Athena Restaurant Group LLC is acquiring the business at 530 N. Coast Highway 101, Tony Shahri, the businessman behind the new company, confirmed exclusively to SanDiegoVille.
“Can confirm that Athena Restaurant Group is acquiring the business at 530 N Coast Hwy 101, and that we'll be transitioning it to a new concept rather than continuing to operate as Vigilucci's,” Shahri told SanDiegoVille. “We have a lot of respect for what that restaurant built in the community over nearly three decades, and that's front of mind as we plan the next chapter for the space.”
The transaction will bring to a close more than 30 years of Vigilucci's history in Encinitas and more than 20 years at its current Leucadia location.
Italian-born restaurateur Roberto Vigilucci opened his first restaurant, Vigilucci's Trattoria, in downtown Encinitas in 1994 after moving to San Diego from Milan. Following its success, the restaurant relocated to its larger North Coast Highway 101 property in Leucadia in 2004. The company describes the Trattoria as the restaurant that launched what eventually became Vigilucci's Restaurant Group.
The impending change had not previously been publicly announced. It surfaced this week through a California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control filing showing Athena Restaurant Group seeking transfer of the restaurant's full liquor license. The pending Type 47 license is for the same premises occupied by Vigilucci's Trattoria at 530-534 N. Coast Highway 101. ABC records identify the transaction as a transfer of the license currently held by Vigilucci's Restaurants Group Inc. to Athena Restaurant Group LLC, with Saeid “Tony” Shahri identified as Athena's manager and member. The application became pending August 25.
Athena itself is brand new. California corporate records indicate Athena Restaurant Group LLC was formed on August 4, just three weeks before the liquor-license transfer entered the pending stage. The company lists an address on Rutherford Road in Carlsbad. Exactly what will replace Vigilucci's remains under wraps.
“We're still early in the process and aren't ready to share concept details, name, or timeline publicly yet,” Shahri said. “We'd rather share that when it's fully baked than put out something incomplete.”
Shahri said he plans to provide SanDiegoVille with additional details when the project is further along.
Although Athena Restaurant Group is newly established, Shahri has substantial business and real-estate interests in North County. Public business records link him to several companies, including Peeshee LLC, an active California company formed in 2010 whose stated business is real-estate investment. Peeshee shares the Rutherford Road address used by Athena, and state-derived corporate records identify Shahri as its manager.
Shahri also has a notable real-estate foothold on the same stretch of Coast Highway where Vigilucci's operates. In November 2023, Peeshee LLC purchased the property at 640 N. Coast Highway 101 for $4.45 million. The approximately 3,563-square-foot property, located just north of Vigilucci's and long occupied by Leucadia Liquor, had been marketed as a potential redevelopment opportunity. Commercial sales records identify Peeshee as the buyer.
Shahri is also the landlord of the nearby property occupied by The Saloon and Shelter in Encinitas, but he stressed that property is unrelated to the Vigilucci's transaction or Athena's forthcoming restaurant.
“Regarding the Saloon/Shelter property - I'm the landlord there, and that's a separate matter unrelated to the Vigiluccis' transition or Athena's restaurant plans,” Shahri said.
For now, Vigilucci's Trattoria continues to be advertised as operating normally. As of this week, the company's website still lists regular hours, menus and reservations for the Leucadia restaurant, with no public announcement of a closing date.
SanDiegoVille reached out to Vigilucci's Restaurant Group for additional information about the sale, including the anticipated final day of operation for the Leucadia restaurant, but has not yet received a response.
Importantly, there is presently no indication that the transaction involves Vigilucci's two other restaurants. The company continues to operate Vigilucci's Cucina Italiana at 2943 State Street in Carlsbad Village and Vigilucci's Seafood & Steakhouse at 3878 Carlsbad Boulevard. Both remain listed as active locations on the restaurant group's website.
The Leucadia closure will add another name to a surprisingly long list of former Vigilucci's concepts around San Diego County. Over the years, the restaurant group has expanded well beyond its original Encinitas roots before subsequently closing several locations, including Vigilucci's Ristorante on Orange Avenue in Coronado, Vigilucci's Ristorante on Prospect Street in La Jolla, Vigilucci's Osteria in Oceanside, Vigilucci's Pizzeria in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, and Vigilucci's Gourmet Market & Catering in Carlsbad.
The Leucadia Trattoria, however, holds particular significance in the company's history. It is the direct descendant of Roberto Vigilucci's original 1994 Encinitas restaurant and helped establish a restaurant brand that has remained a fixture of coastal North County dining for more than 30 years.
What is now confirmed is that whatever comes next will not be Vigilucci's. After 32 years in Encinitas and Leucadia, the restaurant that started the Vigilucci's story is preparing to serve its final chapter.
Originally published on August 27, 2026.
The Leucadia Trattoria, however, holds particular significance in the company's history. It is the direct descendant of Roberto Vigilucci's original 1994 Encinitas restaurant and helped establish a restaurant brand that has remained a fixture of coastal North County dining for more than 30 years.
What is now confirmed is that whatever comes next will not be Vigilucci's. After 32 years in Encinitas and Leucadia, the restaurant that started the Vigilucci's story is preparing to serve its final chapter.
Originally published on August 27, 2026.
