Miceli’s Restaurant

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After watching Kyra Sedgwick’s Star Ceremony last week, my friend Blaze and I headed over to Hollywood’s oldest pizzeria, better known as Miceli’s Restaurant,  to grab a bite to eat.   Miceli’s – pronounced Micheli’s – opened its doors way back in 1949 and has the distinction of being known as Hollywood’s first pizza house.  The restaurant was started by an Italian couple named Carmen and Sylvia Miceli, along with four of their siblings, who brought their family recipes all the way from Sicily to Los Angeles.  The restaurant is still owned and operated by the Miceli family and apparently, most nights, Carmen, himself, is on hand to great his guests!  Because of the restaurants’ storied Hollywood history, I just HAD to stalk the place.  🙂

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And I wasn’t disappointed!!  The second you walk through Miceli’s front doors you are immediately transported back in time!  With its dimly lit interior, red leather booths, and black and white photographs of celebrities of yesteryear lining the entryway, the restaurant definitely gives off an Old Hollywood vibe.  It is such  a cool place!!!!  My favorite part of Miceli’s had to be the intricately carved wood and red leather booths.  I’ve never seen booths like that in my entire life!  Ironically, the booths originally belonged to the old Pig N’ Whistle restaurant, which I blogged about yesterday.   When the Pig N’ Whistle closed its doors in 1949, its gorgeous wooden booths were sold to Miceli’s, where they remain to this day. 

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I was also pretty obsessed with the ceilings at Miceli’s.  🙂  I don’t know what it is with me and ceilings lately, but every time I walk into a historic building my eyes always go directly up to the roof.  Nine times out of ten, the ceilings of old buildings are like works of art.  And Miceli’s ceiling certainly did not disappoint.  Intricate wrought iron chandeliers hang from gorgeous carved wooden beams throughout the restaurant.  Unfortunately, because Miceli’s is so dimly lit, my photographs of the interior did not come out very well.  🙁 

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Not surprisingly, Miceli’s Restaurant has always been popular with celebrities.  During Hollywood’s Golden Era, stars like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, my girl Marilyn Monroe, and Presidents Nixon and JFK all dined at Miceli’s.  In more recent years, Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, The Beatles, and Julia Roberts have all been spotted at the eatery. 

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And, yes, Miceli’s is also a filming location!  In 2007’s Knocked Up, Seth Rogan takes his baby momma, Katherine Heigl, to the historic restaurant on a date.

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I HIGHLY recommend stalking Miceli’s!   The place is worth a trip just for the ambiance alone!   But besides the decor, the food at Miceli’s is also EXCELLENT and the portions are ginormous!   I just about died over the restaurant’s garlic toast!!   Sadly, though, since we ate at Miceli’s during lunchtime, we missed the “singing waiters” which the Italian restaurant is famous for.  🙁   Every night, the Miceli servers step up to the piano to serenade diners with authentic Italian arias, show tunes, and the standards.  Sometimes patrons are even invited to get up and sing a note or two themselves.  Since karaoke is one of my very favorite past times, I am definitely planning on dragging my fiance there for a nighttime visit!  🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: Miceli’s Restaurant is located at 1646 North Las Palmas in Hollywood.

9 Replies to “Miceli’s Restaurant”

  1. I’ve eaten there several times and never had the singing waiter experience. We had live singers several times, but they were never waiters or waitresses. I’m guessing at some point they changed it from an every night thing, or I simply happen to have a tendency to pick nights when they’re not doing it. My favorite thing about Miceli’s, aside from the menu, is the Chianti bottles hanging throughout the restaurant, signed by guests who’ve finished them. And of course Carmen, who is charming. And sitting on the top floor looking over the whole restaurant is a Hollywood experience in and of itself. This is one of the few restaurants I go out of my way to take out of town guests to, and I love it more every time.

  2. I’ve eaten at Micelli’s several times and very much enjoyed it.

    For another movie filmed at Micelli’s, look for NIGHTFALL (1957), a late film noir starring Brian Keith, Aldo Ray, and Ann Bancroft and directed by Jacques Tourneur. It’s available on DVD. There’s a lengthy scene in the early part of the film that depicts Micelli’s.

  3. Di, The only two days of the year that Miceli’s is closed are Thanksgiving and Christmas day. I’m always partial to day-old pizza so order ahead of time =)

    Raul, the alley was also in Pretty Woman.

  4. I have been eating there for 40 years.The rolls are the best ever!Another cool story is back in the 50’s,the I Love Lucy writers were having dinner there and got a kick out of watching the chefs toss the pizza.They all felt Lucy should do the same and they did! Bobby Kennedy ate there the day before he was killed in 1968,too.The small alleyway next to Miceli’s is called “the most famous alley in Hollywod”.It is used for filming all the time.I even filmed some scenes for American Dreams in the alley and up and down La Palma.The waiters are a hoot!

  5. This is one of my favorite places to eat in LA! Im SO happy you went there and yes, go back at night for the singing waiters…….totally worth it!!!

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