Teresa Piacentini was only 13 when her mother sent her from Florence, Italy to America to live with her aunt & uncle in Columbus, Ohio. Teresa’s father Joe had come to the United States to pave the way for the family, but tragedy struck. He had been killed in a streetcar accident. He worked in her uncle’s saloon.
Unfortunately, Teresa did not get along with her aunt when she arrived and went to work for a friend of her father’s named Joseph Marzetti.
In 1896 Joseph opened a restaurant across from the Ohio State University campus on the corner of N. High St & Tenth Ave catering to students. At 16, Teresa proved herself to be a pretty good cook. She worked closely with Joseph.
When she turned 19, they married. He was 45.
The couple soon had two children, Gertrude in 1900 and Irene in 1904. The campus location became popular, but the long hours weighed on Joseph.
In 1911, Joseph passed away. Teresa ran the business by herself. In 1919 she decided to open a second restaurant at 59 E Gay St. This location would be a bit more upscale and cater to businessmen and families.
The new location put the restaurant within a block of the city’s three daily newspapers – the Dispatch, the Ohio State Journal and the Columbus Citizen. Also close was the city’s top vaudeville theater – Keith’s. The restaurant became famous for its slaw dressing that is still on grocery shelves today.
One of Columbus’ favorite sons, James Thurber wrote for the Columbus Evening Dispatch for a short time in the 1920s. In ‘The Thurber Carnival’ published in 1945 Thurber wrote that he would leave the office around 10am every morning and meet up with other newspaper colleagues at Marzettis for an hour or so “drinking coffee, telling stories, drawing pictures on the tablecloth and giving imitations of the more eminent Ohio political figures of the day.”
Teresa became close to a younger Marzetti employee named Carl Schaufele. They married in 1925. She was 46. He was 34.
Both Teresa’s daughters – Gertrude & Irene – were incorporated into the family business in 1940 and the decision was made to move Marzetti’s to 16 E Broad St, a prime location across from the statehouse. By this point, Marzetti’s reputation had earned a four star distinction.
The Broad Street location was white tablecloth with a long, open and elegant dining area. Customer favorites were minestrone soup, the layered caramel pie and the homemade salad dressings.
The recipe for the slaw dressing was created by a 17-yr-old African American employee named Katherine Hill. Katherine’s grandmother was a slave. Her family moved to Columbus to find better work and a better life. Through her church she found work at Marzettis and soon became an integral part of the team.
First, she was tasked with baking pies which – after some challenges and a night of praying – turned out to be amazing. Then, she was asked to make a salad dressing that people would want to take home. She again delivered.
Katherine Hill worked at Marzetti’s for over fifty years.
By 1947, the demand for Marzetti salad dressing had grown so strong that the restaurant’s upstairs was turned into a small-scale factory where it was bottled. Customers bought carry out orders of only the salad dressing with the favorites being the Creamy Coleslaw and French.
In 1955, a salad dressing factory was opened at 3838 Indianola Ave in Clintonville. The company produced dips, sauces, marinades, dressings and croutons. Carl Schaufele was named president and Irene’s husband Gansey Johnston Sr was GM.
Carl Schaufele was working on a deal with Lancaster Colony to sell the business in June 1969 when he died suddenly.
Lancaster Colony finalized the purchase of T. Marzetti Company in October 1969. Lancaster Colony also owns well known brands: Sister Schubert’s homemade rolls; New York Brand frozen garlic breads; and Reames frozen egg noodles.
Teresa Marzetti died in 1972. She was 93.
The Marzetti Restaurant at 16 E Broad St was sold and renamed Sixteen East. It lasted two years.
The Hayden building that housed Marzettis at 16 E Broad St, built in 1901, is on the National Register of Historic Places and still stands today.
The original downtown space at 59 E Gay St – the same space Marzetti left in 1940 – had seen a quite colorful life since. Gerald Ford’s Ohio presidential campaign had headquarters there in 1976 as did Ohio representative Jo Ann Davidson’s campaign and in 1984 it served as Ohio headquarters for US Senator John Glenn’s presidential campaign. Capital Square Printing has been there since the mid-1980s.
Lancaster Colony has 3400 employees with reported annual revenue for 2024 to be $1.8 billion.
Marzetti’s salad dressings are still made at 3838 Indianola Ave in Columbus. The company occupies distribution warehouse space south of the plant on Indianola as well. Marzetti’s salad dressings can be found on grocery store shelves everywhere.
Sources: Columbus Unforgettables edited by Robert Thomas, 1984; Sorry Downtown is closed: the Golden era of Columbus by I David Cohen, 2009; Thurberville by Bob Hunter; The Thurber Carnival by James Thurber, 1945; A historical guide to old Columbus by Bob Hunter, 2012; marzetti.com; tmarzetticompany.com; Columbus Monthly, ‘A look back: five women who helped shape Columbus’ food scene’, Dec 2, 2015; Columbus Monthly, ‘The disappearance of Johnny Marzetti’ by Eric Lyttle, Jan 30, 2018; ‘Marzetti’, columbusrestauranthistory.com, April 4, 2021; 101 things you didn’t know about Columbus Ohio by Horace Martin Woodhouse; Lost Restaurants in Columbus Ohio by Doug Motz & Christine Hayes, 2015; tradingeconomics.com; Featured picture courtesy of Columbus Monthly, December 2, 2015; Restaurant picture courtesy of the Columbus Metropolitan Library.