OPEN: 1949–present
LOCATION: 1646 N. Las Palmas Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90028
ORIGINAL PHONE: HO 3-0311
CURRENT PHONE: (323) 466-3438
BUILDING STYLE: 1940s Storefront
CUISINE: Italian
IN THE LATE 1940S, CARMEN MICELI PACKED HIS BAGS IN CHICAGO AND TOOK OFF FOR HOLLYWOOD, DRIVING DOWN ROUTE 66 ALONG WITH THE OTHERS HEADING OUT WEST AFTER THE WAR. There he met and married his wife, Sylvia, and the couple sent for Carmen’s siblings to join them in Los Angeles and help fulfill their dream of opening a pizzeria in the city.
The family found a small building on Las Palmas Avenue, down the street from several motion picture theaters, and opened their pizzeria there. Around the corner on Hollywood Boulevard, the Pig ’n Whistle (see page 69) was closing and selling off its furniture, so the Micelis purchased all of its dark wooden booths and installed them in their new restaurant. The booths are still at Miceli’s today, complete with wooden carvings of dancing pigs.
At the time, most Angelenos did not know what a pizza was, let alone a pizzeria. Nevertheless, lines of hungry customers were soon spilling out of the Miceli’s front door and down the block.
The Micelis used recipes that had been passed down to them from their Sicilian mother, Maria, who had immigrated to Chicago with her husband in 1921 and opened an Italian fast-food stand in front of her home. In 1952, she moved to California to help her children run their restaurant in Hollywood.
The most popular items on the menu that have stood the test of time are the chicken parm, cheese garlic toast, spaghetti and meatballs, and Aunt Angie’s Original Lasagna. Another crowd favorite is the Miceli Special, made with handtossed pizza dough, homemade tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, meatballs, salami, mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers.
Miceli’s billboard, 1970s.
In the ’50s, the Micelis installed a jukebox in the pizzeria and filled it with Italian songs. The restaurant became known for its singing waiters and waitresses; when customers put a nickel in the jukebox, their servers would sing along to the tune of their choice. Today, the jukebox has been replaced by a piano in the center of the dining room, and the waitstaff play and sing everything from Italian operas to show tunes. They recently added Disney music to their repertoire for the little ones.
Another lasting tradition at Miceli’s is its collection of Chianti bottles hanging from the ceiling. Even today, if you polish off a traditional wrapped Chianti bottle at the restaurant, you can write a message on it to commemorate the evening and the staff will hang it from the ceiling.
Because of its close proximity to theaters and film studios, Miceli’s has had its share of fame. Prior to filming the I Love Lucy episode “Visitor from Italy” in 1956, Lucille Ball spent spent a few days at Miceli’s learning how to toss pizza dough from Carmen’s brother, Sammy. They even filmed the segment on location in the Miceli’s kitchen. The story goes that Ball got so good at throwing the dough that, after filming, she made pizza for the entire cast and crew.
In 1960, John F. Kennedy ate at Miceli’s after giving his presidential nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention downtown. The Beatles also paid a visit to the pizzeria in 1964, while they were in town to play at the Hollywood Bowl. Over the years, it was not uncommon for Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, and Joe DiMaggio to be seen at Miceli’s.
Today, Miceli’s and its sister location on Cahuenga Boulevard are still going strong, both run by Carmen and Sylvia’s sons, Joe and Frank. 
