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Sonny's Family Restaurant
Celebrating 25 years
Story by Cecil Scaglione
"If it sells,
it stays," explains Ernest Genovese when asked how he makes additions
to his menu at Sonny's Pizza and Pasta.
When opportunity
permits, he visits Italian restaurants around wherever he happens
to be because "I like Italian food," said the 69-year-old known
as Sonny since he was named after his father. But he also collects
and culls culinary selections that might sound good on his list.
"I put them
together and offer them as specials. If our people like them,
we add them to our menu."
He's added
a lot of new dinner specials over the past two decades.
His parents
launched the family on the restaurateur road back in 1947 with
their first diner on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. After
several vacations in San Clemente, they opened and operated Ernesto's
Italian Villa here for a couple of decades before Sonny established
his own kitchen at 429 N. El Camino Real.
His daughter,
Julie Ragenovich, has been greeting and seating customers since
opening day. In the family tradition, her three children pitch
in. Sean, 21, works in the kitchen with grandfather Sonny, 19-year-old
professional surfer Brandon buses tables "when he's in town,"
and Jessica, 12, helps her mom as a hostess.
"Even my
little brother from my dad's second marriage works here when he's
not in school," Julie said. That would be Dominic, who's 12.
Both she and
her father don't hesitate to proclaim their cuisine as equal to,
if not better than, any Italian restaurant in the region. "And
we're reasonably priced," said Sonny. The costliest entree is
$14.95.
Customer loyalty
is as much a key to Sonny's success as is family continuity. "We
have people who have been coming here for years for our Monday
night specials, which is still spaghetti and meat sauce served
with garlic bread for $4.99," said Julie. "If you want a salad,
it's $1 more."
"I've been
all over the world - I can go to Hawaii or Las Vegas or Mexico
- and if I'm wearing a Sonny's T-shirt, people will come up to
me and tell me they've been to my restaurant," Sonny said. "That
says a lot, since we've seen a lot of restaurants open and close
here."
His success
hangs from "consistency," he said.
"I'm in here
every day at 8 a.m. and I make our sauces - we have five or six
different ones - the same every day so people know what to expect."
His favorite
dish is fusilli (spiral pasta) with marinara sauce and "lots of
crushed chili pepper."
To sample
Sonny's selections, you can visit the restaurant for lunch or
dinner seven days a week.
"We don't
deliver," said Julie, "but we do catering jobs."
Sonny's Pizza
and Pasta
429 N. El Camino Real
San Clemente, CA 92672
(949) 498-2540
sonnyspizza@sbcglobal.net.food
(SouthCoast
Magazine Fall 2005)
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