Show Your Love for Miceli's, a Legendary Hollywood Eatery

So you say you've been the recipient of live, in-person singing while dining out at a restaurant?

Chances are good that the ditty in question was "Happy Birthday to You."

And while that is a fine and festive tune, there are a pair of Southern California restaurants where tableside songs have run the gloriously dramatic gamut, with the talented waitstaff taking on everything from showtunes to arias to Christmas carols to personal requests.

It's Miceli's we speak of, "The Oldest Italian Restaurant in Hollywood," a marinara-marvelous, Chianti-cool mainstay for generations of Angelenos.

From the tablecloths (red and white checks, you bet) to the beautiful murals of Italy, Miceli's is to classic Italian dining as clams are to linguini, a glass is to wine, and a cozy booth is to a couple sharing a slice of tiramisu.

But both the landmark Las Palmas location, once a hangout of Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, and a host of Tinseltown titans, and the Miceli's on Cahuenga Boulevard have faced what so many eateries are weathering as 2020 comes to a difficult close: An uncertain future due to the pandemic closures.

To help those famous pizza pies stay hot, the garlic toast warm, and the martinis cold, there is a new GoFundMe fundraiser, one that went live the weekend ahead of Christmas.

"Nearly 72 years ago in 1949, my grandfather, Carmen Miceli, opened the doors to the first Miceli’s Restaurant in the heart of old Hollywood," shared Paige Miceli on the fundraiser's page.

"He probably didn't think then that one day it would be known as ‘The Oldest Italian Restaurant in Hollywood’, but I know he'd be proud that over seven decades and three generations, our family owned and operated restaurant has survived to be exactly that. But now, we need your help to keep this true."

Can you help the timeless trattorias in their time of need? The goal is $75,000, and, by Monday morning, Dec. 21, the amount had crossed $19,000.

Here's where you start, and any amount will help.

Here's another way to show your support as well: Both Miceli's locations are open for takeout and delivery.

And, in recent days, kind-hearted locals have been calling in, and purchasing, dozens of meals, dinners that are in turn donated to people working in the Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital ICU.

One hundred Miceli's meals have been donated thus far.

If you're interested in paying for a meal, two, five, or as many as you can, and showing love for both the restaurants and the heroes of our community, contact Frank Miceli at Miceli's Hollywood at 323-466-3438.

So many members of the waitstaff have serenaded so many Southern Californians over the decades.

Now Angelenos have a chance to "sing" back to Miceli's, by helping a favorite place when it needs it the most.