The History

The building has a history as colourful and dubious as the Valley itself – it was the Bellino family’s famous Pinocchio’s Restaurant, a haunt for crooked cops and gambling-loving businessmen alike, made notorious in the Fitzgerald Inquiry. There is even a bricked up escape hole in the back courtyard, used when licensing raids occurred and patrons had to remove themselves quickly!

The last venue trading from the property, The George, closed down some 15 years ago. Since then 648 Ann Street has sat housing her history and keeping her stories quiet as thousands of Valley-goers passed her by unnoticed.

"When it was the Bellinos' place, originally it was a spaghetti bar then they had a nightclub, Pinocchio's. Upstairs there was a fellow called Luciano Scognamiglio and he ran a gambling den that figured in quite a bit of evidence at the inquiry. After that Hapeta bought it and he ran a few failed enterprises here. One of the interesting things about this place was that for years upstairs after the gambling den closed down there was a fortune teller and she used to get prosecuted all the time. So there were all these illegal enterprises going on in this building and the only one that got prosecuted or raided by the Licensing Branch was the poor old little gypsy lady upstairs' tea-leaf readings."
- Historical Building Description by acclaimed journalist Phil Dickie (the man who started the Fitzgerald Inquiry ball rolling)