Restaurateur, musician and Mahoning Valley namesake Richard “Chookie” Alberini, 62, died Friday afternoon.
He was diagnosed in March 2013 with stage 3 sarcoma, an aggressive form of cancer, but had been cancer-free for seven years.
In 2013, the restaurant bearing Alberini’s family name closed its doors on US Route 422. The family business was started by his father, Richard Sr., in 1957.
Alberini’s started as a small pizza place on Route 422 at the former intersection of Mines Road. It opened at its final location at 1201 Youngstown Warren Road on Dec. 9, 1961, and it was the last of the original family-owned restaurants along the highway between Warren and Niles from when the dining / nightlife destination was known as “The Strip.”
As the lead member of the band Chookie Unplugged, Alberini was also known for his musical talents, and frequently sang and played guitar in the restaurant’s lounge with his band.
There has been an outpouring of support from members of the community who knew Alberini, and even some who didn’t know him personally, but had been touched through his talents with food and music.
“There are no words to describe this loss. Chook was my first brother in arms in this crazy restaurant business,” Mark Canzonetta, owner of Bistro 1907 in Youngstown, said in a social media post. “The highs and lows we navigated as friends will never be forgotten. The absolute kind soul he was, living in a world of the restaurant business, when his true love was family and a guitar. His smile, his laugh, his love of life will always be remembered.”
Others remarked on his smile, his electric personality and his kind soul. Many called him a Valley music legend.
“Everything that’s been passed around today shows what a mark Chook Alberini made on the local music scene,” said Brian Angelo, a fellow Valley musician, on social media. “Everybody who knew him personally knows what a great guy we just lost.”
“Chookie is now a part of a hell of a band in Rock & Roll heaven, and the band is better for it,” Angelo continued. “May God grant him rest among the Saints, and may his memory be eternal.”
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