When the meeting finished, most of the bakery owners decided to join McGuire’s union but more than a dozen felt frustrated and became angry at him and instantly refused his offer. So the next day, in a true Mob style, McGuire began harassing the 12 bakers who balked at the plan, by sending corrupt building and health department officials, who in turn inspected their workers on daily basis. In some cases, even corrupt police squads managed to arrest few truck drivers allegedly for various violations. To tell you the truth, these poor Latino bakers did not have many choices since they did not have anywhere else to go, meaning the Outfit already had an alderman and a huge number of city enforcement and health departments under its payroll, which were obviously and unwittingly used in attempts to harass the legit businessmen and bring unwanted pressure upon them. But as I previously stated that during this period the Latin community heavily invested in the highest circles of society, and one of their guys out there was Arturo Velasquez, the owner of the Automatic Music Company, located at 4539 S. Ashland Av. This guy was active in Latin-American community affairs and has served many times on committees for the offices of the mayor and governor but also he had a shady history of being involved in the vending machine racket and also the Bolita game. In fact, it was Velasquez who notified the feds of the plot regarding the control of the tortilla supply. The investigation has been conducted jointly by the state’s attorney’s office, the feds and the police labor squad and in no time, all of the suspected city department officials, the unknown alderman, and the district police were informed by intelligence detectives that they were being “used” in the plot and if they did not stop, they were going to be arrested.


So McGuire and the Outfit quickly got wind of the situation, and in their own violent and animalistic style, they decided to send a message to Velasquez in the form of a bomb. The interesting thing was that same day, or earlier that night, a meeting was held in Velasquez's company, which also included Governor of Illinois Otto Kerner and State's Attorney Daniel Ward, regarding the arrangement of a dinner in behalf of the re-election campaigns and possibly regarding Velasquez’s huge problem. An hour later after the finishing of the meeting, a dynamite blast shattered all of the windows and damaged a big part of the building, but luckily no one was hurt. This was an obvious threat towards Velasquez, but the main question is, was it also a threat meant for the governor and the state’s attorney, and if it was, then this was one hell of a message. No matter if was or wasn’t meant for the high government officials, from that point on every investigator in the country had his eyes on the case. So by the end of that year, McGuire was called to testify in front of a grand jury regarding the tortilla racket, but as usual, like a true racketeer, he took the Fifth Amendment on almost every question. No matter if McGuire managed to escape jail sentence, still the Outfit’s so-called “tortilla operation” was finished forever. On top of that I also believe that nobody really cared, since during this period the Outfit’s top administration was crumbling down and most of the lower members were left on their own, meaning they had much trouble with the law that their illegal enterprises were quite disrupted, thus having almost nothing to invest into their legal operations.


Even though this decade was quite troubled for Chicago’s Italian underworld, still the Outfit entered into the 1970’s with one stable and quite strong hierarchy and also with many ventures, including the food business. By now, the most powerful crew was the so-called Grand Avenue group which was led by one Joe Gagliano, since his boss Jackie Cerone was sentenced to prison. Gagliano was a known as the top guy in the loan sharking business and the thing was that he inherited one quite murderous group which was formed by former or up and coming professional killers and extortionists, who in fact were no different than the rest of the Outfit’s crews from this particular era and the next case which I’m about to explain consists many gaps, and the main reason for that were the many murders and unexplained connections. So one of the most lucrative and legit operations at the time was the catering business, which became the new style of business in providing food service for the citizens. Now, the most interesting thing regarding the catering business is the mobile caterers, which serves food directly from a vehicle, cart or truck which is designed for the purpose at outdoor events. All kinds of food products are provided at remote sites such as weddings, funerals, working places, ships, planes, concerts or at sites such as hotels, public houses and other locations. Every owner offers different catering food options for the costumers including Italian, Chinese or Mexican cuisine or maybe even Kosher, Balkan or vegetarian styles, mostly depending on the costumer’s taste. For example the Italian catering is usually completed from savoury dishes perfect for any occasion, such as mouth-watering combination of contemporary Italian appetizers, Italian entrées, pasta dishes and Italian desserts’ artfully prepared with superior quality and also flavourful dishes like Chicken Marsala, Eggplant Parmesan, Fettucine Alfredo, Lasagna, Italian meatballs or a gourmet pasta station, where chefs often create pasta dishes made to order for each guest. But for some other reasons, the mobile catering service in the Chicago area never really reached its peak.



Mobile catering during an outdoor event


I believe that, like in some of the previous examples, the mobsters did not have any problems in infiltrating the business, since they already owned many restaurants, working sites or hotels in which weddings often occurred, or cruise ships which travelled around the world, including the air-catering. So in 1970, Gagliano was already into the food catering business with the help of one of his associates known as John Schaffer a.k.a. Juan Atilano, the owner of the restaurant La Hacienda Del Sol, located at 1945 N. Sedgwick St. on the city’s North Side and also the part owner of the Thunderbird Catering Co. at 4242 S. Racine Av. on the South Side. It was a beautiful scheme since, besides his alleged Mob connections, Schaffer had no criminal record and was clean, and on top of that he had a professional “team” under his rule which carried out the operation. For example, besides Schaffer, another individual with hidden interests in both establishments, and was also employed as manager, was Jack Clarke, one quite controversial consultant for the Chicago Police Department, undercover agent for the FBI and private investigator, who in turn also had many connections on Chicago’s docks which made him the Mob’s perfect puppet. In fact, Clarke was one of the worst kinds of criminals since he worked for three different “agencies”, including the police, the feds and the Outfit, and paid, with tons of cash, many high profile informants from within the crime syndicate regarding underworld activities, but above all he worked for himself. The other half of the “team” was completed by one quiet, unassuming, hardworking and intelligent lady who went by the name of Rita Payonk and she was the group’s main bookkeeper for both establishments and knew all the secrets and schemes, which in fact were tax evasion and forcing other establishments to buy their catering products or trucks. By now the Thunderbird Catering Co. had almost 100 mobile catering trucks, which in fact became one of the leading companies who were on the rise in making a monopoly around Chicago. In addition, Miss Payonk was in fact Clarke’s friend who in fact brought her into the firm and there’s also one possibility that Schaffer’s Outfit “friendship” really came from Clarke’s personal connections.


But things became complicated for the Chicago Outfit since in 1971, Gagliano died of natural causes and also two years later, Jack Clarke was indicted for tax evasion in a different case and was sentenced to three years in jail, and on top of that, after a while it was disclosed that he also worked for the feds, which made the situation quite dangerous. Instead of serving three years, Clarke served only 11 months in prison and in 1975 he was called before a grand jury regarding his shady activities, who in turn took the 5th a lot more than few times. After Gagliano’s death, the late big shot who allegedly resented psychopathic violence, as expected the crew completely changed its structure in becoming quite the opposite or in other words, even more violent. Some say that the new boss of the group was Joseph Lombardo a.k.a. Joey the Clown or some even say that even Charles Nicoletti might’ve been the new or onetime overseer who groomed the future captain, so whoever was the new top guy for the crew, the thing was that by the late 1970’s few people in the catering business died from unnatural causes. At first, I really didn’t had any clue on what was the problem, since the case which I’m about to show you has no conclusion but instead it remains unsolved until this day. But if you look at the situation more clearly, one might just find two possible solutions, including the possibility of Clarke’s various government associations or maybe even the main problem was that the front guys such as Schaffer who began noticing that they were losing more money instead of the gaining, because most of them were not aware of their own situation since they obviously did not understand the meaning of “front man”. So for some reasons, or right after Clarke’s testimony, on May 6, 1975, somebody planted a pipe bomb under the hood of John Schaffer’s automobile, which after the explosion, luckily for him, he was quite away from the car and left unharmed. Some of the investigators said that it was a possible murder attempt and some said that it might’ve been only a warning since the bomb was professionally planted, but what were the reasons? When the investigators questioned Schaffer, in an already known victim style, he answered that he allegedly had no clue on who would’ve tried such a thing and he never had a quarrel with anyone.


If Schaffer was telling the whole truth, then the life-threatening situation of his bookkeeper Rita Payonk would’ve never occurred. On January 18, 1976, two masked men armed with high powered rifles, while riding a car, fired more than a dozen of shots as the poor woman drove home but she ended up wounded slightly in the incident. Now, according to the previous information Schaffer was in a position to help his female co-worker but instead, he and Clarke told her that it was a possible mistaken identity and that all of those bullets were meant for someone else. From that point on the poor woman was forced to ask her colleagues on daily basis to escort her to her car after work. But according to some reports, during this period Miss Payonk was again visited more than a couple of times by Clarke, who in turn allegedly advised her that the coast was completely clear and there was no reason for her to be further afraid. So according to her colleagues, on February 6, 1976, she allegedly told them that she wasn’t scared anymore and that all things were good. That same day, 31-year old Rita Payonk was found shot two times at the back of her head and four times in the chest, while being seated and slumped over the wheel of her car in the 1800 block of North Lincoln Avenue. The investigators reported that it was a professional assassination since they found six 38.caliber shell casings on the floor of the victim’s auto but they were not able to determinate if the killer or killers lay and waited inside the car or forced his or their way in. In the end, the investigators connected Payonk’s murder to the narcotics business, since some of the truck drivers were involved in the scheme, which for me personally doesn’t make any sense. After the slaying of Miss Payonk, the government turned its view over the mobile catering business which in fact was one of the first reasons for its huge failure at the time.


My personal opinion is that this was possibly another “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” type of crime, where you might find many corrupt government officials and mobsters involved in one conspiracy, which usually ends up unsolved forever, and I also believe that the individual in the middle was in fact Jack Clarke. Proofs for that were the high profile slayings of two of Clarke’s former colleagues such as police officer John Lourgos in April, 1977, and also police commander Mark Thanasouras in July that same year. Story goes that both victims were seen on daily basis at the La Hacienda Del Sol and they also associated with owners, truck drivers and employees of the Thunderbird Catering Co. My other belief is that these guys were possible front men for Clarke or whoever was behind him, like shady people from the Mob or the government, but in the end they obviously screw up something. The next proof for that was the murder of the manager of the Thunderbird Co. and long-time employee, who went by the name of Richard Crofton, which occurred in December that same year. He was shot to death “gangland style” by two assassins with ski masks outside his garage, or in other words, six times in the head, chest and back. On top of that, during this period the pressure probably caught up with Schaffer and he died of natural causes and his ownership was inherited by his wife. So before the Crofton murder, Miss Theresa Schaffer told the police that she allegedly received a death threat over the phone. So from this point on, some of the corrupt investigators were no longer in a position to cover up the whole scandal, since it became obvious that something was obviously happening particularly in the food catering business. Many of the newspapers began posting statements regarding the mobile catering alleged war or conflict and so in no time, the whole violent and murderous situation suddenly went down. My personal belief is that these slayings were obviously orchestrated by some organized crime syndicate, which I also believe was the Chicago Outfit, mainly because of the modus operandi in the slayings, which were exactly the same as the ones which were executed by hit teams of the Grand Avenue crew or the so-called 26th Street group.


Somebody obviously cleared the way for the Thunderbird Co. and also killed anyone who might’ve represented a danger for the whole operation, including their own people. You see, by now the catering company became the main player in the industry with almost 150 trucks which made the money flow quite serious since they held their own monopoly within the city of Chicago. The so-called “peace” lasted for nearly 6 years, until “somebody” went on a killing spree for the second time, but from this point on most of the victims belonged to rival companies. For example, in 1983 one of the leading catering firms was the Best Catering Co. which was owned by Theresa Schaffer, one Louis Papalia and also one shady individual with gang land connections known as Mike Spiotto. Obviously their company was successful because of Schaffer’s interest but that same year, “someone” thought differently, meaning it was time for the Best Catering to go fully with the Thunderbird. So one day, in the same style, Spiotto was gunned down by two assassins as he left his girlfriend’s apartment on the city’s South Side. When some of the authorities questioned Spiotto’s family of any possible enemies of theirs but they said that he had no problems in life and that he belonged to some local motorcycle gang, a statement which I again find it quite laughable. During the same time, two other food catering giants such as the E & D Catering and also the M & S Catering companies were suffering for the same problems, meaning some shady individuals were constantly warning them regarding their supply of food catering trucks around the Chicago area and also tried to extort them. At one instance, there was a suspicious fire at one of their plants, and finally, just one day after the Spiotto slaying, the main shareholder in both companies DeMar Thorton was killed together with his wife Norma at the bathroom in their home on the western suburbs. Now the strange thing was that none of the investigators ever cleared any of the previous murders, but since the Thorton slaying was high profile, they quickly “found the murderers and so the police chief at the time declared that the double murder was nothing but a simple drug deal which went wrong and also loudly stated that it was unrelated to any “non-existing” war in the catering business. The police also stated that they allegedly managed to find $250,000 worth of cocaine in one of Thorton’s antique automobiles and also photographs of the couple with local gang members and organized crime figures. So in no time they made quite a big deal out of it by also arresting and convicting two alleged suspects. My opinion is that if the couple was really in the dope business than why didn’t somebody from the investigators previously found or arrested at least one suspect dealing drugs for the late Thortons, but instead they found the stash after their murders. If you ask me, somebody could’ve easily placed the drugs there right after the killings and make the take the whole case in a different direction.


If anyone really believed in the police chief’s words, then nobody would’ve left or sold their food catering businesses, but instead that’s what really happened such as the Papalia family who sold and left the business permanently like many others. On top of that, many close friends and associates of the late Thorton couple stated that there was no need for them to sell any kind of drugs since they had all the money in the world from their legit business. For me personally the only investigator who told the truth was one Patrick Healey from the Chicago Crime Commission who in turn never mentioned any personal finding regarding the narcotics racket, but instead he clearly stated only what have the other investigators told him and allegedly discovered. That’s why in the Healy only stated that there wasn’t much space for democracy in the mobile catering business and that everyone was forced to buy their supplies and food from certain individuals and that was it. One mobile caterer also stated that all of the investigations came to nothing in the end and that they were like fishing expeditions which fished for some alleged impropriety but none really came up. The other interesting thing was that all of the problems again suddenly stopped but this time it was at the same period when the Grand Avenue crew boss Joey Lombardo was indicted and sentenced to prison regarding the extortion attempt of some wealthy construction owner. Also in addition, one Grand Avenue crew member and also the Outfit’s main representative in Las Vegas, Nevada; known as Tony Spilotro, in 1983 went to a trial in which he planned to contact the owner of the catering service which fed all 17 grand jurors and also the underworld informant known as Sal Romano, and to convince him to poison the food which all of the previously mentioned individuals ate. In plane words, Spilotro planned to kill the entire Nevada grand jury, including their main witness, and story goes that he worked out the plot but later for unknown reasons he cancelled the operation. It is possible that the Grand Avenue boys had their fingers in the previous murders and I’m not making a conclusion or anything but instead I’m only placing out some of the facts and my personal opinions on the previous case since it’s quite a mystery.


But that particular “mystery” was one of the reasons for which the government tried to legally ban the mobile food vending units and companies on several occasions, mainly because this kind of food vending was allegedly destroying the business of the local restaurants, bars or hotels and on top of that, some of the investigators tried to prove that most of caterers were not paying their taxes but by the end of the day they couldn’t make one single case. The government tried to ban the food truck business all around Chicago, but according to some reports, “coincidentally” their main target was the Grand Avenue area, obviously for the biggest concentration of food trucks in that same territory. Another problem which allegedly occurred and the government was concerned about was the physical violence among truck drivers, mainly for selling spots. But even with that, by the end of decade most of the top mobsters who were possibly extorting the food catering business were gone and also with most of the competition gone, the Thunderbird firm remained at the top of the industry with Theresa Schaffer as the chief executive. With so many trucks, her company began leasing food truck for a price between $40 and $75 per day, depending on the truck’s condition. Also, during that same time period, over 300 licences were issued to various food vendors. Today, there are less than 100 trucks in all territory of Chicago since it’s the only big city in the U.S. where food trucks have hundreds of restrictions such as parking around public places or staying longer in one place for more than one or two hours. But in Los Angeles or New York for instance, the food trucks and firms are well established and on top of that, they began spreading their businesses in nearby smaller cities.


But as I previously pointed out that the Grand Avenue crew was deeply infiltrated into the food business and I also believe they kept it that way. After the conviction of Joey Lombardo in another case, which this time it included the whole Outfit’s top hierarchy, he was allegedly succeeded by one old timer also from the West Side, known as Louis Eboli who owned and extorted many restaurants, but the problem was that he unexpectedly died of natural causes in 1987, and he was allegedly succeeded by Joe Andriacchi or some sources say that Eboli’s real successor was in fact John DiFronzo, which made Andriacchi the number two guy. So no matter who was the real successor, my point was that the group continued to stick their fingers in the food business, even in the highest of establishments. For example, during the 1990’s Andriacchi allegedly had hidden interest in the Rosebud chain of restaurants which started back in 1975. Originally located on Taylor St. and known as “Boccia della Rosa”, which means bud of the rose, began serving few of the best Italian meals and their own signature dishes such as Chicken Vesuvio and Pappardelle which in fact means square noodles, and so their food became quite popular and attracted celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett or Robert DeNiro. The first time the connection between the Outfit and the Rosebud restaurant came to the government’s attention in 1988, when the cops managed to arrest one bookmaker known as Roger Riccio, who in turn operated a large handbook operation from an apartment located above the restaurant. In fact, all of those apartments were owned and rented by Alex Dana, the owner of the Rosebud and possible front man for the Mob at the time. During the search of the apartment, besides gambling tickets and cash, the investigators also found one picture of smiling Dana shaking hands with DiFronzo, in the company of other mobsters. As usual, the case on Riccio was later thrown away since the cops who led the raid had no warrant. During the trials, Dana’s name stayed in the shadows but few years later, when some reporters asked Dana regarding Riccio’s arrest, he replied “I rent out the apartments upstairs and I don’t recall it.”



Rosebud restaurant


During the early 1990’s, the owner decided to spread his business from Taylor St. to the Rush St. area, which I believe was the main reason for Andriacchi’s further infiltration in the establishment since he allegedly had many interests in that same territory, even though he was a West Side guy. It is possible that he inherited the imprisoned Joey Lombardo’s interests in that area, and it seems that Andriacchi wasn’t involved at all in the inner workings of the establishment, and all I know is that he allegedly kept his hidden interest and possibly even helped the owners to open up another food establishment, five blocks away from the previous restaurant in that same area. But above all, it was obvious that the whole building was a front for illegal gambling operations. The other interesting thing was that in no time, the Rosebud establishments became the Outfit’s daily meeting places, especially the Grand Avenue group which included DiFronzo, Andriacchi and one Marco D’Amico, the group’s top hierarchy and possibly the Outfit’s. Investigators at the time reported that the Rosebud restaurant, particularly on Taylor St., was “very big with organized crime” but the owner Dana always denied that he did not know a single member of the Mafia and that the bad reputation came from the location, meaning it is Taylor St., the Outfit's old stronghold since the 1930’s. In addition, in 2012 Alex Dana stepped down as the general manager and owner of the Rosebud chain and was replaced by his son and a team of his best employees. And with all of those criminal allegations, Dana was never arrested, nor brought to court, but instead in 2015 the successful businessman celebrated 40 years anniversary of his legit business.


But according to one Mob historian and writer, Andriacchi’s alleged boss John DiFronzo possibly had a more sinister plan regarding the food business. The individual which I’m referring to is known as Joseph Fosco, whose father used to be a member of the Outfit in the union racketeering business and his son brought up the info in 2011. According to Fosco, the main problem for the recent bankruptcy of one of the largest grocery chains in the history of Chicago is or was the Outfit and its top leadership. In 2017, the Central Grocers Inc., a wholesaler which supplied over 400 independent grocery stores all around the Chicago area and with over 500 employees, filed for bankruptcy after being in business for exactly 100 years, since it first opened up way back in 1917. So with no money, the company’s top administration began firing people and also selling its own store chains and establishments in different areas. Now, according to Fosco the alleged reason for the company’s downfall was in the board of members for Central Grocers, which again according to his statements, it included alleged organized crime figures such as Dominick Gambino, Tony Ingraffia and Paul Butera Sr., who are allegedly tied to DiFronzo and the Outfit. It is quite possible that Fosco received this info from one Teamsters Local, which he also admits it, and I believe it was Local 703, which represented about 300 workers at Central Grocer’s warehouse in the Joliet area. You see, the union tried to stop the company from selling its business by filling a federal lawsuit on April 27, 2017, just to block the whole process. But only seven days later, out of nowhere, the union suddenly withdraw the lawsuit, since they allegedly received some information regarding potential transactions or in other words, they withdraw everything because of “certain confidential information” which will allow the Teamsters to access the sale on its labor contracts. In July, the Central Grocers was purchased by a Minnesota-based grocery company for $61,000,000; a price which according to the sellers was well below the appraised value. The interesting thing was that all top individuals from both parties declined to comment on anything.



Central Grocers Inc.


To tell you the truth, for me personally this whole story really stinks and if Fosco’s claims are true, than the whole situation can be much worse for the ordinary citizen. The problem for which I’m talking about is counterfeit food products that began spreading all across the states from 2014 until now. Some of those counterfeit foods usually include sugar, salt, milk, coffee, cheeses, wines, whiskey, honey and olive oil. For example in 2016, there was a massive seizure of counterfeit honey in Chicago in which almost 60 tons of honey was seized by the agents. Obviously there are billions of dollars to be made with the help of counterfeit cuisine and according to some of the investigators most of these products are smuggled from Mexico, Italy and China. According to other reports, “it could be that 10 percent of the entire U.S. food supply is fraudulent one way or the other.” Story goes that many food producers or larger companies are under assault by well-organized crime syndicates, which the consumer’s health is their last concern. They are even switching seafood with cheaper species, like for example if you order red snapper there are good chances that you will receive tilapia, or if you order tuna you might get escolar, which in fact is fish that can easily cause intestinal problems. The Italian counterfeit syndicates, or mainly the Mafia or Camorra, are known for painting the olives with copper sulfate to enhance the colour or as I previously stated that they put peanut oil instead of olive oil in the bottles. One investigator also stated that the Italian crime syndicates are quite aware of the advantage of this kind of business, meaning the penalties and convictions associated with being caught are quite smaller compared to drug trafficking for example. So if the Chicago Outfit really managed to infiltrate so deep in the food industry, than I believe that this is one of their chances and biggest opportunities to make the big buck once again, just like in the old days.


One thing is for sure that the gangsters, especially the Italian Mafiosi, allegedly took the gastronomy to a higher level in the ordinary people’s minds, but as you saw in the previous examples, the reality is quite different. Times are changing and so are the mobster’s tactics and styles of infiltrating legitimate businesses. You see, it’s the tables filled with food where they talk freely and eat prodigiously, which it became the main force in the collective persona of the Mob. But the thing is that they always consume pure and natural food, instead of the bad stuff that they try to smuggle and sell it to us. It’s a similar situation in which you’re a regular guest at some restaurant and so when you order something, the waiter usually will inform you that the meal is currently not for you and so instead he will offer it to someone who comes in for the first time. In fact, these days’ mobsters are quite the opposite from their predecessors of 90 years ago who rarely ventured outside their own neighbourhoods or restaurants and offered high quality food to everyone who visited their joints. But in time, some even with murder “contracts” on their heads still managed to catch a seat at some famous Italian restaurant with excellent food and by the end of the day, they usually ended up in a body bag. In plane words, where they dined, usually that’s where they died. As I previously stated somewhere in my story, that the days of Murray Humphreys or Ross Prio and grade A milk or high quality cheese were long gone, but instead today we can see a crossing between ancient crimes and the modern ones, which all end up to be bad for the everyday citizen. If you really think about it, the Mob’s plan for the complete take over of the food industry has a quite darker side, meaning they are quite aware of the fact that every individual will be forced to rely on the them for his or hers daily meal. It is obviously our basic need and it’s also a key instrument for positive or negative change, which mostly depends on us, meaning if we don’t fight the so-called “food cancer”, our own future will be quite short.



Fake egg and original


Counterfeit olives


Fake expensive champagne


…and the result would be probably this


…or maybe this

Thank you.