Joey's restaurant seems to be doing pretty well down in Boca according to Yelp reviews.

Im sure its doing good now but it sounds kind of gimmicky. I mean, after a while, the name will get old. Not to mention, it seems kind of corny to go to a restaurant just because Merlino is there. I'm surprised there isnt a restaurant called Gotti's. Anyway, Unless the food is exceptionally good, you gotta wonder if its around in a few years.

Well the name hasn't got old after all these years in the news so I don't know about that. I'm sure most of the old timers down in Boca don't know who Joey is. We shall see though, Belmont.

how many restaurants are owned/backed by wiseguys on the east coast?? Too many to care. If the restaurant is a success, it won't be because of one person meeting people at the door.

It's January in Florida. Come July, when Boca's a ghost town, we'll know what's what. Time will tell.

I know but they dont put their name on it. I am just saying it sounds gimmicky and some guys will refrain from going due to it having an element of lameness to it.

I agree. I don't spend much time in Boca, or florida for that matter. I wish I could.

I'm sure Rita Merlino is a great cook. So was my mom-mom. And my aunts are pretty good too. They are calabrese and were raised in south Philly. It will be good for people who crave a taste of home. Me? I would be eating as much seafood down there as I could.

You're just like me. And you wanna laugh? Some of the BEST fresh fish down there is sold on the food trucks on US1 on the way to the Keys. Fried grouper sandwiches, that kind of thing. Those trucks are as common down there as hot dog trucks in New York (or cheese steak trucks in Philly ).

You're making me hungry. I love seafood as well.

I agree time will tell, PB.

He finally gets a job that's on the books and they lock him up...

"I'll be in great shape for when I get out on Cinco de Mayo," Merlino texted to the Daily News this afternoon.

For the guys talking about him wising up to become a better boss:

If that holds any truth, he sure hasn't learned what happens if you play with fire and don't shy away from the limelight.

I think you get burned or something?

Ahh The Grouper! Trust me, I got ZERO issues with a food truck. I really enjoy the fish markets in the southern seaboard towns. Especially when you ask for something and are told to come back in an hour because it's being unloaded off the boat!!

But, to keep my post germaine to the topic, maybe Merlino will find jesus this time. Let's just hope he isn't a mexican guy who likes to "PUSH SHIT IN!!"

Yep the snowbirds go home we'll see how well liked that place is.

Speaking of seafood, we went to the Seafood Festival in Pensacola a few years ago and me and my son had this huge lobster tail with some fried crawfish tails. Hell it was over $20 for the lobster but well worth it. Haven't found one that good since.

How good are the stone crab?

Joey's argument against this parole violation was hilarious by the way. Claimed he didnt get notice in time. The judge called him and his lawyer "simplistic".

Not to derail the topic. But you guys not from the northeast would be surprised how cheap lobster has been the last few summers. Not sure how it is around the country but I've seen it as low as 4.99 lbs. even the big ones. 3 lbs for 7.99. Cheaper than most decent fish.

And Jacobs is a good lawyer Nicky. I'm sure you agree. We all know what this is.

Well, Florida IS the worldwide leader in quirky religious sightings. Maybe Joey will spot the likeness of the Virgin Mary in a bowl of pasta e lenticchie and turn his life around.

A great lawyer. I'm not sure why joey ran up legal bills arguing nonsense, however. I think they even appealed to the 3rd circuit.

Ye but he got off relatively light. I mean Jerry Chilli got 18 months in the can and I believe got his supervised release extended 6 months after release.

Joey is out after 4 and his supervised release ends when he gets out.

Joey also did 14 fucking years though.

Speaking of lobster... I was in Restaurant Depot before the holidays and they had 20LB lobsters in there for $100 a pop. Never saw anything like it.

Semantics but 12 with parole. Still a long time. Keep in mind he beat 4 homicides. One of those would have meant life.

Anyone think John Veasey will visit Merlino's restaurant?

He could but one of two things would happen.
They would tell him to leave.
They tell him to leave and have someone in philly kill one of his family members.

I dont think Veasy is very sharp. Why risk someone pissing in your food ??????

Veasey is tough as nails. He got shot in the head twice at point blank range.

I don't know him but that's an excellent point. It's like when everyone asks how come no one goes after Chris Paciello, or PJ Pisciotti, or Willie Marshall (one of THE toughest guys to EVER come out of the Bronx/Yonkers area, rat or not), or any of the other rats who can legitimately handle themselves.

Well, if these rats offend you guys so much, go after them yourselves. See what happens. Because a lot of these guys are murderers themselves. And if you have it in you to look a man in the eye, shoot him point blank, then watch the life drain out of his nobody, then I guess you're not talking out of your ass. But if you don't have it in you (and 99.999999 percent of people who post on the Internet don't), then you should stick to living vicariously through Scorese movies.

And I want to be clear: This post has been a long time coming, and it's not directed at anyone in particular. I have no use for rats either. But my circumstances and life experiences are probably a little bit different than those of some of the guys who come here and bemoan these stoolies all day long.

Allegedly veasey is making a good living now in whereverville and I am sure he knows exactly where joey is living and may have been in boca to check things out but being a dirtbag addict and informant he knows the feds are watching all over boca looking for joey to mess up....then veasey is in prison forever....and as stated above he whacks joey for killing his brother then john cianglini or some other s philly guy goes and gets him for killing his brother

Veasey still has family in the Philly area. He won't bother causing trouble.

For the record, it's never been proven that Merlino was responsible for Billy Veasey's murder. I know: Brother for Brother. But, Veasey was en-route to rat on Stanfa.


I don't recall Al Pajamas, the guy who helped spanish Frank with the John John hit ever being a made guy. I know for a fact that he was connected; but I don't think he was made. And, Stanfa brought him back to Philly from Florida as a Capo.