When Patti Lombardo and her then-husband Marcello opened their now-famous pizzeria 30 years ago, it was the first in Vancouver with a wood-fired oven. The city didn’t have any regulations in place at the time, so the couple built it themselves, with the help of a couple of pie pans and Patti’s uncle, who was an engineer and designed it to suit Marcello’s height and arm length.
For over a decade, the pair ran the restaurant and turned it into one of the most successful on the Drive. Then, after a protracted and bitter divorce, Marcello left to open his own operation and Patti was left to raise their three daughters and run the existing business.
“I never planned to be in the pizza business,” remembers Patti, who used to work in social services. “When we first opened the restaurant, there was supposed to be a business partner who would handle operations, but that fell through, so I ended up stepping in. You don’t realize how good you get at something after doing it for so long, or how much fun it is.”
That experience has held her in good stead, and the restaurant is still considered one of the top pizzerias in the city, thanks, in large part, to its multi-generational fan base.
“In the beginning, we had a lot of young couples, then they started bringing their kids, and today those kids are grown up and bringing their own children,” she laughs. “A lot of our customers have been coming here for a long time. They know the menu so well that often they don’t even look at it, they just order their favourites.”
And, despite the occasional effort to change the menu, the customers have gotten their way and much of the menu is the same as it was 30 years ago. One of Lombardo’s daughters, Giulia, is now the chef, although there is also a long-term cook who has been with them for over 20 years.
“He’s six inches taller than my ex-husband, so he does have to bend over a bit when sliding pizzas in or taking them out,” she admits with a laugh.
Lombardo’s has remained a tight-knit family business (one of the few still in operation on the Drive). The other two daughters also work in the restaurant. Elizabeth, the oldest, is a graphic designer and handles all the design for menus and the website, as well as running the front of house. Sonia, the youngest, is in charge of social media and also works behind the bar, as well as managing back-end operations.
“It’s great for the restaurant and for the girls,” says Patti, “because they each get to use their individual skills and passions.”
Patti was born and raised in East Van and is now an active board member for the neighbourhood business improvement association. As her restaurant and her family have grown, so too has Commercial Drive.
“It was always a mom-and-pop culture, and we’ve managed to keep that neighbourhood feel by keeping out a lot of the big-box retailers and maintaining those small shop-fronts,” she says.
The latter has proven challenging, given that the BIA now covers the area from Venables to East 13th Avenue, and has upward of 500 members. And while increased density is changing the fabric of the neighbourhood, Patti sees that as a positive.
“We’re going to face some challenges, but I think it will be good for us,” she says. “I don’t really see [Commercial Drive] as just being Little Italy anymore. That’s what I love about this neighbourhood; you can be whatever you want on the Drive, it doesn’t matter where you’re from.”
• In celebration of the restaurant’s 30 years in business, which coincided with Expo ’86, Lombardo’s is offering 1986-era pricing, on now through to Labour Day. Lombardos.ca
