MY FAMILY'S SEATTLE HISTORY
Alfonso Tocco Grocery / Garlic Gulch, Seattle WA
The Italian side of my family came to the United States in the early 1900’s. Family history says it took Alfonso a few trips back and forth before he could get his whole family on a ship to America. He worked on the railroad and it brought him out here to Seattle. In all he and his wife would have 12 children. All my cousins today come from the five that survived.
It was more than just the Toccos that came and settled in Rainier Valley —which was referred to as Garlic Gulch at the time—but other cousins from Abruzzo came as well. Cousins followed cousins and soon there were Santuccis, Salles, Daversos (D’Averso), and Minnis. They had grocery stores, vegetable trucks, and restaurants. Alfonso even put in some of the sidewalks on 3rd Ave NW. I have yet to find one, but am told they were stamped with he and his business partner’s names: Tocco/ Tucci.
Add for cousin Pete and Jule’s restaurant
And some cousins brought pizza here.
From Seattle’s Historylink.org:
In 1946 two enterprising Italian American brothers, Frank and Julius "Jules" Daverso -- who were also the co-owners of the Owl Transfer and Storage Co. -- bought the Palace Grill cafe, situated in the circa 1890 Seattle National Bank building at 159 Yesler Way, from George Leos (d. 1946) and Tony Graviolas. Leos had founded the cafe in 1919 and, after the repeal of Prohibition in late 1933, it was one of the first Seattle restaurants to apply for a license to sell beer and wine by the glass.
The Palace remained a popular spot -- even more so after 1948 when, reportedly, the Daversos introduced pizza to Seattle. By September 1949 The Seattle Times was touting the joint and its palpable history: "For a sentimental journey to an almost-vanished Seattle, and some fine Italian food, try ... Daverso's Palace Grill ... The huge old mahogany back bar, the tiled floors and walls, and the checkered tablecloths will make you nostalgic, and the king-size menu will make you hungry. A couple of specialties: Pizza, the hot pastry that looks like a phonograph record, covered with mushrooms, cheese and tomatoes ..." (Lund, "A La Carte").
The fact that a writer for The Seattle Times in 1949 felt obligated to describe what a pizza looks like was simply because few in the area had ever seen or tried one. As Frank Daverso would later recall:
"We had to give it away for the first four years. Nobody had ever heard of it. Customers liked our spaghetti and ravioli, so we'd give 'em a sample of pizza with each order. They seemed to like pizza but just wouldn't order it. Finally, we tried advertising. Sailors and other servicemen, who had eaten pizza in the East, began coming in and soon it caught on -- but it took four long years"
There are so many good stories I know about my family. So many good people with incredible lives. Alfonso Tocco was my great-grandfather, but I never met him. I never met his wife Filomena or any of his siblings that came with him here. I did know, however, many of their children. I looked up to them as a kid and I loved hearing their stories.
That first generation had it tough coming here. They learned a new language and got right to work. I don’t know if they realized what an impact they would have, but a century and some years later I can still see parts of them here in what remains.