Today, brothers Tony and Michael Panza operate a wildly successful Italian restaurant on South Broadway. But over the course of the last century, numerous establishments have borne the name Panza’s—so many, that Saratoga Lake was once described in a newspaper article as “a body of water surrounded by Panza’s.” None of the family’s establishments, which date back to a bakery that Tony and Michael’s great-grandmother, Theresa “Ma” Panza, operated in Mechanicville in 1897, was more famous than Panza’s Starlight Room.
Operating on Saratoga Lake from 1938 to the 1980s, when it became known as Panza’s or Panza’s on the Lake, Panza’s Starlight Room was more than a restaurant—it was a place to see and be seen. “Back before social media, there was Jeannette Jordan’s society column in the Saratogian,” Michael says. “Panza’s was in those, like, every week.” It was also a place to see live music. Jazz pianist Gap Mangione once took a break from his meal to perform for the room, and popular local band the Dave Jarvis Quartet had a summertime residency there. Another band to grace the stage was the Carmine DeCrescente Trio.
Yes, that Carmine DeCrescente…