

That’s how Charlie’s Pizza in North Utica became It’s a Utica Thing Kitchen & Bar, which celebrated its grand opening in June.

“This brand is really important,” Digristina says. “This brand is about [Thruway] exit 31. This brand is about the city of Utica.”

He credits his sons Vincenzo and Charlie with convincing him to reimagine his pizzeria into a full-service restaurant.

Leading up to the remodel, Digristina sold his New Hartford pizzeria to several employees and his Syracuse location to a relative. He closed the North Utica location on New Year’s Eve, and the work began.

“We gutted and emptied the entire restaurant,” Digristina says. Work included a complete overhaul of the kitchen, custom booths, creation of a community area, new tables, and more. “We started at one corner, and we just didn’t stop.”

Digristina worked with Mark Barbado of Marand Builders and Renovators LLC on the project, which cost about $400,000 in total. The project allowed the restaurant to expand back into space it had used before the pandemic, bringing the square footage from 2,400 square feet to nearly 4,000. The restaurant now seats 100 with space for 20 at the bar and employs between 30 and 40 people.

With old pictures of Utica on the walls and a menu that combines Utica favorites with new dishes created by Vincenzo Digristina, the restaurant has an old-school look with a new vibe, Charles Digristina says.

Vincenzo is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and spent time training and working in Tuscany. From pizza made from dough kneaded by hand to fresh-made pasta, Vincenzo says he wanted to share those flavors with Utica.

Charles Digristina’s two sons manage the day-to-day running of the restaurant. He has hopes that his third son, Rosario, might eventually join the family business as well.

While his sons run the restaurant, Digristina stays busy running the food truck and catering side of things. The family also bottles and sells a line of sauces under the “It’s a Utica Thing” brand that are available at grocery stores including Hannaford’s, Wegman’s, Tops, and several independent grocers.

After the busy summer food truck and catering season winds down, Digristina hopes to expand hours at the restaurant. Right now it’s open only for dinners, but he hopes to add lunch hours as well.

“I do feel reborn,” Digristina says. “Although I’ve been in the business for over 30 years, this is absolutely a fresh start. The big question is where we are going to go next.”