Cal Poly honors John Madden
San Luis Obispo campus retires his number and unveils statue at training center named for him.
Four successful local hospitality operators share a common trait — they all cut their teeth with big operators.
Vince McNamara, who ran McNamara’s steak house in Dublin as well as a Tracy outpost, worked with the Velvet Turtle when it was a hot concept before launching locally. His steakhouse was a favorite for the corporate people nearby when Safeway Stores was headquartered in buildings next to Stoneridge Shopping Center.
Ray Bartolomucci, owner of Strizzi’s with locations in Pleasanton, Livermore and Fremont as well as Rigatoni’s in Castro Valley, cut his teeth for several years opening restaurants in hotels before settling down to get married and found Strizzi’s. He was the pioneering downtown operator that convinced the Pleasanton City Council and the police dept. to allow sidewalk dining with alcoholic beverages inside the fenced sidewalk areas. Imagine how different downtown would be with everyone confined inside before the parklets came about with the lockdown.
The late police chief Bill Eastman had effectively convinced city leaders to pass an ordinance outlawing drinking open containers of alcohol that was aimed at downtown bars. (It was a different environment in those days). The law even extended to neighbors drinking a beer sitting on the door step after mowing their front lawns on Saturday morning back when residents did their own landscaping. Police wisely ignored the neighborhoods.
Ray and his team just made another business decision. He shuttered the original Strizzi’s in San Leandro years ago after opening Pleasanton and developed the Rigatoni’s concept after he had kids and was looking for a more affordable, family-friendly Italian restaurant. Rigatoni’s in Dublin, as reported earlier this week, shuttered. He already had closed the Hayward store as well as the Rigatoni’s Smokehouse Grill in Hacienda Business Park that was next to Sweet Tomatoes. The Covid lockdown took care of both restaurants.
Meanwhile, last Saturday was celebration time for Bob Rossi, the owner of the Sunshine Saloon and Grill for the last 45 years. He started with a fine dining steak and lobster establishment while in college before joining Victoria’s Station and opening 70 restaurants across several states.
All three obviously learned the business well and run flourishing businesses with different concepts as well as the necessary pivots over the decades.
Ed Westmoreland has gone back the other way, returning to his roots when he ran regional operations for PF Changs. Ed owned Eddie Papa’s in Pleasanton for more than 15 years before shuttering it in 2024. He’s since joined a culinary management group.
Switching gears to Hall of Fame inductees: great to see my friend and ACES Golf partner Dennis Miller inducted into the Amador Valley High Hall of Fame. Reading his comments, you can see how much it moved him.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo also honored a local resident, honoring Pleasanton’s inimitable John Madden as reported by his son Joe in a Facebook post. The school retired John’s number 74. The football center at Cal Poly is named in John’s honor. He launched his college career there as an offensive tackle before a severe knee injury ended his playing years. It was a particularly good night because the Mustangs pulled out a last-second victory.
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