Like Dad, Like Daughter Restaurants for Father’s Day

(Gerry Furth-Sides) For Fathers Day, why not dine at a restaurant that a dad made famous and now is being cared for and expanded by a daughter?

Antonio’s Pizzeria and Casa Vega have been lighting up restaurant way on Ventura Boulevard for 60 years apiece.    These days, it’s “ladies night”  in a dynamic restaurant owner-proprietors, Alex Lunardon and Christina “Christy” Vega, respectively have a shine of their own.

Original owner Ray Vega’s beautiful daughter, Christina “Christy” Vega is one of LA’s most visible restaurant owners, representing her family restaurant at local events and starring on national TV shows and in her own motivating cooking demos.  They are enough to give the most blasé viewer kitchen envy.

Casa Vega is a family-owned Mexican restaurant that has been a Los Angeles landmark for 61 years and an iconic stomping ground “back in the day” for Old Hollywood’s biggest stars.  My first experience with the Vega family was in their classic Los Angeles home in celebration of the restaurants 50th anniversary, a lifetime memory.  On the lush lawn where tables were set “for 200 of their closest friends and family” was a towering tree with an old-fashioned swing hanging from a low branch.  Judy Garland had once swung on it at a party decades before!

Rafael “Ray” Vega opened Casa Vega in 1956.  The studio City landmark prides itself on serving authentic Southern California Mexican food and drinks in a warm, festive atmosphere

The colored neon sign is a beacon of hospitality on the expansive corner.  And there is a welcome parking lot in the back.  Turn the corner and inside the intimate, dim interior lamps light the sprawling complex of oddly shaped, appealing rooms.

Casa Vega features an extensive and time-tested menu, ranging from delectable dishes such as traditional chicken mole, burritos, enchiladas, and tostadas, to tasty house-made margaritas and mojitos.  

 

 

For more information, please visit www.casavega.com or find Casa Vega on Facebook and Instagram.

Antonio’s Pizzeria and its iconic sign have been lighting up Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, California, since 1957. It is nearly impossible to think that co-owner/proprietor, Alex Lunardon has been overseeing the large, airy space for close to half this time.

Neighborhood staple to the neighborhood,  hands-on Alex reminded us that Antonio’s Pizzeria remains one of the few non-franchised, family-style restaurants in the San Fernando Valley.   Homemade, traditional Italian dishes, hearty portions, and friendly but professional  service are key.

Antonio originally was affiliated with the famous Micelli’s down the street in Studio City  but wanted to maintain his mother’s authentic Italian recipes, and struck out on his own and created what became the enormously popular Antonio’s Pizzeria  in 1957 in Sherman Oaks.  He sold the restaurant to the Lunardons in 1988 when he retired because he knew they would continue his tradition of authentic Italian food and hospitality.

Families of at least two generations are regulars in the spacious dining room (still hung with fake grape leaves), pretty much unchanged since it opened – though changes like Gluten free pasta are part of keeping up with the times.   This table for two in the spacious front dining room is still  friendly even before the lunch crowd comes into the room ( and the TV was probably not in the original Antonio’s!).

The brother-sister still respects the business after all these years.  “It’s been an honor to serve the community for 60 years, and we’re looking forward to 60 more,” insists Antonio’s co-owner/proprietor Alex Lunardon  with brother, Steven.   There is always one owner on site.  “Our customers are family to us.”

Wonderful aromas from the open kitchen are the first thing that greet guests when they walk in the door.  It is all made-from-scratch Italian comfort food — what healthy and gluten free dishes to update the menu.

Pasta “is the only purchased product,” reported Alex.  “But we feel we would rather buy the best and then put our efforts into everything else made from scratch in our kitchen.”  Extra (large!) meatballs are $2.75.

Last year, to mark Antonio’s milestone birthday, the siblings launched a line of its famous Italian salad dressing ($4.95). With typical aplomb Alex explained with a laugh, “Everyone loves the dressing and usually ask to take some home w them, so why not bottle it?”

For more information, please visit:  //www.antoniospizzeriala.com/,  Facebook and follow them on Instagram.  For pick up and delivery simply check the website menu and press Order Food Online.