2. La Piazza
 An Italian restaurant owned by the Gambino Family
 Mariana and Carlos, their two sons (Giuseppe and
Francesco) and Giuseppe’s wife, Nicole.
 A Family restaurant and a Sport’s Bar
 Servers, bussers, and hostesses
Please click here on each
slide to hear more
information!

3. Differences and
Similarities
 In Italy, lunches are the most important meal of the day
 Businesses shut down and re-open at 4pm (Bakerjian)
 Personal pizza, pasta and seafood
 American’s like their food fast and cheap (Ikerd)
 Fried foods, pizza “by the slice”

4. Italian - American
 Combination of an Italian culture in an American
society.
 Gambino’s adapted their Italian culture to please
Americans.

5. The Family Restaurant
 Frank Sinatra
 Important part of Italian-American culture (“Italian –
American Culture,” 2012)
 Servers dressed nicely
 Lots of families relaxing (more quiet)
 Compared to an Italian restaurant in Italy?
 Type of food (fried foods, cheese steaks, as well as
pasta and seafood)

6. The Sport’s Bar
 Informal and a lot more activity
 10 TV’s on different sports or news stations
 Customers more likely to have alcoholic beverages
 Bars in Italy:
 No age restrictions (Bakerjian).
 Wine is to accompany food, not intended to drink the
whole bottle (“People and Culture”).
 Coffee or sandwiches (“People and Culture”).

7. Owning a Restaurant
 Pros:
 Pride in your business
 Meet a lot of people and share your business with the community
where they can enjoy themselves (Mealey)
 Customers enjoy hearing about Italy
 Cons:
 Late nights and weekends (2am)
 Unstable income (Mealey)
“I think it’s a common misconception that running a restaurant is fun and
easy like it’s a project or something. It’s not just something to do to
have extra cash; this business is our livelihoods. But there is a sense
of pride when things do fall into place and there is success.”

8. Italian – American Culture
 Independent culture that instead of just being an
“American representation of Italian culture” has its
own customs (“Italian – American Culture,” 2012)
 La Piazza has many qualities of an Italian
restaurant, it also makes accommodations for the
American culture, leaving costumers with an Italian –
American experience.

9. Conclusion
 Family restaurant, bar, servers, and managers come
together to form a successful business
 Owners brought Italian culture to America

10. Resources
 Bakerjian, M. “Eating out in Italy – how and where to dine.” About.com – Italy Travel.
Retrieved from http://goitaly.about.com/od/foodandwineofitaly/p/eatingout.htm
 Ikerd, J. “The new American food culture. The Kerr Center for sustainable
agriculture. Retrieved from
http://www.kerrcenter.com/nwsltr/2005/spring2005/food_culture.htm
 Italian – American Culture. (2012). Squidoo. Retrieved from
http://www.squidoo.com/italianamerican
 Italy – Language, Culture, Customs, and Etiquette. Kwintessential. Retrieved from
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/italy-country-profile.html
 Mealey, L. “Is owning a restaurant right for you?” About.com – Italy Travel. Retrieved
from http://restaurants.about.com/od/openingarestaurant/a/own_restaurant.htm
 People and Culture. (2005-2012). Passion for Italy. Retrieved from
http://passionforitaly.info/Default.html