Crown City History I N C O L L A B O R AT I O N W I T H H O T E L D E L C O R O N A D O & C O R O N A D O H I S T O R I C A L A S S O C I AT I O N
Remembering Marco’s Italian Restaurant By M A RY G RAC E B RAU N
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CROWN CITY MAGAZINE
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SEPTEMBER 2019
CORONADO HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
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or over four decades, Marco Palumbo charmed the community with his family recipes. From 1957 to 1999, Palumbo served up everything from fettucine Alfredo, to cannelloni ripieni, to steaming-hot meatball sandwiches at his namesake establishment, Marco’s Italian Restaurant, in the historical building at 1100 Orange Ave. What made the success of Marco’s so impressive, though, was Palumbo’s perseverance to make his dream of owning a restaurant in America a reality. Palumbo’s story began in the Italian seaport town of Mola di Bari. On the brink of World War II, Palumbo boarded a ship for the United States, seeking to escape the draft for Benito Mussolini’s army. Marco’s daughter, Francesca McKinnon, described her father’s humble beginnings in a tribute in the Coronado Eagle & Journal, following his death in 2003. “He ‘jumped ship’ in New York and took busses and trains to Chicago, hoping to find some paisanos”, she recalled. Palumbo found Del Monaco’s Restaurant in Chicago, walked in and asked for a job. “The owner, Tony Monaco, looked at this skinny boy, about 24 years old carrying a pillowcase with his meager belongings” and gave Palumbo a chance despite his broken English and lack of experience, McKinnon said in the story. Palumbo was eager to prove himself, working 10 to 15 hours a day, seven days a week, for the next eight years. It was in Chicago that Palumbo met his wife, Rosa, who had also lived in Italy. They fell in love and were married, with Monaco as the best man. The Palumbo’s eventually had six children, who all learned the secrets of their father’s craft. In the
Marco Palumbo (far right) with members of the Coronado Rotary Club at a pancake breakfast in 1968.
late 1940s, the family vacationed in San Diego and chose to make the city their home. Marco’s Italian Restaurant began in National City, and over the years, the location moved three times. In 1957, after discovering that Coronado had no Italian restaurants, Palumbo decided to open a “big-a ristorante” at 1100 Orange Ave. The entire family worked at the restaurant, with “Momma Rosa” and the kids supporting their father. “We grew up in there. Five sisters. Kitchen slaves! We’ve all been rolling meatballs since we were age nine,” Francesca stated in a 2012 article in the San Diego Reader. “But it was good, too, because we were close to the Hotel Del, so we’d get so many
