Richie Palmer is a New York-born restaurant owner who helped build Mulberry Street Pizzeria in Los Angeles. He also became known as the fourth husband of actress Raquel Welch. They married in 1999 and later split. But his work with pizza began long before their wedding.
His story links two very different worlds. One is the busy world of food and small business. The other is old Hollywood, where Welch had been a star for years. In this article, we’ll look at his start in pizza, his restaurants, his time with Welch, and the work that made his own name. Let’s begin with the facts.
Quick Facts
- Name: Richie Palmer
- Also known as: Richard Palmer
- From: The Bronx, New York
- Known for: Mulberry Street Pizzeria and Richie’s Neighborhood Pizzeria
- Former wife: Raquel Welch
- Married: July 1999
- Work: Restaurant owner
Who Is Richie Palmer?
Richie Palmer is a restaurateur who grew up in the Bronx, New York. He became known in Southern California for New York-style pizza. He was also married to screen star Raquel Welch at the turn of the century.
The two had very different careers. Welch had spent decades acting in films and on stage. Palmer worked in food service and helped open pizza shops. His business was already in the news before they wed.
He helped start Mulberry Street Pizzeria, which served thin-crust pies in Los Angeles. He later used his own name for another pizza brand. Those jobs gave him a role in the city’s food scene apart from his marriage.
Many profiles focus only on the famous woman he married. But the record shows that Richie Palmer was a working restaurant owner with plans to grow his business. His food career is a key part of the story.
From the Bronx to Los Angeles Pizza
Palmer grew up in the Bronx. New York pizza was part of his life long before he opened a shop in California. He liked the plain slice, with sauce and cheese on a thin crust.
That taste helped shape the food he served. Rather than build a fancy menu with every new trend, he put the classic slice at the heart of the brand. It was a style that New Yorkers would know.
In a 1998 interview with the Los Angeles Times, he spoke about pizza with clear pride. The reporter tried his pies and noted their thin crust. At the time, his food business was growing.
Richie Palmer took a familiar city food and brought it to a new market. The idea was simple: sell the kind of pizza he grew up with. The hard part was running shops well enough to keep people coming back.
How Mulberry Street Pizzeria Began
Palmer helped found Mulberry Street Pizzeria with actress Cathy Moriarty. The shop in Beverly Hills became part of the local dining scene. It served a style of pizza that stood apart from many thick-crust pies.
The business put him in touch with both local diners and people who worked in movies. Beverly Hills was an unusual place to sell a casual New York slice, but the idea drew notice.
The shop also played a part in his personal life. Welch later visited the Beverly Hills pizzeria, and their romance grew soon after. A place built for food became part of a very public love story.
The two founders had a past link of their own. They had once been a couple. Still, the business is best understood through its food and growth. Mulberry Street was more than a footnote in a celebrity romance.
Building Richie’s Neighborhood Pizzeria
After Mulberry Street, Palmer also built restaurants under the name Richie’s Neighborhood Pizzeria. The name put a clear face on the business and kept the focus on everyday pizza.
In late 1998, the Los Angeles Times reported plans for shops at the Irvine Spectrum Mall and the Block in Orange. He was looking beyond one store in Beverly Hills.
That growth meant serving more people in more parts of Southern California. A new site needs staff, equipment, food supplies, and a steady group of diners. Good pizza alone cannot run the place.
Richie Palmer’s plans showed a clear business goal: turn a local food style into a wider restaurant brand. They also show why he was busy during the same years that press stories focused on his romance.
Why His Pizza Stood Out
At the time, California diners could find many kinds of pizza. Palmer offered a thin New York slice with a crisp base. The plain cheese pie was still his favorite.
He also sold pies with toppings such as chicken, ricotta, spinach, and mozzarella. The wider menu gave people options while keeping the style close to what he knew from New York.
Those choices had a clear point. A small menu built around a few strong items can give a shop a clear identity. Diners know what to expect when they walk in.
His pizza was not marketed as fine dining. It was food meant to be shared, eaten by the slice, or taken home. That was the heart of the appeal.
Meeting Raquel Welch
Welch and Palmer met at a party before they began dating. He sent her flowers, but she did not show much interest at first. They grew closer after she spent time at his Beverly Hills pizza shop.
The actress later recalled that he seemed very busy on their first date. He was often on the phone. She wondered if he was trying too hard to look like an important man.
The calls had a less flashy reason. He was checking on his restaurant work. That small detail gives their first dates a human touch. His day job did not stop just because a movie star was at his table.
Richie Palmer was not new to Hollywood circles, but Welch’s fame was far greater than his. Their courtship drew press interest as the two prepared to marry.
The 1999 Marriage
The couple married in July 1999. Welch had been married three times before. Palmer became her fourth husband.
The 1998 Los Angeles Times interview had already described their plans for a wedding the next summer. A later newspaper profile confirmed that they were married and near their second wedding anniversary in 2001.
The marriage put the restaurant owner in front of a much wider audience. Fans who knew Welch from her films now heard his name in stories about her personal life.
Still, Richie Palmer had a job to do outside those headlines. Restaurant work carried on while the couple attended events and made public appearances. That side of his life was easy to overlook.
A Marriage That Later Ended
By the early 2000s, the marriage had run into trouble. The pair separated, and the marriage later ended in divorce. It was Welch’s fourth marriage.
News reports at the time said the split was friendly. That is an important detail because celebrity breakups often lead to rumors that go far beyond what the people involved have said.
The fact of the split is clear. The full private reasons are not. It would be wrong to claim that one event or one person caused the end without strong proof.
The marriage is one part of the story of Richie Palmer. His place in the restaurant world did not begin with Welch, and it did not end when their time as a couple was over.
The Santa Monica Pizza Shop
Years after the wedding, his name was still part of local food news. In March 2008, Eater LA wrote about a Richie Palmer pizzeria on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica.
The report linked the shop to both the Mulberry Street name and Richie’s Neighborhood Pizzeria. It also noted how close it was to another New York-style pizza spot, Joe’s Pizza.
That setting put his food in direct reach of beachgoers and city diners. A busy street near other pizza sellers is a test of how well a shop can stand out.
Eater’s report showed that Richie Palmer was still known for pizza well after his most famous marriage. That is a more useful detail about his work than any guess about his money.
What His Career Tells Us About Local Food
A city food scene is built by many kinds of people. Some chefs run high-end dining rooms. Others bring food from home and make it easy to buy in a new place.
Palmer followed the second path. His roots in New York gave his shops a clear style. He wanted customers in Los Angeles to get a slice that felt like the one he knew as a kid.
His story also shows that a small food idea can grow into several locations. But growth brings new risks. Shops have to win loyal guests each day, not just draw crowds on opening night.
Richie Palmer earned notice as a restaurant owner because he kept working in that field across many years. The dated reports show real stores and real plans, not just a name beside a film star.
Public Life Beyond the Marriage
Palmer gave interviews about his food and appeared in news stories with Welch. In the 1998 profile, he even said he hoped to direct one day. It was a dream he shared while talking about his pizza.
That wish does not prove he built a major film career. His best-known public work remained tied to restaurants. He was not one of the stars who made Welch famous.
His path is a reminder that two people in a marriage can have their own goals. One may work in films. The other may spend long days running a shop.
His business record gives readers a fuller way to understand him. Fame put his marriage in the news, but the pizza work made up much of his public life.
Final Thoughts
Richie Palmer brought the taste of Bronx pizza to Southern California. He helped build Mulberry Street Pizzeria and went on to open more shops under his own name.
His marriage to Raquel Welch made him known to people outside the food world. But the story is richer when it includes the work he was doing before and after those years.
Pizza shops are made by people who show up each day and serve their guests. That is the side of his life that still gives the story its own flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was he already in the restaurant business when he met Raquel Welch?
Yes. He was involved with Mulberry Street Pizzeria in Beverly Hills before their romance began.
Who helped him start Mulberry Street Pizzeria?
Actress Cathy Moriarty was a co-founder. Their business link was covered in a 1998 Los Angeles Times profile.
Did he try to make New York-style pizza in California?
Yes. He grew up in the Bronx and made thin-crust New York-style pizza a key part of his stores.
Was his Santa Monica shop covered by local food press?
Yes. Eater LA reported on a Richie Palmer pizzeria on Ocean Avenue in March 2008.
Did he want to direct movies?
He told the Los Angeles Times in 1998 that he wanted to direct. That comment was a goal, not proof of a later film career.
You may also read: More biographies at US Chronicle Magazine.
