Celebrating the 75th anniversary of Patsy's restaurant in NYC

Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Celebrating the 75th anniversary of Patsy's restaurant in New York City
Sandy Kenyon reports on the 75th anniversary of the NYC institution, Patsy's, run by the Scognamillo family for three generations.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- It's become a New York institution, hosting stars from Frank Sinatra to Sean Combs, Rosemary Clooney to her nephew, George Clooney, and last night the hosts invited guests to, "mangia, mangia" at a party to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Patsy's!

Three generations of the Scognamillo family run the Italian restaurant started by the late Patsy Scognamillo, and together, they have made their place a fixture in Midtown. This week's affair marked three quarters of a century on West 56th Street in the heart of the Theater District.

Sinatra may be gone but he's not forgotten here. "And," says Patsy's chef Sal Scognamillo, "Sean Combs has been coming here since 1999 because he said, 'if it's good enough for Frank, it's good enough for me!'"

The patriarch of this clan, Patsy's son, Joey Scognamillo, told me: "Everybody or anybody has been here from the Presidents down to the Wise Guys. His grandson chimed in to say, "It's treating guests as if they were guests in their own dining room, and I think that's the key to success.

In fact, you don't have to be a celebrity to feel like family here.

The Scognamillos have made me feel welcome for decades now, in good times - and not-so-good times. Their food is delicious, but their friendship is even more precious to me.

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