The Gossip Fix

The Sopranos Are Done, But The Hype Goes On

June 21st, 2007

This past Sunday it was really hard to see the clock strike 9:00 p.m. and know there would be no Sopranos episode on.  I am going through withdrawl, and it appears so are many others.  The new way to get your Soprano fix?  Take a tour of the locations used to film The Sopranos.

Fans are flocking to a “Sopranos”-themed bus tour. With 47 sites, it’s one way fans can still connect with the show. The cost is $42 per person, which includes a cannoli. Afternoon tours for the next two weekends are already sold out.

The most popular place seems to be “The Bada Bing.”  The real name of the club is Satin Dolls (pictured above), and they are ready and willing to have you come by:

Satin Dolls, the strip club that fronts for the “Bada Bing,” is located on Route 17 in Lodi.

Every Saturday afternoon, the staff at the Satin Dolls go-go lounge clears the bar of matchbooks, coasters, napkins and anything else not nailed down because a sold-out tour bus is on the way from New York.

Soon, about four dozens fans of the hit television series The Sopranos file into the club, which since 1999 has doubled as the show’s notorious, mob-run strip joint, the Bada Bing.

“Everything gets stolen off the bar, even if it doesn’t say ‘Satin Dolls’ or ‘Bada Bing’ on it,” said club manager Rouz, who, like the scantily-clad young women working the brass poles behind the bar, prefers to be known by just his first name.

If strip clubs are not your thing, how about some pork?

While most of the well-known locations on the show are actual commercial establishments, Satriale’s pork store in Kearny has never existed.

Signage and the large pig that sits atop the brick-faced building were put up only for filming, and the site that saw its share of sit-downs and dismemberments will soon be whacked itself: Kearny officials say the town’s planning board has approved an application from the owner to turn the property into condominiums.

Satriale’s, which is one of the most popular stops, is slated to be whacked come August or September.

Manny Costeira, the owner of the building who leased it to HBO, is demolishing it to make way for nine condos and a garage, aptly named “Soprano Court.” 

If you don’t like pork or strippers, how about some pizza?

Pizzaland is an actual business. It is located a few miles south of Satin Dolls in North Arlington, and appears for about one second during the show’s opening credits. Despite never actually being in an episode, the neighborhood favorite saw pizza sales spike once the show gained popularity.

The surprise to owner Paul Pawlowicz was how big a slice of his revenues now comes from shipping pizzas nationwide.

“They get shrink-wrapped, put on dry ice, and shipped overnight,” Pawlowicz said as he pulled a steaming pie from the oven. “This week alone I’ve shipped pizzas to Texas, Louisiana and California, and I’ve sent 58 pies to a guy in Safety Harbor (Florida) this season alone.”

“Hey, it’s good pizza,” he says, then adds a line that would be right at home in an episode of the show: “Once I get a customer, I got ‘em for good.”

How about some dessert?   Holsten’s is the location where the final scene was shot.  Everyone wants to go there:

Business is booming at the diner where lead character Tony Soprano sat with his family in the controversial series finale.

Fans not only want to eat at Holsten’s (actually an ice cream parlor in Bloomfield), they want to sit in the same booth where Tony, the fictional New Jersey mob boss, played the Journey song, “Don’t Stop Believin’.”

“The phone just rings constantly all day from people wanting to make reservations,” said co-owner Chris Carley. “They ask `Can we reserve the booth? Can we get a T-shirt?’”

Carley, who watched the final scenes filmed there over two days, fields calls from fans wanting to talk about the ending. Customers who want to relive Tony’s last meal can buy some of the onion rings he raved about(for $2.50), but they cannot listen to the juke box, which was a prop for the show.

“It’s just so funny that people want to sit in that booth,” Carley said. “A lot of people are taking pictures.” 

So there you go.  Hop on over to New Jersey and begin your trip back in time when The Sopranos ruled the world.

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Entry Filed under: TV News