Celebrating 40 Years: The story of Picano’s Italian Grille
Celebrating restaurant owner Dominic Picano's 90th birthday
Mr. Picano always had a passion for business, buying chickens at the old Great Scott supermarket for $.17 a pound. That was at Gregg’s Pizza that he bought in 1963 on the west side of Detroit. He now has three kids and seven grandkids, but he grew up in a little town called Cassino, 80 miles south of Rome. He came to the United States in 1949 when he was just 14 years old.
TROY, Mich. (FOX 2) - Picano’s Italian Grille has been around for 40 years and its owner, Dominic Picano is just a few days short of 90 years old.
The backstory:
Mr. Picano always had a passion for business, buying chickens at the old Great Scott supermarket for $.17 a pound. That was at Gregg’s Pizza that he bought in 1963 on the west side of Detroit.
He now has three kids and seven grandchildren, but he grew up in a little town called Cassino, 80 miles south of Rome.
He came to the United States in 1949 when he was just 14 years old.
It was Picano’s father that pushed his family of eight kids to come to America, where he wanted them to get an education.
That was his plan, but in June 1949 that changed.
"The day he went to work at midnight at 12:45, something exploded in the factory, and he got killed instantly," Picano said.
Dig deeper:
Dominic could not pursue an education, instead he had to work to support the family. In fact, he never graduated from high school.
Yet in 1985 he built Picano’s from the ground up.
"He’s got really really good work ethics, and he tries to show other people and teach em, mentor them to do the right thing in this profession," said Chef Leonardo Bulagio.
What's next:
On Sunday, the public will celebrate Dominic Picano‘s 90th birthday at the restaurant. It will be a true celebration of life.
FOX 2 asked Picano how he believes his father would feel about his son celebrating 40 years of business.
"He would be so proud-he did a good job bringing us up for the time he lived," Picano replied.