OK, so who out there remembers this Mario’s location? This is at Tecumseh and Ouellettte, in the X-Ray clinic that can’t keep a restaurant open. If we were to peel away all the layers is this underneath? This is from the 1948 Visitor’s Guide. The location is still featured in the 1954 guide book as well.
Tomorrow, we’ll look at the Ouellette Ave. location.
Built in 1929, the house at 2177 Victoria Avenue was originally numbered 1545 Victoria, pre…
Crescent Lanes first opened on Ottawa Street in 1944 at 1055 Ottawa Street, opposite Lanspeary…
Above is a photo of the home of Mr & Mrs Oswald Janisse, located at…
in 1917 two Greek brothers Gus & Harry Lukos purchased a one story building on…
Photo from Google Streetview A long time reader sent me an email the other week…
An unremarkable end to a part of Windsor's history. The large vacant house at 841…
View Comments
Under what you see today is the original structure, Aaron + years of cruel renos.
that's a shame john...a real shame. on the plus side, the one time i remember going there to eat, it was in thenorth east coner of the building....that's original lol
AAron,
My father, Nick Trofin, was a chef at Mario's at Tecumseh and Ouellette from 1946 to 1958. This was his first job upon returning from the war with his military chef's certificate. He spent many a fine year at Mario's and it was like a "family" to everyone. As a youngster, I recall going to the restaurant to visit my Dad and my favourite waitress, Nina. I would ask her, "What's cooking Nina?" and she would reply "Chicken, wanna' neck?" or "Bacon, wanna' strip?". For a young 8-9 year old this was really something. Nina Pohlman passed away just this past month and I was fortunate enough to meet the family and relate the stories of a fine woman. I also discovered I had been going to Walkerville Collegiate with Wayne Pohlman in the late 50's never knowing that his mother was my "girlfriend".
In the mid fifties, Dad was involved in a large explosion at Mario's. The change room, located in the basement near the storage area and furnace, was where the staff changed into their uniforms. One day my Dad went downstairs to change and the furnace blew up. He was injured and rushed to the hospital. The fire department did all the research as to the cause of the explosion. What the results were, I do not know.
Mario's was the first pizza place in Windsor and I am proud to say my Dad was one of the first chefs to make pizza in Windsor. He had been sent to Chicago for a week-end to learn the technique of making pizza and purchased the pizza ovens and equipment for Mario's while there. A few weeks later, pizza was being made in Windsor.......for the first time. When I asked my Dad how much water he used to make the batter, he replied, "Just a few mouth fulls." Sure hope it wasn't true.
Frank Cundari, Mr. Mario, Gino Gaultieri were all names and faces I remember. Mr. Cundari's daughter, Emili, became an opera singer in Europe. Mr. Gaultieri eventually opened GINO's on Riverside Drive in the old Norwich Block. His son, Tony, has many more memories of Mario's as I do. I sure hope he reads this web page. I have some photo's of some of the staff from Mario's and have more to tell if needed. Let's hear from other Mario's followers.
Emily Cundari was in my class all thru St. Mary's grade school thru HS. She sang at every occasion. I never knew her father was a chef at Mario's where I first ate pizza in the 1950s. That was the first place my father ever took us to eat out. Middle class families didn't eat out in those days. I think we went there for my graduation from St. Mary's in 1949.