UNCLE MIKE IS PADRONE TO THE VALLEY.Byline: Dennis McCarthy Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
CANOGA PARK - Mike Contino sits at his regular table Friday morning playing gin rummy with a couple of his old pals and watching the front door. It's what he does for a living. That and making the best pizza in L.A. for the last 26 years. Yeah, I know, you think you've got a better place. The crust is just right, the sauce is great and they don't kill the pie with too much cheese. Maybe, but these places don't have what Uncle Mike's Pizza in Canoga Park has. They don't have the Godfather. They don't have a padrone pa·dro·ne n. pl. pa·dro·nes or pa·dro·ni 1. An owner or manager, especially of an inn; a proprietor. 2. A man who exploitatively employs or finds work for Italian immigrants in America. , who turns 78 later this month, sitting at his table everyday from opening 'til closing - watching the front door like he's expecting Tony Soprano and his crew to walk in any second to try and put the arm on him. It would be a big mistake. Mike's not the kind of guy who would pay up. Anybody who knows him, knows that. Ten years ago, when he decided to become a Mormon, the members of his Latter-day Saints Lat·ter-day Saint n. See Mormon. Noun 1. Latter-Day Saint - a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Mormon Church in Tarzana gave Mike a big cake on his birthday to celebrate. They knew him. They put a hacksaw in the cake. ``Everybody thinks I'm the Godfather and should be on the Sopranos,'' Mike says, looking out the front door as another car pulls into the parking lot. He's a bit out of sorts this morning because things are changing on this Canoga Park street corner where he's been making pizza all these years - and the Godfather doesn't like change. The gas station in front of his place went belly up a couple of years ago, and now there are plans to put a new McDonald's on the property. Uncle Mike had a sit-down with the city and McDonald's people last week to let them know he would not be pleased if people driving by on Vanowen Avenue and DeSoto Street couldn't see his restaurant stuck in the corner anymore. ``They seemed to understand. We'll see,'' Mike says, getting up to make the rounds. His wife, Liz, put new decorations up in the place, and Mike wants to know what his customers think. That's another thing you get at Uncle Mike's with your pizza that you don't get anyplace an·y·place adv. To, in, or at any place; anywhere. See Usage Note at everyplace. Adv. 1. anyplace - at or in or to any place; "you can find this food anywhere"; (`anyplace' is used informally for `anywhere') anywhere else: Every season and every holiday is celebrated with dozens of colorful paper figures, hanging from the ceiling like icicles over the red Naugahyde booths that go perfect with the paper menus. Hey, you Hey, You is the debut EP of Japanese band Mono. Track listing
keep the overhead down, you keep the prices down, too, Mike says. He stops at a few tables to see what the lunch crowd thinks of the new decorations. ``April showers bring May flowers (Bot.) a plant that flowers in May; also, its blossom. See Mayflower, in the vocabulary. See also: May ,'' he says about the decor change. ``Whadda you think?'' They smile and nod. They ain't crazy. They love them. For all the bravado bra·va·do n. pl. bra·va·dos or bra·va·does 1. a. Defiant or swaggering behavior: strove to prevent our courage from turning into bravado. b. and tough talk, Mike's really a soft touch. That's how he got the moniker (1) A name, title or alias. See alias. (2) A COM object that is used to create instances of other objects. Monikers save programmers time when coding various types of COM-based functions such as linking one document to another (OLE). See COM and OLE. Uncle Mike. Back in 1961, when he was just breaking into the restaurant business in the Valley as a bartender at the now defunct DEFUNCT. A term used for one that is deceased or dead. In some acts of assembly in Pennsylvania, such deceased person is called a decedent. (q.v.) Helen's Steakhouse, Mike used to play softball softball, variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies' on Sundays with the staff and customers at a local park. ``They'd bring beer for the players but nothin' for the kids,'' Mike says. ``I'd give the kids $10 and tell 'em to get themselves a hot dog and root beer. ``Their mothers would ask them where they got the money to buy themselves hot dogs and root beers, and they'd say `Uncle Mike gave it to us.' The name stuck.'' When the earthquake hit in '94, and a lot of people in this Valley were driven from their damaged apartments to find shelter for a few nights at local parks, it was Uncle Mike showing up at Balboa Park Balboa Park is the name of several municipal parks, including the following:
These people had enough problems, Mike says, they didn't need to be hungry, too. And it was Uncle Mike walking the streets around his restaurant on those dark, scary nights to make sure all the young families in the neighborhood knew they could stop by his place for a free slice or two when their kids got hungry. It wasn't anything special. It's just what a godfather does, says the man who makes L.A.'s best pizza. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Mike Contino, venerable owner of Uncle Mike's Pizza in Canoga Park, this month celebrates 26 years in the business as well as his birthday. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer |
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