Tony Fanara, owner of Italian restaurant Palermo and community pillar, dies at 79
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Set us as preferred For 50 years, diners in Los Feliz knew they could count on a warm welcome and a hearty meal from Tony Fanara.The restaurateur, who died on Friday at 79 years old, was known for sending free and discounted pizzas to school and neighborhood groups, giving special attention to police and firefighters and liberally distributing free desserts and mushroom side dishes, especially to new customers and families, at his Italian restaurant Palermo.Fanara’s death was sudden.
The restaurant had closed for a summer hiatus July 1.On Friday, Fanara’s daughter Michelle Fanara said, her father was working on a project at a neighboring property, stepped inside Palermo, lay down to rest and did not get up.
A specific cause is unknown, but Fanara had some history of heart trouble.Born in Sicily to a large family, Fanara moved to the U.S.with his parents as a teenager, served in the U.S.
Army from 1967 to 1969 and earned an associate’s degree in electrical engineering from East Los Angeles College in 1971.After working for San Antonio Winery, Fanara opened his first restaurant, an 18-table venture on Hillhurst Avenue, in 1976.
He called it Palermo and specialized in Sicilian home-style cuisine.It was at the first Palermo, Michelle Fanara said, that her parents met.After three dates they got engaged.
In 1977 they married.In 1982, with a growing family at home, Fanara moved the restaurant to a larger space on Vermont Avenue.Before long the dining room had red leather booths, a seaside mural on the wall, a bar in back and sometimes a wandering accordion player.
Fanara posted himself at the door, greeting guests.For many years (until local officials objected) he handed out free cups of wine to customers waiting for tables.
“That restaurant — that’s my dad’s first child, his love, his baby,” said Michelle Fan...