St. Cloud’s Former Slim Chickens Becomes Italian Restaurant Rooted In Family Recipes

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- We now officially know what the plans are for the former Slim Chickens building along Highway 23 in St. Cloud.

The owners of the building, The Letnes Restaurant Group, say the building is being transformed into an Italian restaurant.

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Cindi Letnes says it will be called "Amelia's Italia" after her grandmother, who was born in New York in 1903 and then moved to Minnesota when she got married.

It was a tradition that we always went to Grandma Amelia's for Sunday dinner, and we couldn't wait to go there.  We had the same thing every Sunday. It was her wonderful pasta, sauce, and all of the trimmings that went with that.  We are very excited to see it come to life.

Jim Maurice

Project Manager Steven Rulli (Cindi Letnes' son) says his great-grandmother Amelia's recipes were put together in a cookbook back in 2006.

While every family has a spin on their own Italian dishes, these are as authentic as they get, being first-generation Italian, both my great-grandmother and my great-grandfather.  These recipes are ones that were brought from the old country to the new country.

Rulli says, besides all the old traditional Italian food, they've also been working with chefs to create some street food concepts and some shareables.

For the beverages, they'll concentrate on wine and craft cocktails with a limited selection of beer.

Rulli says a lot of work is being done to transform the space from a fast casual style to a sit-down restaurant.

There's a really cool bar going in there.  I won't say it's going to be the center point, but in the dining area, it will be a cool focal point that will be there.  We'll have a larger seating area with a family feel, but also a mix of privacy and group settings with great energy.

The Letnes Restaurant Group is hoping to have it open either late this year or early next year.

The Letnes Restaurant Group opened its first restaurant, a Bonanza in St. Cloud, in 1975.  They currently have 27 total restaurants in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa, including Grizzly's, Boulder Tap House, 7 West TapHouse, and Olde Brick  House in St. Cloud.

Slim Chickens in St. Cloud closed in March of 2025.

Read More: UPDATE - Slim Chickens Closing |