Tony Giorgianni, the owner of Greasy Tony's restaurant, and the man who made the "Trash Can" sound appetizing, has died.
Giorgianni had a heart attack Wednesday. He was 78.
A compact man with a big personality, Giorgianni fed University of Arizona students, lunch-break 9-to-5ers, and Tucsonans with late-night munchies for 30 years.
Service was slow, the music was loud, and the decor was reminiscent of a freshman dorm room — just the way customers liked it.
The restaurant at 828 E. Speedway specialized in cheese steaks, pizza, hoagies, meatball sandwiches and calzones all laden — as the name implied — with grease. Greasy Tony's signature sandwich, the "Trash Can," had everything thrown on it — steak, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, peppers and mushrooms.
People are also reading…
Greasy Tony's is shut down for now and Giorgianni's son John, of Scottsdale, said he won't decide for a couple of weeks whether the Tucson landmark will reopen.
It was a lucky break for Tucson that Greasy Tony's opened at all.
Giorgianni was driving through Tucson on his way to a vacation in Las Vegas when his car broke down, his son said.
Repairs were going to take a week. Giorgianni, not one to sit idle, decided Tucson needed his brand of greasy good food and began making plans for a restaurant.
The Pennsylvania-born Giorgianni already had four Greasy Tony's locations in New Jersey, and eventually opened three restaurants in Arizona — one in Tempe, one on Sixth Street in Tucson and the Speedway location, the only one still open at the time of Giorgianni's death.
"He was feisty, that was for sure," employee Amy Mason said. "He was a go-getter. He worked right up until he died."
Giorgianni put in 15-hour days seven days a week, working from open to close — 10 a.m. to 1 a.m.
"He was crazy. He was outgoing. He always wanted to have something to do. He only slept four or five hours a day," said Mason's daughter Valerie Mason, who started working at Greasy Tony's in February. "He worked all the time. He loved life. He was the best at making pizza. I don't think I'll be able to eat a pizza the same."
Though the pizza was tops, Valerie Mason's favorite menu item was the No. 26, a cheese steak with onions. The key: a few dashes of Giorgianni's special blend of savory seasoning.
"He was the only one who knew the secret ingredient. When he mixed it up, everyone had to leave," she said.
Amy Mason said Giorgianni came up with the name for his restaurants nearly 40 years ago after opening a steakhouse in New Jersey.
A customer asked what he could get for free. Giorgianni responded "grease." Good to his word, the Greasy Tony's menu promised there was "no charge for extra grease!"
Greasy Tony's was immortalized in the 1984 movie "Revenge of the Nerds," filmed in Tucson, when a crude character nicknamed Booger wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the restaurant's logo.
The restaurant had some difficulties with inspectors from the Pima County Health Department in the 1990s, but, if anything, the risk factor added to the restaurant's allure for gastronomes with cast-iron stomachs and a yen for greasy fare.
The jovial Giorgianni, a fixture at Greasy Tony's, was almost as much a draw as the food.
"He was one of a kind. He had a gorgeous smile. His smile would blow you away," said Lisa Garcia, John Giorgianni's girlfriend.
On StarNet: Did you know Tony Giorgianni? Have a good memory of Greasy Tony's? Add your remembrance in the comments section.
Plans floated to reopen San Manuel Mine as part of regional copper development
