{"id":223399,"date":"2015-08-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-28T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/so-long-sanfilippos\/"},"modified":"2015-08-28T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-08-28T07:00:00","slug":"so-long-sanfilippos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/so-long-sanfilippos\/","title":{"rendered":"So long, Sanfilippo\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"

Por Jeff Clemetson<\/p>\n

For 40 years, Sanfilippo\u2019s Pizza has welcomed guests into its family-style restaurant with red-and-white-checkered table cloths, bottles of Chianti in straw baskets hanging from the ceiling and a lighted sign above its doors promising that it is \u201cOpen 7 Days.\u201d<\/p>\n

That four-decade run, however, will soon be over.<\/p>\n

The Sanfilippo family has put the building at 8141 La Mesa Blvd. up for sale and the property is currently in escrow, said manager Dora Calcutt, who is also the daughter of owner Anna Sanfilippo. The restaurant plans to remain open \u201cuntil the very last day,\u201d which will likely be sometime in October or November, she said.<\/p>\n

Calcutt, who has worked at the family restaurant since she was in high school, credits the restaurant\u2019s longevity to its \u201cgreat food and great customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"sanfilippo'swebtop\"<\/a>
The iconic sign on La Mesa Boulevard. (Photo by Jeff Clemetson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Anna Sanfilippo, who opened the restaurant with her husband Donato, said her family\u2019s hard work and commitment to the La Mesa community have been key to the restaurant\u2019s success over the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came here to do a job,\u201d she said. \u201cWe did a good job. We met many friends, met many customers and we\u2019d like to, before we close the doors, thank all of our customers for the good times and good business over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with Donato\u2019s passing, Calcutt said the decision to close the restaurant was spurred by a weakened economy and a lengthy construction project along La Mesa Boulevard that discouraged customers from coming to the pizzeria.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a killer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Business was far from dead on a recent Wednesday night after news of the restaurant\u2019s sale became more widely known. Two customers, Rich and Donna Shaw, said they were sad that it would be \u201cthe last time we\u2019ll be eating here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a>The Shaws, who are from Las Vegas, said they discovered Sanfilippo\u2019s a couple years ago and visit the restaurant whenever they are in town. They come to the pizzeria for the \u201ccommunity feel\u201d and the \u201creal Italian food.\u201d The food reminds Donna Shaw of the old-school Italian restaurants in her home city of Chicago.<\/p>\n

Sanfilippo said customers like the Shaws return to her family\u2019s restaurant because of the philosophy her husband set out to instill in the business: \u201cgood food, good portions and a good staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014Jeff Clemetson is a contributing writer. Write to him at jeff.g.clemetson@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Por Jeff Clemetson<\/p>","protected":false},"author":778,"featured_media":222238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11548","_seopress_titles_title":"So long, Sanfilippo\u2019s","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11548,11551,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-223399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-la-mesa-courier","category-news","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/778"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}