5 minute read
Marco Palumbo The Icon
By CAROL PASTOR Coronado Historical Association Volunteer
How does one separate Marco Palumbo, the man, from Marco’s, the restaurant? Both were such a significant part of our community for so many years. For now, let us delve into the life of Marco Palumbo. He was born in Mola di Bari, Italy, in 1923, the youngest of seven children. His father died when he was two, leaving his mother to raise her family on her own.
At sixteen, Marco joined the merchant marines. Fortunately for him, a typo in his papers showed that he was much younger, thus making him ineligible for Mussolini’s army. While traveling the Mediterranean routes, he learned to cook while working with the ship’s chef. It was a skill he carried with him for the rest of his life.
There were many twists and turns to that time in the Merchant Marines, from being stranded in Ethiopia to finally traveling the international ports after the end of World War II. On one such tour, the ship came into Virginia Beach, Virginia. Feigning a limp, Marco was taken to a local hospital. The doctor there realized he was faking his illness. He told Marco he was scheduled for surgery the following day. That night, Marco placed his meager belongings in a pillowcase and “escaped” the hospital.
From there he managed to exit onto the streets of America, his goal accomplished. Without funds, without the language, he managed to take the train first to New York, then eventually to Chicago, where there were many other Italian immigrants. He started working as a dishwasher at a pizza parlor before moving up to become head chef at Pediconnes, a well-known Chicago eatery. While in Chicago, he became an American citizen.
It was in Chicago he met Rosa, his future wife. It was another twist of fate or the hand of God.
Marco was a religious man who thought God was often guiding him. As it happened, Rosa had recently returned from Italy, the only one in her family to have a ticket to come back to the United States. She had been born in Pennsylvania, but the family returned to Italy during the depression of 1929 due to the lack of work. Marco and Rosa were both 25 when they married a few months later. The couple started growing their family welcoming five daughters, Mary, Margie, Clara, Cathy, and Frances, and one son, Paul.
After experiencing the southern California sun on vacation, Marco decided to move the family to San Diego, California, in 1957. San Diego was good to the Palumbo family. Here, they began to prosper. Marco first opened a restaurant in National City before moving it to Coronado, at the site where the Brigantine sits today. He later purchased the old Bank of America Building at 1100 Orange Avenue in 1965, where Marco’s Italian Restaurant took off. This family-operated business existed here in Coronado for over 40 years.
The family atmosphere extended to every aspect of the business. Marco personally constructed all of the booths himself. His daughter Frances later recalled rolling meatballs and smashing potatoes at age 9. Mary remembered a memorable birthday gift, “for my 13-year-old birthday, my dad bought me a ten-burner stove.” Together, the family was known for serving dishes from the Old World tradition, including minestrone, lasagne, pizza, and seafood dishes.
Marco was a great believer in charity. He often said, “It is important to remember where we came from. It is important to give honor where honor is
due.” One memorable act of goodwill came in 1967 when school buses carrying 111 children broke down on their way to a field trip to North Island. The repair of the buses caused the children to miss their scheduled luncheon.
Hearing of the hungry kids, local businessmen Jon Duringer and Bud Ingle called Marco up to prepare pizzas for the kids.
When Marco came to Coronado, he thought that because he had been an uneducated immigrant, he would have trouble being accepted by the other business people here. That was not to become his future. He was asked to join Rotary and was a member of the
Navy League and the Coronado Golf Club. He also helped found the Bank of Coronado.
The family closed the restaurant in 1999, and the building became the Coronado Historical Association thanks to local benefactors Don and Leslie Budinger. The legacy of Marco’s Italian Restaurant continues to live on in the fond memories of the Palumbo children and grandchildren, as well as the thousands who experienced this taste of Italy in Coronado.
Marco passed away in 2002 at the age of 79, a man who fulfilled his American dream.
