No idea where that lawsuit ended up, but the Petrones’ competitor later converted the Chi-Chi Club into a Pig’n Whistle restaurant.īy 1950, they weren’t serving food and got nailed for it by the State Board of Equalization. “The Pig’n Whistle organization, while changing the spelling,” reported a contemporary newspaper, “has not changed the pronunciation and is seeking to profit by the good will of the Broadway establishment.” The corporation was promoting the hell out of their similarly named club in 1947. They got a little sick and tired of all the hoopla surrounding Pig’n Whistle Corporation’s acquisition of the Chi-Chi Club, a dine-dance club downtown. The re-named Plaza Coffee Shop was successful and the Petrones expanded their business with a second restaurant ( Petrone’s) at 1240 Market, and a new nightclub and bar – the Chee-Chee Club. Further down Broadway by Santa Fe Depot was El Padre Fountain Lunch, an art deco aluminum-clad affair operated by Johnnie Blackett ( Silver Castle System, Made-Rite Barbecue, Copacabaña).Īfter a couple years Pratt was out and Joe brought in his brother James Petrone to run the business. DeLu closed his Vick’s Place in Tijuana, opened up the cafe in San Diego, and established Vick’s Distributing Company with all his Tijuana stockpiles of vintage wines from Marchetti vineyards. Down the street was Vick’s Cafe, established by Victor Delu and brother-in-law James Marchetti. That year around the corner on Third, The Tropic Cafe pre-tiki nightclub was opened by Jack Ewing ( Gay Nineties, Ewing’s on the Kern). Its bars, cafes, nightclubs and other mob-controlled businesses catered to navy men - straight and gay - with a fresh paycheck looking for a good time. Third Avenue was ‘Neon Row,’ the sailor’s entertainment district. Just within eyesight of Horton Plaza’s electric fountain. The little luncheonette was on the ground floor of the old Gates Hotel building, west of the US Grant Hotel Coffee Shop and Horton Plaza, at the corner of Third and Broadway. Its location on the main drag of Downtown San Diego had hosted several other restaurants including Randel’s Coffee Shop, one of the first places to legally serve beer after the end of Prohibition.
Black & White Cab Company, 1937Around 1936-1937 Joe Petrone and his partner Charles A Pratt bought the troubled Plaza Fountain Lunch at 244 Broadway.