Housed within the brick walls of a small and inconspicuous
Italian restaurant are Emma and Archie Zeinani, the two owners of
Angelino’s Cafe in Westwood.
The couple owns and runs the Kinross Avenue restaurant, one of a
few family-run businesses remaining in Westwood.
The Zeinanis only have one part-time employee working in the
kitchen and with customers.
They work behind the stove, cooking homemade meals, and around
the indoor and outdoor seating areas where they serve the customers
and stop for conversation with their regulars.
“I’m Italian and they have the best food around
here,” said Pietro Fabbri, a customer who has been visiting
the restaurant and the Zeinanis for the past three months.
The Zeinanis’ relationship with their customers was
immediately evident as they sat outside to converse with Fabbri and
joke with newer customers.
Archie treats his customers like old friends, stopping in the
middle of his busy schedule to speak with them.
Archie and Emma’s customer skills are not the only thing
that brings customers back to the restaurant. Archie believes that
the secret to the restaurant’s success at bringing in regular
customers lies within their food.
“Everything is homemade, nothing is frozen,” he
said.
The Zeinanis serve dishes ranging from a variety of pastas to
sandwiches and soups ““ all authentically Italian.
The food at Angelino’s is also moderately priced,
averaging at around $6.75.
Between using fresh ingredients for each order served and having
to pay the bills, owning a restaurant is both busy and difficult,
Archie said.
In addition to working at the restaurant, Fabbri also got Archie
involved in catering for the company where Fabbri interns.
Archie said once a week he drives out to the company in Century
City with prepared food for the employees.
When he is finished with the delivery, he has to hurry back to
the restaurant in time to help his wife cook and serve customers
for the rest of the day.
Though catering increases the Zeinanis’ workload, it also
helps support their business.
“You have to pay the bills,” Emma said.
Archie and Emma understand the business aspect of restaurant
ownership because they have prior experience. Archie worked in the
restaurant business twice before opening Angelino’s Cafe.
Before opening the restaurant, the Zeinanis lived in Italy and
France, where Archie worked as an antiques dealer.
He decided to give up the profession in favor of the restaurant
business when the paint from the antique factories began to
adversely affect his health, giving him blood problems.
One of the reasons the couple moved to Los Angeles to start a
new restaurant is because many of their relatives live in the city.
After arriving in Los Angeles, Archie spent two years looking for a
location to house his restaurant.
When Archie found out about the space on Kinross Avenue, he went
to see it and was immediately satisfied with the building, he
said.
It was the old-fashioned look of the restaurant’s brick
walls that drew him in, Archie said.
The building’s location was another factor the
Zeinanis’ took into consideration when deciding where to open
their restaurant.
Archie liked the idea of having a restaurant near UCLA because
he enjoys being around the college community, he said.
“I like the Westwood neighborhood with the students and
the kids. I feel like the father,” Archie said.
Archie said many of his frequent customers are students, and
that Westwood businesses are dependent on student support. And
while the university environment appeals to the Zeinanis, other
factors of their location are not as satisfactory.
“I love this location, but the only problem is
parking,” Emma said.
The Zeinanis said lack of parking takes business away from the
stores and restaurants in the area.
The Zeinanis have sent the city letters of complaint about lack
of parking spaces around their area. They were told that the city
could not improve the situation because the city’s budget is
low, Emma said.
The lack of parking continues to be a problem for the Zeinanis,
but the couple does not plan on moving or changing their
restaurant.
Though the Zeinanis own one of the few small restaurants in
Westwood, they do not intend to expand their business by getting a
larger space and more staff, Emma said.
“People like the cozier places. You make it bigger, and
it’s not cozy anymore,” she said.
Some of their customers also said they were attracted by the
restaurant’s smaller size.
“It seemed really homey,” said Karen Lai, one of
their new customers, and a visitor from Toronto.
The restaurant’s cozy appearance is a result of their
small seating areas inside and outside of the small brick
building.
Customers may also believe that the experience is more personal
due to the fully viewable kitchen, where the Zeinanis can be seen
cooking and preparing the meals.
The Zeinanis plan to stay in their current location, serving
both newcomers and regulars in the comfortable atmosphere of their
restaurant.
They also do not plan to change careers any time soon.
“I love the restaurant business,” Archie said.
“When I put the food on a plate I think, mmm, smells
good,” he said.