ONE LESS REMNANT OF OLD VEGAS

Jerry Fink, Las Vegas Sun

Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2007 | 7:19 a.m.

Nothing is left but charred rubble where celebrities and fans used to meet on common ground to dine and dance and mingle and to be entertained.

Tom Jones. Jerry Lewis. The Righteous Brothers. Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. Robert Goulet, Joe Pesci, Connie Stevens and her brother Chuck, who was a drummer for Keely Smith. Local performers Danny Gans, Amazing Johnathan, Clint Holmes, Pat Morita, Lance Burton.

They all used drop by Capozzoli's to sample the authentic Italian cuisine. Some would take to the small stage in the corner for an impromptu performance that could last into the wee hours .

The renowned restaurant and lounge at 3333 S. Maryland Parkway burned Wednesday morning. The blaze is being investigated, but details about the investigation won't be available for several days, said Clark County Fire Department spokesman Scott Allison.

Allison said the fire started about 1 a.m., probably inside the restaurant, one of several small businesses in a tiny strip mall near Maryland and East Desert Inn Road. The restaurant was on the east end of the building. A year ago another fire destroyed several businesses on the west end. Reconstruction is still in progress .

"We've had a lot of problems in that area," Allison said. "Air-conditioning units stolen for the copper. That sort of thing."

Former owner Mickey Capozzoli sold the restaurant almost two years ago to Frank "Rocco" Sorrano, who could not be reached for comment. The new owner called it Rocco Capozzoli's. He tried to keep the traditions alive, bringing in live musicians. But the parking lot was never as full as it had been in the old days. And now a piece of Las Vegas history is gone.

Brothers Bobby, Michael and Joe Capozzoli - descendants of restaurateurs in Michigan and California - opened the place in 1985.

Bobby was famous on the Strip. He owned the Tower of Pizza , where Frank Sinatra, Smith and anyone else who was anyone would drop by at all hours of the day for pizza or an Italian dinner.

Many followed him to the new venue. Smith. Comedian Norm Crosby. Countless others. They came to dine and relax and enjoy life.

As the years passed, fewer big-name entertainers came in , but the fans and the aspiring performers continued to frequent the dark room with the homey atmosphere.

Lou Martinez, a lounge singer, had his first paying gig there just days after arriving in Las Vegas from Southern California.

Former plumbing contractor Larry Liso often performed there, singing Sinatra songs. Jazz crooner Jerry Tiffe was a popular performer.

Nick DiNapoli, a retired firefighter who owned restaurants in California, pursued his dream of becoming an entertainer at Capozzoli's. His striking vocal resemblance to Tony Bennett drew huge crowds.

Legendary jazz trombonist Carl Fontana, who died in 2003, reportedly passed away peacefully listening to a CD he recorded in 1999 called "Live at Capozzoli's."

About five years ago Mickey Capozzoli bought out his brothers.

"When we opened up it was a great location, not too far from the Strip," Bobby Capozzoli said. "But the neighborhood really started going down hill in the last few years. Coke and crap in the back streets. Robberies. I was glad to get out of there."

He heard about the fire the morning it happened. A friend drove him there.

Bobby Capozzoli was heartsick, but managed to quip, "There goes my name in lights."

It had been a place where many people whose names were in lights or had been in lights or who wanted their names to be in lights came to mingle and enjoy life in the style of old Las Vegas.

Now Capozzoli's, and perhaps old Las Vegas, are nothing more than dying embers.