Friday, October 03, 2008

K-K-K-Katy

Joey is a Senator unbright but bold
Katy WAS a restaurateur of old

Where the gang used to sit around the TV watching the FDR Show kinescopes:
During the debate, Joe Biden gave several Delaware shout-outs, including Wilmington's Union Street...

Maybe, I heard this wrong, or misunderstood, but I think he mentioned Katie's restaurant......

....Katie's was at the corner of Sixth and Scott streets in Wilmington's Little Italy neighborhood. (Not Union Street.) It had been a local and much-loved institution, well known for its rich, thick Italian gravy (tomato sauce) and spaghetti. It was opened in 1936 by Silvio Spiezio, who later sold it in 1945. The Fugilino family owned and ran the restaurant for years until it was sold in the 1981 after Frances Mae Fugilino's death.

Katie's then changed hands again in 1985, but new owners kept the venerable name.

But it eventually changed hands again - at least 10 years ago, maybe even more like 15 years ago (SEE UPDATE BELOW) - and was renamed C.J. Bart's, which according to features reporter Ryan Cormier in a May 2008 News Journal story became " a spot with an unsavory reputation as a magnet for panhandlers and worse."

Cormier reported that Nate Johnson, owner of the Wilmington and Dewey Beach Wings to Go restaurants, recently took over CJ Bart's and renamed it Wings to Go at Katies "as an homage to its former residents.

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