By the early 1920s my grandfather, Nicola, had saved enough money to buy a small tavern at the corner of Lewis and Commercial Streets which he named Nick’s Tavern. Nonno Nick came to America as a stowaway and there is no record of him entering the country at Ellis Island or any other port of entry.

He had to leave Italy in a hurry, one step ahead of the police, and when he made his way to Boston he lived with relatives and friends on Moon Street, right off North Square. Like many Southern Italian immigrants to Boston, he came from a small hill town outside Avellino and North Square was where Avellenese congregated.