I guess that I am getting a little nostalgic and have been thinking of some of the old restaurants and watering holes from my youth, and the early days of discovering different wines back then. One of the places that I remember was Peppina’s in Lincoln Park; they had a drive-in service on the side with carhops and a neighborhood Italian restaurant as well.
In those days I would go there with a large group of the guys from the old neighborhood and we would venture into the suburbs to eat and drink. Some days we would end up with a table of twenty brash young guys all wanting to have a good time and Peppina’s would serve our insatiable appetites at the time.
They had a big room, and in the back there was a special room called the Amethyst Room. As I recall the walls and displays were covered with large rough amethyst stones and geodes. I also seem to recall that they had some amethyst jewelry that they sold near the cashier stand, probably made by a local artisan.
We would all go there for some of the best pizza, and they also had homemade pasta. There would be little squabbles over what was better the spaghetti or the gnocchi, and the debate would never be decided. It was the type of food that all of us would just chow down and eat with a fevered relish.
It was a time of beer and some wine. We would just order bottles of wine to put on the table and drink at our leisure. Of course the few of us, that did prefer the wine would get some remarks questioning our manhood, as beer was the preferred drink at the time. What can I say, we were all young, rowdy and there for a good time. We would get bottles of Lambrusco wine, which was very popular at the time. This wine is from the Emilia-Romagna area near Bologna. The wine is made from the Lambrusco varietal, which tends to have a “grapey” taste as opposed to the nuanced tastes that can be found in other varietal wines. At that time in my life I was still discovering wines, so each wine was an adventure and a memory.
The Wine Raconteur 
Hi there! I was just waxing nostalgic today. Googled my cousins Peppina’s and Mary’s restaurant and there was your review! They gave me my first job bussing tables when I was 12. The amethyst stones and jewelry were provided by Mary Fontana’s (Peppina’s daughter) husband Paul. The restaurant had a ceiling collapse, and before it could be repaired a fire finished it off.
Everybody remembers the pizza; I couldn’t get enough of the Twisties and Italian cream cake!
Cheers,
Denise Angellotti
PS, our family is from the Le Marche region of Italy; if you didn’t make your own (which we did) we drank jug burgundy. The homemade stuff was harsher!
Denise,
Thank you for stopping by, and I hope my article brought a smile to you, as I also have fond memories of Peppina’s as I grew up in Southwest Detroit when we used to go there in my youth. You are right, to this day, everyone remembers the pizza, and of course the Amethyst Room.
– John
I too had my first serving job there and Mary was such a great boss she even gave me paid maternity leave u now live in California and often wonder what became of the restaurant and the family GREAT MEMORY Brandi Higdon
Brandi, thank you for stopping by and I am glad that this article brought some good memories for you.
My father was a Detroit police officer who came religiously to Peppina’s Ristorante from the earliest days and deeply respected Mary Deardorff and the way she ran her impeccable restaurant. When he retired, we moved almost two hours’ drive away, but our entire family would be SO EXCITED whenever we made the pilgrimage back to Peppina’s. I was lucky enough to live nearby as a young adult, shortly before the restaurant closed. Denise mentioned the Italian cream cake, and let me tell you… that is the most wished-for recipe amongst every single family member of mine, and every other family we knew who’d been lucky enough to enjoy it at the time. If anyone in the Deardorff family would ever share the recipe, I think my father would weep for joy to have it once more. Better still, I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I would cherish a Peppina’s Ristorante cookbook! Thank you, John, for sharing your memories of Peppina’s – it brought many precious memories right back to me.
Michelle, I am glad that I could give you a smile with my memory of Peppina’s. Thank you for stopping by.
– John
I know this is over 2 years later but I couldn’t help but respond. My mother Lillian recently passed away at the age of 95 and I came across this when I googled “Peppinas”. You see she worked there for 48 years with the Deardorffs at Peppinas and actually made all the soups, pizza sauce, pasta sauce…and yes the pastries. Among those were the Italian Cake. She worked at the restaurant but baked from our house in Lincoln Park. She had an oven upstairs and a refrigerator upstairs. She also had a freezer downstairs as well as another oven. All in our tiny 2 bedroom house in Lincoln Park. My buddies used to come over just to get a whiff of my house inside and said it smelled like “confectioners sugar”.
She was the matriarch of our family and it’s nice to hear that her baking was appreciated and touched many. You could certainly taste the love in all her dishes. Just thought I would share.
Mike, thank you very much for stopping by and for your memories. I am sure that you have a treasure trove of great memories. – John
I lived behind the restaurant and worked their at 15. Best pizza ever I remember Paul locking himself in dough room to make pizza dough. Had a blast working their R.I.P Mary and paul
Does anyone have any idea how to make their famous kidney bean salad?? I’ve tried and nothing comes close.
Sparty, I wish I knew. Thank you for stopping by. Ah some fond memories.
Reading this brings me such fond memories (& tears): Mary Deardorff was my Dad’s patient (Dr. Joseph) & we went there for so many family dinners. So many happy memories: I even had my “day after” wedding brunch in the Amythyst Room! Peppina’s was the best Italian restaurant in Metro Detroit…reflecting back on it makes me smile & miss home. I wish I could share some of her fabulous food (& recipes) to my kids so that they could experience a bit of Mary’s love. Still the pizza I’ve ever had!
Lisa, thank you for finding my article and my memory. There are many of my friends that still remember fondly of the nights we spent there, and the great pizza. – John
1958! That was when I discovered Peppina’s and the absolutely unforgettable pizza! My brother Sam played baseball with Art Fontana, Mary’s brother. And the rest was history. Our ancestry was solid Mexican, but as a family, we were totally solid for all the food there. Lived and went to High School in Melvindale 1959-1963 where all events were followed by carloads of us would have pizzas brought out to the car and 6 pirana-like guys would burn the roofs of their mouths on the pizza, eating fast to get at the extra slices. My favorites were that shrimp/garlic bake with a Deluxe pizza with anchovies! Had our rehearsal dinner there in 1967. So many years, so many memories. Mary and I were friends. She knew I was an astrologer, and we had many conversations on the subject. Remember on the perimeter of the restaurant walls, the symbols of the zodiac facing the parking lot? My sister-in-law Bea had an inside connection and would have whole Italian cakes at her daughter Carla’s birthday parties! The waitresses were all exceptional and popular!! Over these last 15 years since its demise, when we run into ex-Peppinas people, even their children, we push them for the recipes, especially the pizza sauce. Thank you so much, for the memories.
Danny, I am glad that you found my article and it hopefully made you smile. Sometimes the best memories are the simple ones of our youth. Thank you for your comment. – John
Ahhhh Pepinna’s! If only we had the recipe for the buffalo wing sauce! I would die to get a hold of that. Haven’t found anything like it anywhere. I know it was being sold as “Paula and Randy’s” several years back at Ray’s Prime Foods in Taylor then they stopped carrying it. My family and I were obsessed with their wings and that delicious sauce. AMAZING food. Miss this place so much!
Krystina, I am sorry to say that I never had the wings there, but I am glad that I could make you remember some good memories. – John
I grew up in Taylor in the 60’s and 70’s and going to Pepinna’s was often. Even after we moved to the Irish Hills and later in 1979 when I got married for years to come we would make the trip there just for their soup, pizza, pasta platter and finish off with a twisty. We would always make sure we brought a pizza home with us. All the memories surrounded by their great food cannot be forgotten.
Debby, I am glad that you stopped by and I hope my memory made you smile. Thank you very much for your kind words. – John
Does anyone have a picture of the amythest wall?
Tammy,
Thank you for stopping by. I am not sure, I know that I don’t have one, did you try to Google for the image?
– John
I don’t remember the restaurant but I remember the drive in pizza place my brother worked there for a while when he was discharged from the AIR FORCE he said there was a little White House behind the drive in and Mary lived there and had a garden and grew her own tomatoes and things to make the sauce, I have never ever tasted a pizza that even comes close to her pizza when you got a pizza from there it was in a wax paper type of bag NO STINKY BOX and believe me we ordered a lot of pizza you can never forget the smell oh so delicious I have never had a pizza that even came close to her pizza I’m 84 years old and I was a very young girl back then we lived very close to the drive in to bad we moved away but I will never forget the pizza.
Eloise,
I hope that my article and memory brought a smile to you, remembering the old days and the great pizzas that we grew up. Some of the guys I grew up with, have even thanked me for writing about some of the old haunts.
– John
More than you will ever know! Thank you so very much!
So many memories of Peppina’s, definitely the best restaurant I can remember.
Fridays where always pizza night growing up, regardless if we ate there or just picked it up and took it home.
Peppina’s was the first restaurant my parents took me to after I was adopted at age 5, apparently my mom use to work there and my parents where regulars there as well. I’m guessing my parents wanted to show me off to Mary since they were unable to have their own kids.
Mart from the first time meeting me called me Chris for some reason, I faintly remember my mom trying to correct Mary several times and finally I told my then new mom, “mom here I will be Chris”.
Fast forward to my 16th birthday, Mary insisted she host my 16th birthday dinner, so after a group of about 9 of us went to see the new Terminator movie we went to Peppina’s for dinner.
We where taken to a private room and i remember seeing so many forks and silverware set up at each spot I had no idea what to think, I had never seen so much silverware set at each seat before. Then the first course came out, and shortly after another course, if I remember in all there was about 6 courses or more it was the craziest thing I’ve seen at that age of my life.
Just thought I would share that, happy I ran across this post and see asany people with as fond of memories of this place as I had.
I will never forget Peppina’s and miss it very much.
Victor,
Thank you for such a great memory, and that is what I attempt to do with my blog. The moments are what are magical. I am glad that you find my memory of Peppina’s.
– John