Lisa and her "kids"

What’s it like running an Italian restaurant like La Strada in Belmont Shore?  I get asked that all the time.  Well, it’s kind of like having an extra big house with 17 kids.   The dishwasher is broken, the water heater needs to be replaced, the electric bill is sky-high.  The “kids” (employees) get along most of the time, but sometimes  there is sibling rivalry: “you gave her a better schedule than me!”    Sometimes the kids don’t clean their rooms or do their homework (translation: clean up after their shift or do the proper accounting work).

But, then, your kid does something GREAT, and you beam with pride.  That is how I feel about my “kids” as I watch them walk around taking care of all of you, and as I watch them in the kitchen preparing beautiful and delicious Italian masterpieces with love for you to enjoy.  I love my kids, thank you for appreciating them and for letting me brag…….Lisa

May 2010
Our 8th Customer Appreciation Party, celebrating our loyal guests who come frequently to enjoy our warm hospitality, along with the most delicious Italian food in Belmont Shore, a quaint part of Long Beach, California! Hope to see you soon!

I just wanted to say thank you again!

The calendars you sent were awesome and all the women in there are beautiful!!

Thank you for taking the time to write this letter to us!! We really appreciate reading about you and your nieces and daughter!! It really makes the time fly when you have nice people sending you things that make you feel like you are wanted!!!

Very Respectfully,

HM2 (FMF) Bromley

Leading Petty Officer

3^rd Battalion 4^th Marines

Battalion aid station

“Yes we have received the calenders… we got them right before our last mission but i didn’t get a chance to email you before we left out. Due to bad wather we were gone 5 days and we just got back. I have already took a pic for you. Thank you for my mine and my SGTs picture. Thank you again for sending more calenders so my entire squad could get one.  Ill attach the photo for you.Yes we have received the calenders… we got them right before our last mission but i didn’t get a chance to email you before we left out. Due to bad wather we were gone 5 days and we just got back. I have already took a pic for you. Thank you for my mine and my SGTs picture. Thank you again for sending more calenders so my entire squad could get one.  Ill attach the photo for you.”  SPC Brandon Malone

Hi Lisa,

This is Alexis Price and I just received your care package. It drove the guys here crazy. It must be a wonderful restaurant you have to be affiliated with such lovely ladies!
Well let me start by saying thank you for even considering sending us a package. Most of the people back home think of us as heroes and call us patriotic, but it is truly an honor for us to know people like you exist. You all, the folks back home, are the real heroes. You go about your daily routines holding the burden of thinking of us, while being strong when we call home to see how things are. You yourself must be an extraordinary person. Not only did you respond to my post on www.anysailor.com, but you found a way to think about us while contributing to another cause. If no one has told you let me be the first to say that not only am I proud, but it is an honor to say that my unit has received something from you. it is so great to know that there are good human beings out there who love to give back. I cannot say thank you enough. I was extra excited because I finally got a tootsie roll. Please tell all of the girls, the customers, and anyone who has contributed in any way to this package that they has helped us tremendously. Not only was our morale boosted, but we all feel a little more appreciated knowing this is coming from someone we did not know. Of course our families are going to be proud and send care packs, we either expect them to or keep asking, lol. You all on the other hand are just giving genuinely from the bottom of your hearts.
I saw one of your customers that signed served in Vietnam. Please tell him thanks because without him who knows where this country would be. I look at the equipment we have now compared to what they had, and I almost am saddened to think of what they went through back then. Tell him he has the respect and admiration of not only this unit, but my battalion.
I know the war is a very touchy subject that not everyone agrees upon, but you and your all those people around you put that aside and decided to think of the people behind the issue. You guys thought of the troops regardless how you felt, and sent us something that cannot be replaced; kindness, love, and warmth. Thank you from the hearts and minds of all the troops in my unit, and you will be having an unexpected visit to your establishment from a customer you just gained when we return.

Thank you for everything,
Alexis Price

La Strada has released a Pinup Girl calendar featuring all of our beautiful waitresses to raise money for pancreatic cancer research!