Last week, an alert reader emailed me to let me know. At first, I thought it was an April Fool’s Day prank. But it’s no joke.
The explanation was on the restaurant’s Facebook page. It notes, "On July 10th, 2021, Eliseo DeSantis passed away. It has been a troubling time having to continue forward without him, but I feel that he would be proud of the path we are taking.
"March was a memorable month for our family. His birthday on the 16th and the anniversary of my family taking over the pizza shop, the 5th.
"In honor of my parents, Eliseo and Francesca, who have put their blood, sweat, and tears into make the business what it is today I am happy to announce that we are rebranding Yala's Pizza to Fran's Pizza. Same recipe, same ingredients, same taste. Just a new name and a new number to go along with it (4402827544).
"Thank you all for your support this last year without my father and your continued support moving forward.”
As expected, the name change has resulted in a variety of responses, from approval and support (from friends of the DeSantis family) and disappointment and outrage (from everyone else).
What do I think? Well, I think it’s a mistake.
Yala’s Pizza is a symbol of Lorain. It was the first real pizza parlor on the West side of Lorain during its growth spurt in the 1950s, and consequently Yala’s was the first pizza many of us ever had. Some of us even remember being able to sit down and eat there.
The Brady’s ordered three small pizzas every Friday for years – and ate the leftovers for lunch on Saturday. It was our ritual.
Thank goodness the DeSantis family kept the iconic restaurant going, and creatively partnered it with Eliseo’s Pizza under the same roof.
But if the only change is the name and phone number, then why is it a big deal?
Well, people are funny. They don’t like change, and they don’t want something they love to be tampered with. (Remember New Coke?)
The name 'Yala’s Pizza' honors the recipe and taste that was created by the original people behind it: Louis Fuervando, Jay Telloni and Yala Armelie. To change the name to Fran’s Pizza obscures the company’s heritage, not to mention creating the impression that something dear to many Lorainite’s hearts (and stomachs) is going to change. And some people will stay away, judging by the Facebook reaction.
In the end, if someone loves the taste of the pizza enough, they won’t care what the name is. Just like the old saying, “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
It’s just that we lose a little bit of Old Lorain in the process. And in this day and age, there’s not a lot of it left.