Miceli's: Hollywood's Oldest Italian Restaurant

The great thing about Los Angeles is that there is always something new to see or do. Even if that something new is actually really old. I don't know how many times I've passed Miceli's, the oldest Italian restaurant in Hollywood, without ever stopping in. I would always think to myself, "next time,"  but next time never came - until this past Mother's Day weekend.  

My wife's favorite food is Italian and I wanted to take her to an Italian restaurant we had never tried before. This seemed like the perfect time to try Miceli's. And once I learned that Miceli's had a Lucille Ball connection (my wife's favorite actress) I knew this place was a winner. Besides, being the oldest Italian restaurant in Hollywood, an area where restaurants change every few months, I figured Miceli's must be doing something right?

Miceli's opened in 1949 when Carmen and Silvia Miceli, with the help of their brothers and sisters, put their funds together to start a restaurant. Carmen, a Chicago native, came to Los Angeles shortly after fighting in World War II. When he started his Hollywood restaurant using family recipes brought from Sicily by way of Chicago, he opened what would be Hollywood's first pizzeria. Being in Hollywood, Miceli's attracted the stars and regular folks alike.

According to Joe Miceli, Carmen's son and one of the current co-owners, it was at Miceli's that Lucille Ball learned to toss a pizza for an episode of I Love Lucy. Watch a clip of that episode here. Other classic celebrities who have come to Miceli's throughout the years include Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sal Mineo, the Lloyd Bridges family, The Beatles, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio and probably every classic Hollywood star with a taste for Italian.

This photo from Glass of Win.

The place feels like a step back in time and what you would expect from an old Hollywood restaurant. In fact, an interesting bit of trivia, the wooden booths inside of Miceli's come from another old Hollywood restaurant, the famous Pig 'n Whistle restaurant located next door to the Egyptian Theatre. When the Pig 'n Whistle closed in 1949 (the restaurant sat unoccupied for 50 years before reopening) Miceli's bought up all the booths. Many of those booths can still be found inside Miceli's and my wife and I happened to be seated in one. In the picture below you can see carved into the booth is an image of a pig with a whistle.

Pig 'n Whistle carved into the booth.

Of course, we also happened to be seated under a Chianti bottle signed by someone from Green Bay, Wisconsin. This was fitting because I always tease my wife that everything can be tied back to Wisconsin, a kind of "six degrees of Wisco." Whether it be the long list of actors including Spencer Tracy, Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Fredric March, or directors Orson Welles, Nicholas Ray, Howard Hawks or Eddie Cline, or studio moguls like Carl Laemmle Sr. There are just too many connections to name but I will stop before I annoy you as much as my wife.

Chianti bottles hang from the ceiling.

Inside Miceli's in Hollywood.

Above is a photo we had taken inside of Miceli's. I had already devoured our appetizer, a round of drinks and started in on our pizza before I figured we better get a snapshot.

Joe Miceli discusses the history of the Miceli's restaurant.

One last old Hollywood connection. In one of my favorite noirs, Gun Crazy (1950), There is a scene where the two lead characters Annie and Bart pull their car over near a newsstand on Las Palmas. Although we don't really get a good view of the Miceli's restaurant, the spot where the two pull over is directly across the street from the Hollywood Miceli's. You can see this location in my full post on the Gun Crazy filming locations here.

Have you ever visited Miceli's? What's your favorite dish? We figured for our first time we better try the pizza. It tasted great and all the toppings were nice and fresh.

Highway Dragnet (1954) - Film Locations

Last week the blog Paradise Leased provided an update on the status of Apple Valley, California's famous Hilltop House, a once gorgeous modern home that unfortunately has been left to deteriorate over the years. Today, this house built for one of Apple Valley's co-founders, Newton T. Bass, is just a skeleton of the structure it used to be, but the house is now for sale and hopefully some buyer can return the home to its original beauty. You can read and see photos of the home on the Paradised Leased blog here.

The update on the Hilltop House reminded me of the film Highway Dragnet (1954), which was partly filmed in Apple Valley, at another area landmark, the Apple Valley Inn located in the valley just below the Hilltop House. Highway Dragnet stars Richard Conte, Joan Bennett and Wanda Hendrix. It tells the story of a Korean War vet, played by Conte, who is wrongly accused of killing a woman he was seen with earlier inside a Las Vegas bar. Conte must go on the lam until he can clear his name. He gets out of town by hitching a ride with a female photographer (Bennett) and her model (Hendrix). Although the story has a few holes in the plot, it is still entertaining to watch, particularly for all the excellent location filming.

The film starts with scenes in Las Vegas, including a shot of the Golden Nugget and Binion's Horseshoe casinos on Fremont street.

Looking down Fremont Street in Las Vegas.

Fremont Street today. Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

One major change to Fremont Street since the time Highway Dragnet was made is the addition of the Fremont Street Experience, a canopy that produces a colored light show above several blocks of the street.

The Horseshoe casino as seen in Highway Dragnet.

Binion's Gambling Hall formerly The Horseshoe.

After the Vegas scenes, the film shows Conte hitching a ride with Bennett and Hendrix in the desert. The threesome eventually pull over and get a room at the Apple Valley Inn.  The Apple Valley Inn was a hotel developed by Newton T. Bass to help attract land buyers to housing development he created out in the middle of the California desert. During the 1940s and until the 1960s, it was a popular place for many Hollywood celebrities, including Bob Hope, Tony Curtis, Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck.

Police set up a barricade in front of the Apple Valley Inn.

The entrance of the Apple Valley Inn as it appears now.

Highway 18 leading up to the Apple Valley Inn driveway.

Looking down Highway 18 from the Apple Valley Inn driveway.

Conte in front of the Apple Valley Inn.

The Apple Valley Inn. Photo from mysewsweetstudio.blogspot.com

Historic postcard view of the Apple Valley Inn.

Conte, Bennett and Hendrix inside a room at Apple Valley Inn.

An agent stands in front of the Apple Valley Inn pool.

Hendrix sits on the pool's diving board.

Bennett stands by the Apple Valley Inn pool.

The Macdonald Carey family visits the pool at Apple Valley Inn. Photo from Paradise Leased.

When it's revealed that Conte, who police believe to be the killer is hiding out at the Apple Valley Inn, he races out of the place, driving a car right through a police barricade.

Conte drives through a police barricade at Apple Valley Inn.

Exiting the driveway at Apple Valley Inn.

The final scenes take place at the Salton Sea. According to the site Lost Resorts, the Salton Sea was once known as the Riviera of the West or "Palm Springs by the Sea." It is the largest lake in California and used to be a major destination in the 1950s and 1960s for tourist and celebrities. The sea was created by accident. In 1900, developers created a series of canals and dikes to divert water from the Colorado River to turn the arid desert into farming land. In 1905 heavy rains caused the Colorado River to rise, a dike was then broken and the Imperial Valley filled with water, becoming the Salton Sea.

The Salton Sea as seen in Highway Dragnet.

A present day view of the Salton Sea. Photo from Lost Resorts.