One Of America’s First Music Stores Is In Philly...And It’s Delicious!
By: Samantha Ferrara
During the filming of multiple, Sylvester Stallone Rocky movies, The Victor Café has been dressed up as Adrian’s Restaurant and is frequently used as a set in the productions.
Music lovers and food lovers alike know that The Victor Café is the place to go in Philadelphia when they’re in the mood for great Italian food and even better Italian arias - or maybe it’s a piece of Rocky Balboa history they are after.
Regardless of one's inspiration to visit the popular South Philly spot, the history between the walls is undeniable - literally and figuratively. A photo of Luciano Pavarotti, a replica sculpture of Nipper (Victor’s famous ‘His Master’s Voice’ dog), and a painting of Rocky Balboa are amongst the many historical relics adorning the walls that were once home to a gramophone and record shop in the early twentieth century.
According to the Victor Cafe’s website, this Italian restaurant and “Music Lover’s Rendezvous” began as a store full of Victor Disk Records in 1918 and was later elevated to a record shop-café combination when a few Italian pastries were initially added to the menu.
In the early days of the Gramophone store, owner John DiStefano would cross the Delaware River to Camden, NJ in order to visit Victor and offer advice on which musicians to audition and which musical selections they should record.
Humble beginnings: Since 1918, this has been a family owned and operated business.
Gradually, budding opera singers began spending time at the Gramophone shop in order to listen to Victor Recording Artists, and ask accomplished singers - which DiStefano knew from Victor Records - for advice that would help to catapult their own careers.
As the café component of the business began to take off in a big way, the record store was moved across the street to make room for more tables, an expanded menu, and better service. The young opera singers, the same who had frequented the café in search of advice, would eventually become the restaurant’s waitstaff.
As the website further explains, “Upon the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, and in response to grim economic times, John purchased a beer and wine license and what had been DiStefano’s Gramophone Shop became The Victor Café, ‘Music Lover’s Rendezvous.’”
Courtney Morgan, an opera singer and bartender at The Victor Café explains, “[The restaurant] has watched the world of opera, and the world in general, change and adapt. It was originally just a small place where Italian immigrants could come and enjoy a little slice of home with their countrymen and their music.”
Morgan continues, “[This] was a time when it was almost impossible to afford these luxuries. A menu from the 1930s showed a filet mignon with potatoes that cost $0.90, but the Victrola they were listening to cost $300.” (The equivalent of over 300 meals!)
Much has changed since the 1918 opening of DiStefano’s Gramophone Shop, but some traditions still remain to this day. Namely, music is still at the very heart of the business’s daily operations, and Victor remains in the name to remind employees and patrons the company that created the music industry and planted the historic roots of the café.
An early advertisement highlighting exactly what makes this place so unique and special: the wonderful pairing of food and music.
Today, when you enter the restaurant, you can expect the luscious sounds of opera to fill your ears while the divine scents of garlic and fresh bread fill the air. The ringing of the old bell on the stairs signals the start of a live aria a few times per hour, and the evening is wrapped up by espresso, limoncello, and scrumptious confections.
“When you're there, you feel absolutely immersed in a long history of the immense effect that music has had on our hearts. One can spend hours admiring the music memorabilia on the walls throughout the restaurant, as well as become lost in the songs being sung live by fellow music lovers,” explains local freelance tenor Stephen Anthony.
The restaurant has been around for more than 100 years, and one can only hope that The Victor Café is open for over 100 more.
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