Old Tony's on the Pier

by Joe Schofield

Title

Old Tony's on the Pier

Artist

Joe Schofield

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

Old Tony's. If you live in South Bay and have never been upstairs for a Mai Tai at Tony's (you keep the glass), there's no excuse for you. Classic, Historical, Old. Maybe a bit long in the tooth? That's the charm. Tony's on the Pier is family owned and operated, featuring a large selection of fresh fish daily and views of the water. Did I mention they are known for their Mai Tai's. 🙂

"Tony" was born Anthony A. Trutanich, (but better known as Tony T.) in San Pedro, CA circa 1922. He was a lead navigator on 25 missions in World War II, including D-Day. He became a commercial fisherman in San Pedro, which was very hard work. Seeing as the work was so hard and the hours so demanding, he opened Tony's on the Pier in 1952, thinking it would be easier than commercial fishing. Boy, was he wrong.

Tony's originally opened in a small shack of a building. In 1961, he expanded the dining room with a lower patio area with sliding glass windows. Customers immediately fell in love with sliding windows, which they frequently opened to feed the birds and take in the fresh ocean air. Speaking of 1961 and falling in love, it was also in 1961 that a beautiful lady showed up at Tony's and applied for a waitress job. Although the restaurant was well-staffed and not currently hiring, Tony felt compelled to hire her on the spot anyway. This turned out to be a good thing, since they got married three years later.

In 1963 he expanded yet again to include the Top o' Tony's Bar above the restaurant, which has a view from Palos Verdes to Santa Monica. Many famous people who have visited Tony's grace the walls of the spiral staircase leading up to the bar. Tony's is now a landmark.

Uploaded

December 27th, 2024

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