Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 2, No. 36 - September 3, 2020
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................7
Classifieds............................2
Entertainment......................2
Hawthorne............................3
Hawthorne Hotspot............3
Lawndale..............................4
Inglewood.............................5
Legals.................................6,7
Pets........................................8
Weekend
Forecast
Friday
Mostly
Sunny
78˚/68˚
Saturday
Sunny
88˚/76˚
Sunday
Sunny
92˚/72˚
Lawndale Tribune
AND lAwNDAle News
Hawthorne Press Tribune
Featuring the Weekly Newspapers of Hawthorne, Inglewood and Lawndale
Happy National Police K9 Day
to Our Hardworking Heroes
National Police K9 Day is a special day to honor Police Dogs and to memorialize those fallen Police K-9’s that gave their lives in the line of duty. This is a day to say THANK YOU to them for putting their
lives on the line everyday for our freedom and safety. Photo courtesy Hawthorne Police Department.
Rinaldi’s Italian Deli Keeps
El Segundo Location Original
Story and Photos by Chase Maser
Laura Chen scrolls through pictures on her
phone of different meals she makes for her
husband, Bill. They’ve been married since
1991, and as she flips through photos of
cooked fish and stews, she ends on a picture
of Bill seated at their dining room table. On
his plate is a huge mound of rice, meats, and
a large smile.
“I cook Malaysian-Singaporean food. That’s
my background. Bill is Chinese-Cambodian.”
Yet, somehow, these two run an Italian deli
in the South Bay. The Original Rinaldi’s
Italian Deli Cafe is located on 323 Main
St, right across from the El Segundo Fire
department. The Chens have owned and
operated the business since 1996, but how
they came upon it is no typical affair.
Growing up in Malaysia and Singapore,
Laura eventually moved to the U.S. and
studied business at Cal State Dominguez
Hills. At first, the plan was to go to America,
earn a degree, and then go back to Asia to
help her family’s business, but life quickly
got in the way. “My family has a palm oil
business back home, but once I arrived in
California, I took to it like a duck to water,”
says Laura.
Soon enough, she wound up meeting Bill in
Torrance—he grew up there and made lots of
friends in the area. One of those friends was
a guy named Michael Rinaldi, and after Bill
and Laura got hitched, Michael was ready to
sell.“So we bought the deli from him, and
we’ve maintained his standards ever since,”
says Laura. “Big sandwiches. Everything
made fresh—we’re very much a New York
deli and we carry on Rinaldi’s tradition.”
By tradition, Laura means quality meats
and cheeses imported straight from New York
One menu item that sticks out is the
“Chevy Andy”—a House Special that pays
homage to one of their favorite customers
who retired from the Chevron plant down
the street. “Chevy Andy was made for a
friend of ours who would come in all the
time and place big orders for his team,”
Laura explains. “His name is Andrew, so
I created Chevy Andy. It’s very easy, you
know? Chevron-Andrew—put them together
and you have a special. And he still comes
in and orders it (oven-roasted chicken). He’s
retired now, but we still keep it going. We’ve
seen three generations of families coming
through here.”
The menu has stayed the same, but the
Chens have certainly seen the town change
throughout their 24 years of service.
‘When we first opened, we had the first
City. Everything is homemade and made
to order—nothing sits out for days on end,
and along with their dedication to freshness,
they have fun putting together some wild
menu items.
The “Fat Boy” is featured as an “epic”
sandwich that’s the only one of its kind in
the South Bay area. The meatball sub—filled
with sausage, pepperoni, and loaded with
marinara sauce—has been featured by Eater
LA three years in a row (since 2018) as one
of LA’s top epic sandwiches to order. And
their menu highlights a lot more than just
mainstream favorites.
Rinaldi’s is all about creating a personal,
small-town connection, too, with its customers.
If you take a look at their menu (which spans
across the back wall), you’ll see all kinds of
items named after favorite customers, personal
friends, and even top-ranked colleges. See Rinaldi’s, page 5
Three generations of families love the personal small town feel of a New York deli.