Granny's Closet employees, Jimmy Castillo, Linda Castillo, Sally "Granny" Zanzucchi and Louis Avilas pose by pictures other family members. Seen in the middle picture this "Granny", the original founder.
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Granny's going strong at 30
By Amy Outekhine/Sun Staff Reporter
04/13/05
It does not always take a village to raise a child or run a restaurant, for that matter. Sally Zanzucchi has managed to do both.
Raising her 11 children consumed the earlier years. Granny's Closet has occupied her retirement years.
"I have loved the restaurant," Sally said. "The most wonderful thing is that it has helped me replace having my family at home."
Most mothers enjoy their children at home, but go on to enjoy the peace and quiet after their departure. Sally couldn't take the solitude, so she and her husband Frank took over Granny's Closet in 1986 from the three son's who started it in 1975. In October, the restaurant celebrates 30 years as a Flagstaff staple.
Martin, Hank and Matt Zanzucchi bought The Lumberjack Cafe from Bob and Violet Morrison and transformed the diner into the restaurant's warm, rustic interior of today.
Remnants of the old diner stand outside and inside of the Northern Arizona University Skydome, donated by the Zanzucchis. A wooden, blue and gold lumberjack remains at the end of the building.
The restaurant attracts business groups, sports teams, traveling visitors and hungry locals. The prime rib, the spaghetti, the salad bar and the chicken wings are customer favorites.
"My husband's mother made the best Prime Rib," said Sally.
It is Sally's mother in-law who is the Granny in Granny's Closet, and the one who taught Sally how to cook authentic Italian food.
"The Spaghetti is still my favorite thing here," Sally said.
In 1929, when Frank Zanzucchi was 12, the Zanzucchi family moved to Flagstaff and purchased the Flagstaff Dairy which is where Flagstaff Ranch and Dry Lake stand now.
Frank graduated from Flagstaff High School in 1936 and continued to help his parents operate the dairy farm and deliver fresh milk to many Flagstaff families and businesses. The Flagstaff Dairy was sold in 1980.
At Granny's Closet, Frank would pass out ice cream cones to the children and enjoy talking to the many regulars. Frank died in 2003.
Contemplating the number of meals Sally has prepared for her 11 children, neighboring priests and Granny's Closet customers, would be overwhelming. Sally, age 83, has not given it much thought. She does not have time because there are potatoes to peel, pies to bake.
"You know, I can't stand people who are lazy," she said. "Brought up in the depression, everyone strived for a good education and for a peaceful life. We don't see too much of that anymore. It's just a work ethic, that has been passed on to me from my parents and most of my generation."
Sally goes into the restaurant now almost everyday and works about six hours. After a recent cataract surgery, the doctor told her to stay home for three week. She lasted two days.
Putting in a 15 hour day was typical for Sally until recently, but she still swims everyday. At the restaurant, Sally is in charge of the homemade potato and macaroni salad, among many things. Nothing at the salad bar is out of a can. She is not only particular about the salad, however, but about the bread and bacon too.
"She's a lovely person, and helps a lot of people" said 10-year Granny's Closet cook Luis Avilez. "She taught me a lot about cooking and has given me an example of someone how is hard working. She does tell you when something is wrong. She doesn't like burned bacon or bread."
When daughter Linda Castillo was growing up, the only girl in the clan, she remembers her mother doing "everything Catholic." Today clubs and memorial services are held at the restaurant, as well as catholic functions. Sports teams often stop by for after games wings and drinks. ESPN named the Granny's Closet bar as one of the nation's "Best Sports Bars" in May 2004.
Phoenix Cardinal football players have stopped by after practice, and Luis Gonzales, an Arizona Diamondbacks baseball player has visited. One favorite visitor is actor Christopher Lloyd.
"Oh, he is very nice," said Sally.
The restaurant currently has 50 employees and a few of them are relatives. Daughter Linda and sons Martin and Jimmy oversee the restaurant's business operations. Grandson Brian Zanzucchi is the restaurant manger. Jimmy Castillo has been helping his mother and grandmother since he was five years old. He works there now part-time and is contemplating a hotel and restaurant major at NAU.
Granny's Closet is a family restaurant run by a close-knit family. Sally wouldn't have done it any other way.
"My highest priority is my family," she said. "I would literally lay down my life to help them. They come first, last and always."
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