Miceli’s has set up a GoFundMe page with a goal of $75,000 to keep its doors open.
For 72 years, Miceli’s staff have been serenading Angelenos with classical standards while serving up piping hot pizzas and other delicious Italian fare. Now, as the piano remains shut and the pandemic threatens to claim another L.A. establishment, it’s asking the community to help preserve Hollywood’s oldest pizzeria with a GoFundMe page.
The current goal has been set at $75,000 with the aim of keeping them in businesses through lockdown so that they can safely reopen and provide work for roughly 40 employees.
“We humbly ask in our time of need, if you are able, that you would consider supporting us in our quest to continue to serve that community and help us keep alive those wonderful traditions and times that hopefully you and your loved ones have enjoyed within our walls (or, lately, on our sidewalks),” the page description reads.
The restaurant, where Lucille Ball is said to have harnessed her pizza tossing skills for one of her episodes at Miceli’s, holds generations of memories from anniversaries to birthdays. And according to the plea, it aims to make giving back to the community a priority, including supporting “first responders at the LAFD, P.D. and CHP. Miceli’s also has local partnerships with local schools and provides food for sports teams.
The GoFundMe page can be found here.