By Virginia Mullery. Special to the Tribune.
When Steve Mirretti and Joe Ambrogio were discharged from military service in 1946, they returned home, bought a government-issue Quonset hut and opened a tavern, adding the food10 years later. The same long bar runs the length of one side, booths line the other. A package goods store and carryout counter eventually were added at one end, then a dining room at the opposite end.
The outside was bricked over, and the roof line no longer resembles a Quonset hut, and for a time neither did the interior. But in a remodeling, according to Joe Mirretti, who became his father's partner when Ambrogio died in 1984, the original arc ceiling was uncovered. Floral drapes, de rigeur for lounges in the '50s, were added to recapture the original ambience of the Quonset.
The carryout counter has the look of a modern kitchen, with bright red, green and white tile, but the dark red booths in the main room are pure nostalgia.
The food has remained consistent, and Joe Mirretti laughs when asked if they use an old family recipe for the pizza.
"Although my dad is first-generation Italian, he never heard of pizza until he was in the Army and saw it in New York," he said. "He and Joe (Ambrogio) experimented until they came up with the recipe we still use today!