Mike La Rizza is popular with an unlikely crowd: a flock of pigeons. When he sits down outside Rally’s Burgers for his daily lunch of fries, a diet Coke and a cheeseburger, the birds flock to him like old friends. None too shy, the birds will perch on his wrist for a chance at a fry; and some are so bold as to snatch one from between his lips. Unusual? Sure. But Mike has seen a lot of things, including his family turn a house into a pizzeria.
In June of 1960, riding a reputation among friends and family, Mama Ann La Rizza finished converting a local home into a restaurant and opened La Rizza’s on Seventh and Gardenia. As time passed, her son Mike eventually took the reigns. His faithfulness to La Rizza’s is remarkable; he hasn’t missed a day of work in 14 years. “You take the desire, and you can do it,” Mike says.
That drive extends beyond La Rizza’s, too. Just take his childhood desire to play the spoons. In 1959, Rudy, a popular performer at a local bar, shot Mike down when he asked to mentor him in the ways of the spoons. Unfazed, Mike answered: “I’m going to learn how to play them better than you.” After several months of training, everyone agreed that Mike had eclipsed Rudy.
Today, Mike plays the spoons at local hot spots to attract business for La Rizza’s. Through the years, the likes of Elvis Presley, Julia Roberts, David Hasselhoff and Bill Cosby have stopped in to try the authentic Italian cuisine. The place is especially known for its shrimp primavera, pizza and shrimp scampi. For Mike, it’s about “the pride of making good food, keeping it the way my mama made it.” Mike’s determination and love for his family’s tradition keeps the momentum going. Next year, La Rizza’s will celebrate its milestone 50th anniversary. // PAUL MURUFAS
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