(1946-1974) The High Seas Cafe was a nautical bar on the ground floor of the Astor Hotel, operated in name by Sicilian immigrant Alessandro “Alex” Alongi (1913-1974), but really, by his wife Mary. The High Seas, like many other downtown bars, was associated with the San Diego branch of the Los Angeles mafia in the 1950s.
Antonino Matranga, father of well-known mob member Francisco “Big Frank” Matranga (1911-1999), came from Detroit and provided for his sons and unmarried daughters — with bars. Alex Alongi married Matranga’s oldest daughter, Maria Magdalena. Sicilians under watch of San Diego Vice were refused liquor licenses, so often times their wives, children, or associates were listed as owner on record. Antonio set up his second daughter Katherine with the Pony Cafe bar and lunch counter. She married Victor Pipitone (1899-1958), a member of La Cosa Nostra (closely watched by the FBI), who later operated the High Seas. Pipitone died in 1958, and the FBI reported “fifteen of the most notorious Sicilians in San Diego were observed to congregate outside the church during the funeral. They did not enter the church and did not accompany the funeral procession to the cemetery. Apparently they were holding some sort of meeting.”
Their son, Navy vet Charles Pipitone became proprietor of The Frolics Bar. Business was good — the family invested in real estate, controlled the local jukebox business, and eventually ran the Apache, China Doll, Swank, and Singapore clubs downtown.
Before it was the Star Bar, it was the High Seas!
(1974-✔) The Star Bar, in the 1970s, became known as an Asian hospitality bar, where b-girls would entice rubes to buy them drinks and head upstairs to rooms in the Astor. It was jokingly written that the three servers at the High Seas were known as Fumi, Yumi, and Dumi…
In 1974, US Navy veteran Lloyd Thompson (1927-2011) bought the High Seas and renamed it after his daughter, Star. The Star Club now has two bars facing each other. On the left, whiskey. On the right, beer on tap. Why two? The story goes that two ladies behind the bar, one Vietnamese, one Filipina, couldn’t stand each other. Thompson didn’t want to fire either, so he built separate bars to keep them happy. Star Thompson runs her dad’s well-known dive bar now. Cheap beer and pool tables.
Gaslamp Quarter
Club Star / Star Bar (1974-✔)
High Seas Cafe (1946-1974)
Astor Hotel Building
423 E Street
San Diego, CA 92101
Ship decorations from the old High Seas cafe in the Star Bar.
