At the age of 11, he was working as an apprentice chef at local restaurant La Croce Bianca, although his duties were confined to non-cooking odd jobs such as potato peeling and dealing with the trash.

[2] He is the great uncle of American author Anna Boiardi, who wrote Delicious Memories: Recipes and Stories from the Chef Boyardee Family.

[citation needed] In 1917, Boiardi moved to Cleveland and worked at first at The Union Club, then became the head chef at the Hotel Winton [6], where he introduced a menu featuring Italian cuisine, including spaghetti dinners.

His tenure at the hotel lasted until 1924, at which point he departed to establish his own restaurant, Il Giardino d'Italia (The Garden of Italy), at the intersection of East 9th Street and Woodland Avenue.

[1][5] The patrons of Il Giardino d'Italia frequently asked for samples and recipes of his spaghetti sauce, so he began selling it packaged in milk bottles.

[2] Already then, the company was the largest importer of Italian Parmesan cheese, while also buying tons of olive oil, according to grandniece Anna Boiardi.