Party like its 1989 at Garozzo’s tonight

In 1989, the Oakland A’s were World Series champs, Driving Miss Daisy won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Mike Garozzo opened his eponymous restaurant Ristorante on April 6 at 526 Harrison, operating on what he calls a “wing and a prayer.”

Exactly 20 years later, not only is the original Garozzo’s still open, but there are three more locations around the city — Lee Summit (1547 NE. Rice Road, 816-554-2800), Olathe (13505 S. Mur-Len, 913-764-6969) and Overland Park.

To celebrate making it through two decades of ups, downs, remodels and lots of pasta, all four Garozzo’s are serving the original menus tonight, with 1989 prices.

There’s three-way pasta for $7.95, cannelloni for $6.95 and ravioli $7.25. Garozzo’s famous chicken spiedini is also on the menu for $8.95. Now every Italian restaurant worth its pasta shells has chicken spiedini on the menu, but Garozzo claims his Uncle Fred invented it for the first menu, when he noticed “people were watching their cholesterol more and so they were eating more chicken.” Even with all the copycats, 20 years later nobody makes it like Garozzo’s does.

The special prices are all night long tonight — Garozzo’s closes at 10 p.m. Reservations aren’t needed but are highly recommended. The full menu is here (PDF).