Growing up in LA (not that one.  The real one – the Lower Arctic section of West Warwick), I instinctively knew who the “cool kids” were.    They were the ones with the funny nicknames.   Names like “Tails” and “Gopher” and “Skully”.

Many years ago, when I heard the first radio commercial promoting “Iggy’s” in Oakland Beach, I just had to check it out.  I was certainly not disappointed.

Unless you are from the planet Saturn, or California (same thing), you’ve heard of Iggy’s.   And like me, you probably wonder how the founder, Gaetano “Guy” Gravino, got the nickname.

The mystery is solved.

When he was a young child, Guy’s son David, who is now President and CEO of Iggy’s RI, gave him the name because his license plate was IG-6 (we all know how we Rhode Islanders cherish low license plate numbers). 

David and his brother Guy, Jr. and sister MaryAnn started calling their dad “IG”.

It didn’t go-over well, with dad Guy chasing them around the house when they called him the newly minted nickname.

“IG” soon evolved into “IGGY” and now you know the rest of the story.   More on this later.

But this story is not about nicknames or license plates or chowder and clam cakes.

It’s really about family.   And old-time family values that in this day and age seem to have taken a back seat to different agendas.

It’s about hard work and determination, tradition, and above all family.

When “Iggy’s” burst onto the scene in 1989, with dad Guy purchasing a 1920’s era chowder shack in Oakland Beach, then called “Mrs. Gus’s Doughboys”, it immediately became a family affair.

Guy, wife Sally and all three children would do what it took to keep the small, unheated shack operating and growing.

Dave, who now runs Iggy’s (his sister MaryAnn is a partner in one of the many business units), got his start by washing dishes “in the shack”.

Not exactly a glamourous start, but for Dave, he was just starting to become an entrepreneur.

In High School (Toll Gate), he would go to BJ’s, buy candy in bulk, and sell them at school at a profit.

He also had multiple paper routes, grabbing up every available route that became available.

That type of work ethic paid off.

Iggy’s would start adding new menu items, chief among them their mom’s famous red clam chowder recipe, as well as hamburgers, hot dogs, French fries and meatball sandwiches.

It would soon be apparent that they needed more space, and slowly began the process of doing so.

In 1994, during his Senior Year at Johnson & Wales University (where Dave would receive an associate degree in culinary arts and a bachelor’s degree in business), tragedy struck the family.   Dad Gaetano would lose a battle with cancer.   But before he passed, he asked Dave to keep the shack open.   Dave of course put his ambitions to further his education and work for a large hospitality company on the shelf and honor his father’s wishes.

So, he got to work with the help of his family.

Along the way, Dave would be joined by his two children, David Jr. and Gianna, who would work summers and school vacations at the restaurant, as well as his sister MaryAnn’s children.

The small 1920’s “refreshment shack” that was built at the front of the “Wiz Coaster” in the then entertainment district of Oakland Beach, would evolve into “Iggy’s Doughboys and Chowder House”, “Iggy’s Creamery” and “Iggy’s Boardwalk Lobster and Clam Bar”, eventually adding “Iggy’s Doughboys and Chowder House” on Point Judith Road in Narragansett in 2000.

And, almost forgot, add the mobile Iggy’s that you will see at various locations like the Rocky Point summer events, and most recently “take home Iggy’s”, which are packaged favorites like clam cake mix, doughboy and pizza mix, seafood mix, and canned clams and chowder, appearing in over 230 supermarkets across New England.

According to Dave, aka Iggy (yes, he like his dad is called Iggy by lots of people), the “take home Iggy’s” happened by accident.

He said, “people would come up to the window and say, “I’m from Florida, or I’m from the Midwest and ask, “can I have some flour or mix that you use for the clam cakes to take home with me?”   “So, I decided to start packaging it.”

Like everything Iggy’s, it was a big success.

So successful as a matter of fact, that Iggy’s was voted “the Best Chowder in the Country” by the CBS Early Show a few years ago.

And who could forget how Iggy’s plate of calamari stole the national spotlight during the 2020 Democrat National Convention?

Rhode Island Democratic Party Chairman and State Representative (Warwick-Cranston District 19) Joe McNamara had a blast with this one.  He said:

“The Rhode Island Democratic Party picked Iggy’s to represent Rhode Island’s iconic clam shacks because of its wonderful products and beautiful view of the bay. The motivation behind the production was to promote both Rhode Island’s $65 million squid industry and to highlight our fantastic seafood restaurants." He continued, “The day after the production, I walked out to pick up my daily newspaper and my neighbor said, ‘Hey Joe, you’ve gone viral!’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He responded, “Rhode Island style calamari received 200,000 hits last night and you are in every newspaper in the nation. Also, the domain ‘Rhode Island: The Calamari Comeback State’ has already been registered.' I was very surprised that it received that much coverage, but what really excited me was when Jimmy Fallon replayed it on The Tonight Show and then did a skit imitating me on the beach at Iggy’s. The question that I still receive very often is ‘How much did Iggy’s pay you to promote their business?’ My response is always the same: ‘There was no squid pro quo included.’”

 With their vast holdings stretching down Oakland Beach Avenue, it’s easy to see that Dave’s dream of creating an “Atlantic City type atmosphere” has worked.

Not to miss a beat, he is also contemplating franchising his concept nationally.’

 Over their 35 years in business, the Gravino family has employed thousands of people, and have been good neighbors and patrons of the community.

For instance, at Christmas time they hand out gift cards to needy families.

They partner with Bishop Hendricken High School to provide hearty Thanksgiving dinners to anyone in need, and they honor our great veterans by providing a free breakfast to any veteran during Veterans Day.

They also help countless charities.

David Gravino and family are driven by bedrock principles.

Accordingly, he says “you have to be passionate about what you do   You have to love what you do.  People always ask me why I am so happy?   It’s easy.   I love what I do, and if you can find that you will be successful.”

He also refuses to take credit for his success.

Rather, he heaps praise on his family, his management team and the hundreds of people who work in various positions year-round at Iggy’s.

 And oh yes, about that license plate.

When Dave’s dad passed, the plate was eventually issued to someone else.

Dave spotted the plate a few years ago and asked the woman who was driving the car if she would part with it – telling her the story of Iggy’s.

The woman promised him that when she retired, she would gladly give him the plate.

A couple years ago, she kept that promise and today, IG-6 is attached to David’s car.

A simple remembrance that above all, family matters the most