Remembering

Genio's Restaurant

This site is dedicated to a place that's more than just an eating establishment and to people who are more than just restaurant workers. It's one of the last of the restaurants that really deserve to be called a "family restaurant."

It's a place where families come to celebrate, to relax, to laugh, to connect, oh, and to eat and eat and eat.

It's also a place where people without families can feel at home and can instantly belong. Indeed, there's a family atmosphere among the servers, cooks, bussers, cashiers and dishwashers. Some of them have been working together for decades.

And it's a special family that has kept the food, spirits and hospitality in abundance for 55 years.

This site is just now going up, and the guy trying to do it has no clue. But please come back in a day or two and watch it grow. If he's at all successful, he'll be putting up photos of most all of the current staff at Genio's and photos of many of the people who worked here over the years. He'll be presenting the history of the restaurant and the latest news about the search for another site. He'll also help put into the right context the underlying reasons why such a wonderful place is closing its doors at the end of September.

Don Ray is doing this because the restaurant shaped his family's life. His mother, Doris (Ray) (Ripley) Quinn served and greeted Genio's customers for about three-and-a-half decades before she retired. She passed away nine years ago, but people still show their love for her by sharing it with me and my sister, Nancy. The photo on the left is from 1968. The other is from her ID card when she volunteered at St. Joseph Medical Center following her retirement.

To learn more about my mother and how Genio Cecchini, his children and their children were able to make my Mother part of their family, take a look at my blog, http://donrayadventures.blogspot.com. When I learn my way around building Web pages, I'll put the story on this site.

Truth be told, I could use some help putting together this site as well as help with the video tribute I'm shooting, writing and editing. If you have skills relating to any of these tasks, and you're willing to share them, please call me at (818) 237-3683 or e-mail me at donray@donray.com.

I'm also looking for photographs, film, video and great stories and anecdotes that relate to Genio's. Also, I'd like to post the resumes or bios of those staff members who may have to look for another job. After all they've given to us, why not help them also.

So please stay tuned. Share this site with others and feel free to get involved or offer suggestions.

Warmly,

Don Ray