LEWISTON — Taking on a legacy business comes with high expectations. Just ask Zach and Keshia Pratt, the restaurateurs who bought and refurbished the landmark Luiggi’s Pizzeria over the past eight months — at considerable expense.

From the start, the Pratts have been under pressure to maintain the traditions of the legendary pizzeria, created to cater to the men and women who worked in this city’s mills.

“Luiggi’s was once created for the millworkers,” Zach Pratt said Monday. “It was a runoff of Sam’s and Amato’s,” noting it came third to the table. “It was very cheap to eat here. They specialized in three things — pizza, Italians, meatballs — and sauce. That’s it. That’s all Luiggi’s did,” Pratt said.

Now, frustrated by criticism from old regulars, Pratt said big changes are in store later this summer.

“We’re completely changing the menu, we’re only keeping the staples that Luiggi’s started with,” he said.

No doubt, local diners will have opinions about the changes.

Lewistonians in particular seem to have an affinity for Luiggi’s, flooding social media with advice and demands for the new owners. “Please dear Lord keep the meatball subs exactly as they are,” one poster wrote. “Keep the sauce recipes and the Fergy,” wrote another, referring to the restaurant’s signature sandwich. “Please don’t change a thing!” admonished another.

When they bought the restaurant in October 2024, the Pratts vowed to do just that but have been flooded with mostly criticism, mixed with some praise since opening 11 weeks ago.

Customers posting on Luiggi’s Facebook page have distinct memories of how the food used to taste or used to be served.

“When I bought the brand, they were going to close. I bought it because they were closing. And I thought buying a staple you get community support. That’s not happening,” Pratt said.

He said he’s been approached to sell Luiggi’s, something he quickly dismissed.

Even with Luiggi’s offering specials three times a week, dozens of posts hit their Facebook page every week, with many critical of pricing, size or ingredients. Fergy Friday is buy one small, get one free; Pizza Monday is a two-topping small for $5; and it’s $1.99 Italians on Wednesdays.

The hits just keep coming. Why no substitutions, the sauce isn’t the same, customers complain.

“How can we sell $6 Fergies to make a living?” Pratt asked. So, why do the specials at all? “I do the specials because that’s the only way that the locals come in,” he said. Otherwise, Luiggi’s resembles a ghost town, he said.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has been tracking the cost of food American consumers buy since 1947. A loaf of bread that cost 60 cents in 1953 when Luiggi’s opened would cost $7.25 in today’s economy, using the Consumer Price Index to adjust for inflation. Boiled ham was 99 cents a pound, the equivalent of $11.96 a pound today.

The mills are closed and times have changed.

“I don’t mean any disrespect, but it’s just not economically viable with the customer base we have,” Pratt said, adding that they are criticized regardless of what they do.

The answer is clear to the Pratts: Changes are coming starting Aug. 1. The meatballs and sauce will stay, as will the Fergies and the pizza, except the pizza will be New York style.

“We’re bringing a New York hoagie vibe,” Pratt said. “No more Italian sandwiches anymore.”

Expect the prices to go up and other aspects of the business to change as well, he said.

“We’re gonna have things like the Geno, which is a pastrami, roasted turkey and Thousand Island (dressing) with bacon on it on a hoagie roll,” Pratt offered as an example. He’s promising baked sandwiches and big sandwiches, the kind featured prominently on TikTok.

“You’re going to get a sandwich for about $15-$16, but you’re going to have enough for another meal,” he said.

Zach Pratt is a graduate of The Green Ladle, the culinary program at the Lewiston Regional Technical Center.

He and his wife opened an Asian fusion-themed boba restaurant in 2015. After four moves it ended up at 97 Lisbon St., until it closed in December 2023. Zach Pratt appeared in an episode of the Food Network’s “Chopped” program in 2018.

The Pratts also want to add a retail aspect similar to what Monte’s Fine Foods in Portland has, offering dried pastas and specialty imported products. They’re also considering adding a bar and serving alcohol.

Pratt said he wants to create more of a social atmosphere and a place where new customers want to give them a try. Change is hard for many Mainers, and he said he realizes they may lose some old customers, but change is what has to happen if they want to be economically viable.

“Luiggi’s new era needs to happen,” Pratt said. “I didn’t want to raise my prices for boba and look where I am now, it’s closed now. I should have raised my prices because it needed to happen. I’m learning very quickly that you can’t become too attached to something or you can lose your shirt. And the biggest thing that I have here is that huge investment in the renovation that’s just sitting here.”