Nick's Spaghetti House, Commercial Drive mainstay, says arrivederci after 62 years

A Vancouver institution will close its doors for the last time this week.

For 62 years, Nick's Spaghetti House on Commercial Drive has been a popular hangout for anyone looking for an old-school Italian restaurant. But this Thursday, it will serve up its final meatball.

"Sixty-twoyears, same location," owner Nick Felicella reminisced with The Early Edition host Rick Cluff. "I just want to take it easy, relax, just one day at a time."

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The news that the restaurant would close down drew huge crowds and lineups around the block.

"I had people cry," Felicella said. "Because they've been here so many years they didn't know what to do anymore. What can you say? Life's gotta go on."

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Emotional for employees

For employees like Susan MacDonald, who has worked at the restaurant for six years, it's an emotional time as well.

She says what she'll miss most are the customers.

"It's more than a restaurant," she said. "Everyone's been saying it's an institution, but it's even more than that.

"There's never going to be a restaurant in Vancouver like Nick's. I'm just going to miss everything about it."

Top secret recipe

Felicella says the success of his restaurant has been built on good food and a good reputation that drew people in from all around.

"When there was a horse race, football, hockey game, all those things, we had people from all over," he said.

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Felicella says his recipes go back to "the old country," which he left as a little boy. He kept the restaurant traditional through the years, but not inflexible.

"We make changes [to the menu] every so often," he said. "But not the price!"

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And despite the restaurant closing down, those recipes will remain his secret.

Nick's Spaghetti House closes Thursday, Dec. 21.

With files from Caroline Chan and CBC Radio One's The Early Edition