When Franco and Geno Cassella opened the Brick House on Elm Street in 2019, their intention was to bring another Italian restaurant to Downtown Lodi, something they said was in short supply at the time.
Seven years later, the Cassellas are reinventing the Brick House — at least to a degree.
This week, patrons entering through the revolving door at the corner of School and Elm streets will find three large television sets hanging in the center of the lounge area.
Vintage football, baseball and boxing equipment will hang on the brick wall near the bar. Paintings of professional athletes will be displayed above the bar, and several more televisions will be mounted throughout the lounge.
In effect, the Brick House is becoming Lodi’s newest sports bar.
“People are looking for a restaurant that they can visit more consistently, not just for a special occasion,” Geno Cassella said. “A social venue. That’s what the Brick House used to be when we opened in Elk Grove. Then we opened up here and it just kind of evolved into something else. I think we need to evolve back.”
Cassella said customers have offered feedback in recent years about what they would like to see and experience at the restaurant.
One of the more common suggestions was to incorporate more sports programming into the restaurant’s already popular lounge area.
“Right now a lot of people come into our lounge to eat,” he said. “It’s a little more social than our dining room, but a lot of people are asking for more of a social venue, something that’s a little more interactive. Something where they have something to do when they get here other than just eat and watch arbitrary sports programming.”
Along with additional televisions and sports decor, the lounge will feature a “Wall of Fame” showcasing some of Lodi’s most recognizable athletes in artwork created by Paula Nebel.
The first athletes to be featured will be Olympic swimmer Cindy Enze-Griffin, Paralympian Deno Wallen, former NFL quarterback Bill Munson and mixed martial artists Nate and Nick Diaz.
Enze-Griffin made a name for herself in the pool at a remarkably young age. At 12, she qualified for the Olympic trials and also won an all-expenses-paid trip to the National Junior Olympics.
In 1972, she was considered a prospect for the U.S. Olympic team. Four years later, she was inducted into the Lodi Sports Hall of Fame. F
Griffin Enze narrowly missed qualifying for the 1976 Summer Olympics. She and her husband, John, have been swim coaches since 1982.
Wallen competed at the 1980 Summer Paralympics, winning two silver medals in athletics and swimming. At the 1984 Summer Paralympics, he won two silver medals, a gold medal and a bronze medal in athletics.
Munson was a three-sport star at Lodi High School and played quarterback in the NFL for 16 years.
The Los Angeles Rams drafted him in 1964 before trading him to the Detroit Lions four years later. After eight years with the Lions, Munson finished his career with the Seattle Seahawks, San Diego Chargers and Buffalo Bills.
He retired in 1979 and is also enshrined in the Lodi Sports Hall of Fame.
Cassella said Tokay High School alumnus and former NFL tight end Julius Thomas will be the next athlete added to the wall, followed by former NFL lineman and current Lodi High School football coach Greg Bishop.
Thomas had a six-year NFL career with the Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars and Miami Dolphins. Bishop spent seven years in the NFL with the New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons.
Cassella also plans to feature former Lodi High wrestling standout Jason Medeiros and NBA star Bill Cartwright in the future.
Cartwright spent 16 years in the NBA with the New York Knicks, Seattle SuperSonics and Chicago Bulls. After retiring as a player, he served as an assistant coach with the Bulls and later the New Jersey Nets and Phoenix Suns. He was head coach of the Bulls from 2001 to 2003.
Medeiros is an accomplished CrossFit athlete.
With the increased focus on sports, the Brick House’s hours will change as well. The restaurant currently is closed Sundays and Mondays.
It will now open for Monday Night Football, and Cassella’s daughter, Gianna, who handles marketing, will send out a monthly calendar highlighting events and special games featured in the lounge.
Patrons also will be encouraged to wear their favorite team’s colors.
During the college football season, the Brick House will open at noon Saturdays instead of 2 p.m. and at 10 a.m. Sundays.
Operating hours will be adjusted for other sports throughout the year, Cassella said.
“We definitely have a competitive restaurant scene in Lodi, but there’s a minimal amount of sports that are being engaged,” he said. “I think that’s because a lot of the restaurants are more fine dining, so to engage that with sports is a little more of a complicated content.”
The Brick House’s dining area will not change, although Cassella said menu changes are planned for the future.
The drinks menu also will receive some updates.
“We’re not getting crazy with regard to how we execute drinks, but they are going to be executed 100% properly and with a little bit higher tier,” he said. “The big drinks people ask for that we feel need to get more in line with what our competition is doing or what customers are asking for.”
Cassella said Gianna will begin teasing the food and drink menu changes on social media in the coming weeks.
Dining and Cooking