Santa Fe Importers Celebrates 75 Years in Business!
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This year, 2022 marks the 75th Anniversary of Santa Fe Importers Italian Deli and Market.
We would like to celebrate this occasion with all of you, our faithful customers, and longtime employees. We would not have made it to this historical moment without all of you. We are in our third generation of family members running the company, so we would like to tell you a little bit about our journey and how we got here. We also want to note, many of our customers are in their 3rd generation coming to Santa Fe Importers, and we want to thank them. We can recall Dads and Moms bringing their kids into the store for a sandwich, but we have also seen many Grandparents bringing the grandkids into our stores. And so we begin:
Santa Fe Importers Store front in 1952 with Vincenzo Passanisi in the doorway
The Passanisi Family photo shot in the Santa Fe Importers Store
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Our founder Vincenzo Passanisi Sr. was born in Augusta, Sicily in 1903. He came to the U.S.A. in the year 1921 when he was 18 years old.
Vincenzo settled in Buffalo, NY for a time where he met his wife to be, Theresa Daniello. Vincenzo was always an entrepreneur who loved to be in business. In Buffalo, Vincenzo had a meat market, and at one time had a fish market also. Vincenzo did whatever took to put food on the table and pay the rent. But after a few years Vincenzo became restless when he learned of the land of opportunity in California and the great weather. As we all know Buffalo, NY is a very cold place to live and California had the weather much like the Island of Sicily. So, in 1947 off to California went the Passanisi Family, all seven of us. When we arrived in California, we resided in Truman Boyd Manor housing on the west side of Long Beach at Santa Fe Ave. and Spring Street. After a short time, Vincenzo was looking for a place to set up shop and start a new business. He found a small building on Santa Fe Ave. which was not perfect, but was a start.
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For us, good food is about togetherness and friends and family. It’s about creating warm memories and recalling the joys of the past.
Vincenzo’s wife, Theresa, passed away in 1965 and Vincenzo Sr. passed away in 1968 and left the business to John Passanisi, who was in charge until Vincent Passanisi Jr. came in to help in about the year 2000. We believe that what got us here is using many of the recipes passed down from Vincenzo and Theresa, but we are not afraid to try something new and tasty for our customers to enjoy. Since 1947, the smell of oven-roasted meatballs, sauteed onions and garlic, and simmering spaghetti sauce have been in the air on the westside of Long Beach. Little did our grandfather know when he first hung the open sign at 1401 Santa Fe Avenue that seventy-five years later we would still be baking pizzas and lasagnas and making Italian sandwiches. When you walk in the door, we want your senses bombarded with the sights and smells of good food.
Founder, Vincenzo Passanisi with son John Passanisi
Santa Fe Importers store interior Opening Day 1947 Long Beach, Ca
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We would not have made it to this historical moment without all of you.
We want to guarantee that your experience will always be pleasurable: delicious food and friendly service. And we want to thank you for your support over the past three-quarters of a century. Without you, Santa Fe Importers could not have made its way into the 21st century. We are grateful to have the best customers in Long Beach and Seal Beach. Looking forward to serving you for many more years. We pride ourselves in keeping our locations clean and orderly, and making sure we give the best service possible. Our Mission is to give our customers an enjoyable experience by creating wholesome, delicious food product and providing personal and professional service. Our core Values are, Cleanliness, Efficiency, Quality, Integrity, and Accountability. To mark our Anniversary, we've updated our website and will start taking online orders later on this year. All year long we will be offering unique giveaways to thank our customers for a great 75 years. Items include anniversary pens, fridge magnets, stickers, bottle openers, glasses and coasters available while supplies last. We will be doing special anniversary giveaways as well.
