One of the brothers mans the cash register as customers chat in a room designed by his two sisters. Meanwhile, their brother prepares drink orders as the father stands in the kitchen, watching over the food from grill to table.
Nik Nik Grill, named after owner Roberto Marino’s 2-year-old grandson, opened in December on Westwood Boulevard south of Ohio Avenue, filling the vacant building after the owners of Fresh Corn Grill relocated their business farther up the street.
The restaurant is a family enterprise. All four of Marino’s children were involved in starting the business since their father started talking about it early last year. They have helped manage the grill by running the register, buying place mats and devising advertising ideas.
“We all really want this to go well. We’re very connected as a family,” said Hector Marino, Roberto Marino’s son. “We talk about it a lot to try to think of different ways to get it going.”
Roberto Marino moved to Southern California from Naples, Italy, to start his first restaurant on Catalina Island more than 20 years ago.
While leaning on the register counter, he recalled how he taught himself to cook when his first restaurant opened 20 years ago. At the time, he said he had very little money and experience.
“I couldn’t afford to hire anyone,” he said. “So I improvised. I was the cook.”
After he sold that restaurant, he worked in other people’s restaurants for almost two decades before deciding to open Nik Nik Grill last year – this time with an updated menu and a more casual style than the formal and more traditional dining he was used to.
The four Marino children grew up in Orange County with their Italian father and Mexican mother, where food was a integral part of their lives, said Roberto Marino’s daughter, Vanessa Wood.
“Growing up, (restaurants) are all I remember. Since I was little, he’s been in the restaurant business as either an owner or opening up new restaurants,” Wood said. “Friends would come over for dinner and say it was like a feast.”
Roberto Marino’s two sons, Roberto Jr. and Hector Marino, each work at Nik Nik Grill in their free time.
Although Vanessa Wood and Zuleika Marino, Roberto Marino’s daughters, are both busy with families of their own, they contribute as much as they can to the restaurant, Zuleika Marino said. The sisters worked on the interior design of the restaurant and went to UCLA when the restaurant opened to hand out fliers, she added.
Among green-tiled mosaic walls, mirrors above the tables and an eclectic playlist sampling jazz classics like Frank Sinatra as well as the pop-sounds of Jason Mraz, the Marino brothers work the cash register or prepare drinks.
The menu includes modern American dishes, such as steak salad, as well as Italian staples, like eggplant parmigiana.
“I describe the menu as grilled food with an Italian accent,” Roberto Marino said. He has also added a delivery option and some Mexican and vegetarian dishes to the menu after seeing a demand for them.
Running his first restaurant alone made him passionate about the hands-on aspect of the job, Roberto Marino said.
At Nik Nik Grill, although he now employs an executive chef, a sous chef and several assistants, Roberto Marino said he remains in the kitchen much of the time to help with the cooking because he loves being a part of it.
The family chose the Westwood location, nestled between an unassuming parking lot and a neon-lit psychic shop, because they loved the feel of the neighborhood, especially the youthful vibe from the nearby UCLA, Wood said.
Lynn Sanders, a resident of Westwood Village, said over her plate of grilled specials that she’s happy to have a new restaurant nearby.
“You know when you eat this food that whoever cooked it loves to cook,” Sanders said.
Even now that the Marino children are adults, the family still eats meals together as a way to stay connected.
“We all have the busiest schedules, so it’s like Thanksgiving every time,” Roberto Jr. Marino said. “It’s our time to catch up and be together as a family.”