In the late 1990s, Melbourne institution Marios caused a firestorm when it denied comedian Jerry Seinfeld team's entreaties to secure a table for breakfast.
After all, there was a strict no-booking policy in place, which remains today, 40 years after the Fitzroy cafe first opened its doors.
However that has not stopped many thousands of everyday diners -- and celebrities from Kylie Minogue, to Ryan Gosling and Heath Ledger -- filling the Fitzroy cafe's sought-after tables to enjoy brekky, a coffee, a glass of wine or some classic Italian fare.
Today, Marios will celebrate its 40th by giving diners a free magazine-style publication celebrating its history, with contributions from an array of famous fans including Colin Hay, Sam Pang, Red Symons and Mary Coustas, each naming their favourite dish.
'Headquarters for alternative Melbourne'
Mario Maccarone says when he and Mario De Pasquale opened the cafe -- and catering business out the back -- in the city's now-iconic Brunswick Street, it was a very rundown area with cheap rent.
Or, as he also puts it, "the headquarters for alternative Melbourne".
He says it was a fantastic place to be, with PBS and Triple R community radio stations in the area, the Universal Theatre on Victoria Street, and the Last Laugh in Collingwood.
"And we were welcoming of all kinds of minorities, so we were embraced by everyone."
In the early days, all sorts of creative deals were cut by agents, promoters and managers using the cafe's one public payphone.
A hit from the start
Maccarone and De Pasquale, who'd met as waiters at Melbourne restaurant Tsindos, got the keys to the cafe, now a Melbourne institution, on Maccarone's 24th birthday.
De Pasquale, the senior of the pair by about eight years, had started his own catering business, which was taking off.
Maccarone, who helped him as a waiter, said they opened the cafe at the front almost as a bit of an afterthought -- "and of course what happened was the cafe went crazy straight away".
In the early days, De Pasquale, a qualified cook, ran the kitchen while the younger Mario waited tables.
"But as time went by, it just made sense to have two Marios out the front," says Maccarone.
"That meant we could cover more hours, and there was always a Mario in the building."
Maccarone says they wanted to provide an honest "eating house" that was a bistro, restaurant and cafe all rolled into one. But along with wholesome Italian fare, it also had a bit of flair about it.
There were proper tablecloths, and "waiters that looked like waiters", which he says was something of anomaly in 1980s Fitzroy.
However not everything was as slick as it could be; in the first year, the cafe only had one toilet, which diners could only access by walking through the kitchen.
Filling a gap in Melbourne's hospitality scene
Maccarone says he and De Pasquale had a feeling there were two main things missing in Melbourne hospitality.
One was all-day breakfast, in a time when even finding somewhere to go out for breakfast was tricky.
"A lot of the artists and musicians in the area just love the fact they could come at one o'clock, two o'clock or three o'clock in the afternoon and have breakfast."
They also decided early on that as long as the doors were open, the kitchen wouldn't close. So at, say 5pm, you could have breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Loyal staff, customers stay for the long haul
Customer Timothy has been dining at Marios since he was a uni student in the early 1990s.
These days he still goes about three times each week, often with his wife and four kids, and likes the fact many of the staff have been around for years.
"Once you start going to a place for a long time, you get a family feel," he says.
"Now my (older) daughter, who turned 18 just recently, she comes here with her girlfriends. It's intergenerational."
The Fitzroy North resident pinpoints the garlic bread, and the spaghetti bolognese as his hot favourites, and plans to join today's 40th celebrations.
Even if Marios isn't offering day one menu prices, like it did for its 30th anniversary.
"50 cent coffees, and $1.50 pastas ... they should do that every day," Timothy laughs.
One retirement down, no plans for a second
About five years ago, the older Mario retired, but not before staying longer than intended to help their business survive the pandemic.
During that time, the cafe also sold groceries, and sent its waiters out, waistcoats and all, to deliver meals to people's front doors, says Maccarone.
Along the way, Marios has also continued its popular tradition of hosting a different art exhibition each three weeks.
Maccarone, whose daughter Milla now also works part-time at the cafe, has no plans to retire anytime soon, still thriving on the interactions he has with customers.
"I still love it. The place is successful, people love it -- they tell me constantly," he says.
"So it's pretty easy to be proud of it, and pretty easy to enjoy it."