Why is the Dago Mary's restaurant in San Francisco said to have a controversial name?

I'm 'Dago Mary's' great-granddaughter. Her real name was Domenica Ghiorzo (not 'Ghiozo' as stated in the menu and most newspaper articles).

'Dago' was a derogatory term for Italian immigrants, especially in the 20's and 30's, although many Italians used it themselves as a joke. Hence the controversy.

Contrary to popular belief, she didn't name her restaurant 'Dago Mary's'. While she owned it, it was called 'The Venetian Villa'. She died in 1949, and the restaurant, which is on the grounds of the Navy shipyard at Hunter's Point, became a Petty Officers club. When the Navy closed the shipyard in the early 70's, the building was sold and re-opened as a restaurant. It was named 'Dago Mary's' by the new owner, who had worked at the Venetian Villa in his youth.

Would she have minded? I don't know. Probably not, or at least not too much. I do know that she was known throughout the city by that nickname during her lifetime. She once had a letter from a Navy sailor in the south Pacific delivered to her at the Venetian Villa addressed simply: "Dago Mary, San Francisco".

Dago is a derogatory name used to describe Italians or Americans of Italian descent. I don't like the name, but the food is good at this restaurant. You usually won't hear that word used, except in the northeast, and only by total bigots. I lived in California for over 20 years and never heard any of the names usually associated with Italians. I think in this case, it's used just to let people know that it's an Italian restaurant. Oh, by the way. if you visit San Francisco, don't call it "Frisco". It's San Francisco or just referred to as "The City". It's an exceptional city and has a great Italian section.

Dago Mary's closed yesterday!

Dago is not Politically Correct. But at the time, that's what she was called and that was the name of the restaurant.

Dago, Wop, Guinea and a thousand other non-pc names are pretty much gone from our vocabulary, but Dago Mary's will live on forever.

I didn't know there was a place called Dago Mary's. I grew up in Little Italy in Toronto- dago is the same thing as wop, a disparaging slur against Italians. So Dago Mary is like saying Mary the wop.

"Dago" is a very derogatory word for Italians, just like "wop" - an acronym for Without Papers - meaning illegal immigrants fleeing the wars in Europe. As with other ethnic groups, we (I'm Italian) will sometimes call ourselves these names in a tongue-in-cheek way, but we find it extremely offensive for outsiders to use these terms for us, or to mis-pronounce "Eye-talian" as Archie Bunker used to do. Our parents and grandparents remember the days of early Italian immigrants in the US when those terms were first used, during WWI and WWII, when Italians lived in ghettos and it was difficult for Italians to attend schools or get work that paid a decent living wage. There would be signs in stores and apartments that said "No Dagos Allowed." In St. Louis , MO, a city that is still very racially and ethnically segregated and where many still consider Italians to be "colored", they call the segregated Italian section of town "Dago Hill."

The term "dago" is said to be a derogatory term toward Itialian immigrants from several decades past. It seems that the origional owner of the restaraunt kind of turned the tables on persons that might have used it in hate. Not so different than many African Americans using similar terms against their ethnicity or cultrure as a way of taking back control so to speak. Many hispanic immigrants have similar slurs leveled at them.

Ask someone of the Eye-talian extraction...it was an "insult" nickname for Italians; like Wop. Often used in combination:

Dirty low-down Dago-Wop.

since mary named it dago mary's after herself in this instance its an endearing term she loved it and so did the mostly italian city politicos

she was a grand lady

Fisherman's Wharf is tourist hell. No proud San Franciscan with a first rate palate is going any the place close to that area of city. the guy above with lists of eating places is a thank you to pass.

"Dago" is a slur term for Italians, thus the controversy