After 28 years in Marina del Rey, and a partnership that began more than 50 years ago that included cross-country moves, beach parties in restaurants, and at least one monkey in formalwear, Tony Palermo and Danny Ringwood are calling it a wrap on their legendary restaurant careers. Tony P’s Dockside Grill, their iconic waterfront hangout, is closing at the end of June, but not without one last round of stories, smiles, and a few mai tais.
“We’re not dying, we’re just retiring!” Tony says with a laugh. “I’m finally going to find out what a happy hour is!”
But they didn’t just build a business, they built an institution, making the decision to close difficult, but inevitable. Their lease is up, and both Tony and Danny are ready for a well-earned break from the hectic restaurant industry, which they say has changed dramatically since they opened their first spot, Teasers, on the Santa Monica Promenade in 1985.
“Back then you could throw a prime rib in the oven, get 12 slices, and life was good,” Danny says. “Now, it’s a whole different ballgame.”
Between soaring utility bills ($9,500 in the summer for electricity alone), rising food and labor costs, and a post-COVID world where restaurant margins are thinner than ever, the pair decided it was time to trade in the kitchen chaos for a more relaxed pace. But they’re quick to say they’re not bitter, just ready.
“We’re the lucky ones,” says Tony. “Most guys our age in the business are sick, dead, or broke.”
From Motor City to Malibu
The duo has been working together since they were teenagers in Detroit. Their big California dream began when Tony won a multi-state chili cook-off in Michigan and had to come to Malibu Beach for the finals. One trip to the SoCal coast, and he was hooked.
“He came back and said, ‘Dude, we’ve got to move,’” says Danny.
So they packed up a U-Haul and landed in Redondo Beach with no jobs, but plenty of determination. They hustled their way into jobs at the Hard Rock Cafe and Trump’s in West Hollywood before opening their own place–and never looked back.
Beach Parties, Loyal Employees and Parade Fails
In the 1980s, anything seemed possible for the restaurant biz, but only Tony and Danny would think to turn a Santa Monica restaurant into a literal beach party. When they owned Teasers, they brought in truckloads of sand and turned the place into a playa. When the party was over, they hauled the sand back to the coast in the wee hours of the morning–only to be caught by beach patrol.
“I thought, ‘Oh, it’s Heineken,’” says Tony, who can’t always remember everybody’s name, but usually remembers what they drink. “Heineken goes, ‘Tony, what the [BLEEP] are you guys doing here?’ I said, ‘We’re giving you some sand.’ He says, ‘You can’t do that!’ And I said, ‘Well, we don’t know what the problem is.’ Finally, he says, ‘Just get it done.’ And he pulled away. This was four o’clock in the morning.”
Employees have also stayed loyal to Tony and Danny, including one of the current hostesses at Tony P’s, whose mom worked for them back in ‘86. But Tony and Danny said they have to be careful about the stories they tell the younger generation.
“The hostess’s mother was named Pinky. She had pink hair. We used to have vintage cars on the patio in Santa Monica and we went for a joyride, which we shouldn’t have. And we’re doing a prank where we jump out of the car and run around it before hopping back in in Westwood, and Pinky almost got hit. And we’re telling her daughter this story and she goes home and just busts her mom’s chops,” says Tony, smiling and shaking his head.
Their Westchester Fourth of July Parade debut was equally memorable: Tony filled a massive flatbed truck with kids and 100 American flags. One sharp turn under Loyola Boulevard’s tree canopy later, and every flag was snapped clean off.
“Pop-pop-pop! All the flags broke,” he says. “Lesson learned.”
The Party That Lives in Infamy
Back in the early 2000s, radio hosts from the “Jamie and Danny Show,” (Jamie White and Danny Bonaduce, known for “The Partridge Family”) decided Tony P’s would be the perfect place for a Cinco de Mayo party. Only one problem: Tony was fully booked with a huge Loyola MarymountUniversity event.
“So I said no, and they yelled, ‘Fine! We’ll make it Cuatro de Mayo!’” says Tony.
A stage was built, mattress companies showed up as sponsors, and Los Lobos, just coming off a hit record, played live. Somewhere in the middle of it all, an actual couple got married, and their bridesmaid? A real live monkey.
“That monkey walked around like it owned the place,” Tony says. “I’ve got a photo of it giving me a kiss. It’s still on my wall.”
Fundraising and Pizza Parties
While the wild stories are unforgettable, it’s their deep ties to the community that cemented Tony P’s as a neighborhood institution. Tony and Danny have partnered with hundreds of nonprofits and schools over the last two-plus decades, hosting a fundraiser give-back program where a portion of the week’s sales would benefit the organizations. Today, they’re proud to have given back hundreds of thousands of dollars as part of their “Dockside Dollars” fundraisers.
But another long-standing Tony P’s tradition is hosting kindergartners from local schools to learn how to make pizza. Starting in 2002, kids from Visitation and St. Anastasia schools would tour the kitchen, make their own pies, and get a dessert surprise.
“One time, I squirted whipped cream into a teacher’s mouth, and the kids went nuts,” Tony laughs. “It turned into a full-blown party.”
The tradition became so beloved, that parents now bid for the chance to chaperone. And this year, when a teacher scheduled a visit with her students, and Tony tried to explain what to expect, she stopped him: “Tony, I was in the very first kindergarten class you hosted 22 years ago!”
“That’s when I realized how long we’ve been at this,” Tony says. “And how many pizzas we’ve made.”
This month, Tony and Danny will be hosting a class from St. Anastasia that didn’t get to have a pizza party because of COVID. They’re now in fifth grade and couldn’t be more excited.
Of all the organizations Tony P’s has benefited over the years, it’s really the schools that hold a special place in Tony and Danny’s hearts.
“It’s unbelievable. I mean, they come in and by the end, I got four or five of them holding my hands and they’re my buddies. It all comes back. I’ve always looked at life that way, that if you give to the community, it comes back,” says Tony.
Mai Tais for the Win
Tony P’s is known for a lot of things—its beautiful location overlooking the marina, its award-winning tavern with every game possible playing on the TVs, and its friendly atmosphere—but when it comes to its menu, the fish and chips with more than 350,000 orders and the world-famous mai tais that have been ordered more than 300,000 times, are the real crowd pleasers.
When the LAX Coastal Chamber of Commerce held its ChamberFest event in Playa Vista, Tony and Danny knew the drinks were key in winning over the small business community.
“We’d go over with 10 gallons of mai tais and some turkey sandwiches. No one wanted turkey sandwiches. They all wanted mai tais. We did that seven or eight years in a row,” says Tony.
A Legacy That Can’t Be Measured
After nearly three decades of running a 12,000-square-foot restaurant with nearly 100 employees, Tony and Danny are ready to say adios. But their impact will linger in the memories of all the visitors who celebrated special moments at the restaurant, from birthdays, happy hours, graduations, weddings, funerals and everything in between. Anyone who has dined at the restaurant knows that Danny and Tony excelled in making sure that the thousands of strangers who walked through their doors left feeling like part of the family.
“A special shout-out and thank you to the over 400 nonprofits that we have helped through the years,” said Tony. “Together, we have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for your events, and in turn, you have been great loyal customers. It has been a true ‘what goes around comes around’ in our life! We will miss all of you!”
And that, Marina del Rey, is something to raise a mai tai to.
Diners have until June 29th to visit Tony P’s Dockside Grill for one last cocktail, one more order of a Tony P’s Special salad with “no bones” and one more round of memories!
Story by Shanee Edwards. Photo by Zsuzsi Steiner.