Cool? Tacky? Restaurants with mob movie names draw diverse reactions

There are no sushi joints in the Garden State named after the 1974 crime drama “The Yakuza.” You won’t find restaurants named for the Irish mobsters in “The Departed” or the Russian mafiosos in “Little Odessa,” either.

But, to the chagrin of some — though not all — Italians in New Jersey, you can find the Italian mobster-themed Mob Burger on Hackensack St. in Wood-Ridge, which opened, six months ago, two blocks from the GoodFellas Pizzeria in Wood-Ridge and two miles from Corleone’s Pizzeria in Hasbrouck Heights.

(GoodFellas was recently sold and, last week, changed its name to Pizza Mia. The owner of Corleone's said his restaurant name had nothing to do with "The Godfather," but refused multiple interview requests.)

If you still have some time on your hands, you can check out the Godfather pizza restaurants in Morristown and East Hanover, another GoodFellas Italian restaurant in Garfield, and one (or both) of the Soprano’s pizzerias in New Milford and Totowa, along with the Little Caesars pizza restaurants in Paterson, Englewood, Bayville and Passaic. And Union City. And more than 5,000 other locations across the US and Canada.

Embracing big-screen gangsters

The Little Caesars logo features a pint-sized Roman emperor. But as any aficionado of mobster flicks can tell you, “Little Caesar” is the name of the 1931 Edward G. Robinson drama that featured one of the big screen’s first and most memorable Italian gangsters: Caesar Enrico Bandello, aka “Rico,” whose criminal associates included Joe Massara (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) and Sam Vettori (Stanley Fields).

Fans of the HBO crime series “The Sopranos” know that “Little Caesar,” was one of Tony Soprano’s favorite movies, right up there with “Public Enemy” and the original “Scarface,” which starred Paul Muni as Antonio Camonte, a character loosely based on the Italian Prohibition-era crime boss Al Capone.

RADIO INTERVIEW: Bill Ervolino talks to Curtis Sliwa on why Italian restaurants are named after mobsters

For decades, Italian audiences have been sensitive to how Italians are depicted in popular culture, because for every positive representation in films like “Rocky,” “Marty” and “Moonstruck,” there seem to be dozens more mafia-themed movies featuring characters who are cold-blooded killers.

The names have instant recognition

Nick Barese, a longtime Bogota resident who now lives in Waldwick, is a past Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus in Teaneck. For more than 30 years, Barese also worked for the Sorrento cheese company and during that time, he said, he frequently encountered the mob movie names at the restaurants his company dealt with.

“I can’t even tell you how many [of these establishments] took on these names through the years,” Barese said, “either for their businesses or the names of their dishes and sandwiches. As an industry, we always tried to downplay that kind of stuff because it didn’t shine the right light on who Italian-Americans are and how hard they have worked.

“Personally, the names don’t offend me,” Barese continued. “But perhaps because Italians are so used to this, it doesn’t register, anymore. I know a lot of these restaurant owners see it as a way of attracting business. The names are recognizable. And, believe me, it’s a draw all around the country.”

A sandwich named Gotti?

Waldy Salinas, who is the co-owner of Mob Burger in Wood-Ridge — which shares its storefront with his Jersey Pizza restaurant on Hackensack St. — told The Record that no customers have ever brought up the mob theme, which extends to burger, hot dog and chicken sandwiches named Donny Brasco, Capo, Goombah and Gotti.

In its original location, around the corner on Moonachie Ave., Mob Burger featured mob movie memorabilia including posters from the films “Casino” and “A Bronx Tale.” When the businesses merged earlier this year, Salinas’ partner offered to move the props and posters, but Salinas declined.

“I wasn’t interested,” Salinas said. “We had already decorated our place. As for the Italian theme, my partner is Italian and it was his idea. No one has ever come in and complained.”

Aldo Ambrogio, a resident of Clifton, is Sicilian and said he has “no problem at all” with the mob-themed restaurants, “although, I know some people do. My mother was one one of them. She wouldn’t even watch the ‘Godfather’ movies.”

A touch of glamour

Ambrogio is a fan, though. “I was a history major and I’ve always been interested in the history of the mafia,” he said. “The movies made it seem more glamorous, I guess….the whole Italian tough guy image. But I don’t think people see these restaurants as perpetuating a stereotype at this point, because I don’t think people think of the mob as having the power or influence it once did. Today, I think most people think of the mob as a movie theme, kind of like going to the Jekyll and Hyde restaurant in Manhattan.

“That said,” Ambrogio continued, “I wouldn’t want a Gotti sandwich. I think that’s different than a Sopranos or Godfather reference.”

To Hawthorne author Maria Gillan, a professor of poetry at Binghamton University who has written extensively about the Italian-American experience, the mob names “are just so annoying. Other ethnic groups would never take a slur used against them and repeat it and magnify it in this way.”

Gillan, who lived in Kansas City in the early 1970s, when the first “Godfather” film was released, said, “You wouldn’t believe the prejudiced ideas people in other parts of the country have about Italians. Back then, people said the most insulting things to me and thought nothing of it. I’m a professor. My husband is a professor. Why are you talking to me like I’m a mobster? Unfortunately, the ‘Godfather’ movies were brilliant. So was ‘The Sopranos,’ especially the first season. The mother [Livia, played by the late Nancy Marchand] could have stepped right out of Shakespeare. But [these works] solidified, in the minds of many Americans, that we’re all bums and crooks.”

Acclaim and awards

“The Sopranos,” which was based in North Jersey and turned many Garden State locales into pop culture landmarks, is generally regarded as one of the best TV series of all time. (It won 2 Peabody Awards, two Directors Guild Awards and 21 of the 111 Emmy Awards it was nominated for.) Francis Ford Coppola’s first two “Godfather” films (featuring the fictional Corleone crime family) won Oscars for Best Picture and the three films in the series were nominated for 29 Academy Awards. “The Godfather” and “The Godfather, Part II” regularly appear at or near the top of critics’ lists of the best films of all time.

Martin Scorsese’s “GoodFellas” received six Oscar nominations (it won one for supporting actor Joe Pesci) and was named best film of its year (1990) by film critics in New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago.

Still, the use of these names for commercial purposes irks many local Italian leaders, including Andre DiMino, the communications director of the New Jersey-based Italian-American One Voice Coalition.

Making a connection

“The problem with these names,” DiMino said, “is that they perpetuate the connection between the Italian identity and the mob. They cement in people’s mind that Italian culture equals criminals and mafiosos.”

DiMino stressed that he doesn’t want to attack the business owners for this. “I support small businesses,” he said, “and I don’t think they do this intentionally. But I’d like them to realize that its not the right thing to do. I’m also not against the movies. The “Godfather” movies are a great part of cinematic history. It’s not the movie in isolation that I have a problem with. But it kicked off this connection, in the modern era, of Italian Americans and the mob.”

Columbus controversy: Italians close ranks as controversy grows

Was St. Patrick Italian?: Historians have long debated his Roman lineage

Watchdog: A bizarre mob tale continues, with no end in sight

As for restaurant owners using these references when naming their establishments, DiMino wishes they wouldn’t. “There is so much beauty in the Italian culture, so many positive images in music and art,” he said. “Why connect yourself with the lowest common denominator?”