Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Mimi's to Famiglia

Mimi's Pizza Restaurant shuttered this summer due to a rent dispute with the landlord. Owned by the Vanacore family for 59 years, it was a beloved part of its Upper East Side neighborhood.


photo by Andrew Fine

Now, in a sickening sort of irony, a pizza restaurant chain is moving in. La Famiglia is taking Mimi's spot, replacing real family with fake family.

According to the Famiglia site, "you can find Famous Famiglia locations across leading airports, shopping centers, casinos, travel plazas, military bases, theme parks, universities, and busy urban centers."


via Twitter @JRMcGrail




11 comments:

Brian said...

Folks are happy to get their food from big corporate America industrialized faceless outlets as long as they see certain buzzwords. Often being placated by buzzwords more than actually looking at or examining the food itself. McDonald's, Starbucks, Pizza Hut are prime examples

Scout said...

It's true that Famiglia is a chain, but it began right here in NYC as a single pizzeria in the mid-80s, and is still family owned. It's not some kind of McDonald's (yet).

Robert said...

Famous Famiglia makes crappy slice of Pizza, and they are not even Italian, they are albanian.

Mike said...

Trump Plaza is family owned, but I'm not going there for taco salad.

Unknown said...

Hey,La Famiglia can be found in theme parks! Perfect for today's "New York City Land"!

Unknown said...

This all seems very famiglia to me....

Scout said...

Mike wrote at 9:38 AM "Trump Plaza is family owned, but I'm not going there for taco salad."

Actually, Trump Plaza (which no longer exists) was owned by Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc., which is a subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises. Trump divested all holdings in it years before it closed.

I'm only guessing that you were referring to the casino, as you wouldn't go to any of the other buildings called Trump Plaza for a taco salad, as they are apartment buildings.

However, I understand your point, and it's a very patriotic one - snarking is much more fun (and so much easier!) than actually researching and contributing.

enodo said...

@Robert: Many, perhaps most, ethnic restaurants in the city are owned by people of backgrounds other than that of the cuisine. Many Japanese restaurants are run by Koreans, for example. I believe that the owners of the bagel shop near where I live are Chinese. Immigrants (who are likely to open these sorts of stores) don't come from the same countries as they did a century ago, but people still want pizza and bagels.

The main issue is whether the Famiglia restaurant will be able to play the same role in the community as Mimi's did. It won't have the beloved owner, but it will still be a place for the same neighborhood people to meet. So in that sense it could have been worse.

Unknown said...

Hey Scout. I did some research. Turns out your an a**hole

Scout said...

You're a class act, Mike Lopez. Classy as Trump.

Tal Hartsfeld said...

Nothing says "intimate" like "locations all across the country ...in airports; university areas; shopping centers; casinos; hotel lobbies; resorts ..."