A Cheesy Place : Fanatics of the Green Bay Packers Have Made Themselves a Little Bit of Home at West Hills Pizza Joint

WEST HILLS — In the back room, rows of picnic tables face two big-screen television sets. It’s just a pizza joint. Nothing fancy.

But if you put up a sign that reads “Packerland,” they will come.

And if you offer specials on beer and pizza (cheese, of course), they will come in droves.

In the past five years Casa di Pizza has become the foremost, and perhaps the only, Green Bay Packers’ bar in the Valley-Ventura region. Every Sunday, the faithful arrive in their raiments of green and gold, wearing sacred cheeseheads, waving flags.

“This one lady brought a little cactus dressed as a Packer fan,” said Tom Johnson, one of the faithful. “It even had a little cheesehead.”

This is not the only local bar or restaurant that has attracted a devoted following. Pittsburgh Steeler fans congregate at the Stove Piper in Northridge. Buffalo Bills’ fans worship at Bobby McGee’s in Burbank.

But with the Packers in the Super Bowl for the first time since 1968, Casa di Pizza has risen above the masses.

“Yesiree-bob, we will fill this place up,” said Chuck Petlak, a longtime customer. “When the Packers score a touchdown, it’ll get pretty loud.”

Pity the unwanted New England Patriot fans who must drive all the way to Hermosa Beach, to a bar called the Poop Deck, to find such friendly environs. They do not have anyone like the Avakian brothers to come to their aid.

Hovig Avakian immigrated from Kuwait 14 years ago. He can still recall, vividly, watching his first Monday Night Football game. It was 1982, the Packers versus the New York Giants just before the players’ strike. Green Bay won, 27-19, and he was smitten.

His younger brother Victor experienced a similar epiphany, coming to the United States in 1984.

“You know, [Dan] Marino’s best year,” Hovig said. “The Dolphins went to the Super Bowl.”

Victor said: “I’m a big Dolphins’ fan.”

So when the brothers took over the pizzeria five years ago, they designated that the big screens would be reserved for Packer and Dolphin games. Then they started advertising on radio.

“Once the word got out, it spread pretty fast,” Petlak said.

The usual smattering of neighborhood football fans soon found themselves overwhelmed by Packer and Dolphin followers, 50 or more of each, every Sunday.

The Johnsons made it a family ritual.

“There are 14 of us, plus the kids, the boyfriends and girlfriends, friends of the family,” Tom Johnson said. “We usually fill about five tables.”

Said his brother Mike: “We get there by 8:30 just to get our seats.”

Said his fiancee, Geri Graves: “It gets pretty rowdy.”

Faced with this kind of devotion, the Avakians have been putting together occasional weekend trips, loading their customers into buses and airplanes to travel to a handful of Packer and Dolphin games each year.

Earlier this season, 10 Casa di Pizza regulars flew to Green Bay for a Monday night game against San Francisco.

“Lambeau Field, the people, the food, the Packer Hall of Fame right across the street . . . oh my God,” Hovig Avakian said. “Everybody started barbecuing at 4:30. The game was at 8 and afterward everyone stayed in the parking lot till 2:30. Then we all went to a bar.”

Avakian would like to think that some of that spirit has been transplanted to his humble establishment half a continent away. Many of the football regulars are transplanted Midwesterners, he said.

The older ones tell stories from the Vince Lombardi era.

“I’m from Wisconsin and I’ve been rooting for the Pack forever,” said Steve Schieffer of Canoga Park. “These guys at Casa di Pizza got a lot of good fans over there. For all the old Packers fans, that’s the place to go.”

Avakian explained: “They like it here because this is a down-to-earth pizza parlor. It’s not a high-class sports bar. We don’t have exotic drinks. Just beer and wine. It’s just for middle-class people to have fun.”

So today, with their beloved team in the biggest game of the year, they will come.

“Are you kidding?” Tom Johnson said. “It’s going to be packed. Everyone will be going wild.”