Founded 1949 · Still Family-Run
Carmen Miceli's
Lasting Gift to Hollywood
Carmen Miceli — a Sicilian-American from Chicago who earned four Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star in WWII — opened this restaurant in 1949 with his wife Sylvia and siblings Tony, Sammie, Angie, and Millie. Before the war, Carmen had been a singing shoeshine boy. After it, he opened a restaurant.
Carmen passed away in 2015. Sylvia, at age 89, presided over the restaurant's 70th anniversary in 2019. Today, their sons Frank and Joe Miceli operate the restaurant — still fully family-run, 75 years later.
Approximately 90% of the decor is unchanged since 1962. The wooden booths were salvaged from the Pig 'n Whistle, a nearby landmark restaurant that closed in the 1950s. One booth still bears a pig-and-whistle carving dated 1927.
1949
Carmen and Sylvia Miceli open the restaurant at 1646 N Las Palmas Avenue. Hollywood Boulevard is half a block away.
1956
Lucille Ball is said to have learned pizza tossing at Miceli's for a TV episode — one of many celebrity visits during Hollywood's golden era.
1962
The interior reaches its current form — dark brick, stained glass, Chianti bottles in the rafters, red checkered tablecloths. Roughly 90% unchanged since.
1980
A second location opens in Universal City — still operating. The Universal location brought singing waiters to a new neighborhood.
1984
The Terminator is filmed partly at Miceli's. The pay phone used in the film remains in the restaurant as a permanent fixture.
Today
Frank and Joe Miceli — Carmen and Sylvia's sons — run the restaurant. A second Universal City location operates alongside Hollywood.