Did you know — before the world-famous Hillcrest dive bar was The Alibi Club, it was Perry’s?
The Alibi (1972 – now) originally opened in 1952 as the 10-seat Alibi Club at the Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach by Michael S Milazzo (bartender at Little Tommy’s Cafe), and brothers-in-law Louis Contile (married Michael’s sister, Josephine), and Vito Frontiera (married Michael’s other sister Sara). The Alibi Club at Crystal Pier later became The Stage Door. Remodeled in the early 1990s, it’s now Paradise Cove gift shop.
In 1972, the Patrone family (Chee-Chee Club, Zardi’s, C.J.’s, Flinn Springs Inn) bought its current location on the corner of University Avenue and Richmond Street. The Hillcrest location was originally a barbershop until 1937, when Glen Henry Perry opened up his own dive bar on the spot, serving 15-cent highballs and whiskies, light food, and his “world-famous” corned beef sandwiches. Of short stature, rotund, and grey-haired, “Whitey” Perry, as he was affectionately known, long held the third-oldest liquor license in San Diego. He sold to bar king Bill Wilson in 1967.
“You don’t need a reason to drink, just an alibi.”
Hillcrest
The Alibi Club (1972 – now, Joseph Gerald Petrone)
Perry’s (1967 – 1972, Bill Wilson)
Perry’s Cafe (1948, “see Frank or Jerry”)
Perry’s (1937, G.H. “Whitey” Perry)
Barbershop (1936 – 1937)
1403 University Avenue
San Diego, CA 92103
Mission Gorge
9179 Mission Gorge Road
Santee, California 92071
Pacific Beach
Stage Door Cabaret (1957)
The Alibi Club, Crystal Pier (1952, Mike Milazzo, Louis Contile, Vito Frontiera)
Cafe (1950, George Prince)
4500 Ocean Blvd
San Diego, CA 92109
Ad, San Diego Union, 1938. Photo, Prudy Milazzo Stephens / John Fry Productions.
