Our History
1923
Galliano Vannozzi, the founder of GALLIANO, was born in San Giuliano Terme, Pisa, the 23rd May 1896. At the age of 14, he moved to New York, where he lived for 11 years together with his uncle’s family. In that period, he tried many different jobs: carpenter, mechanic, waiter and barista. In 1921 he planned to come back to Italy to get married and then come back to the USA. However, the bureaucracy problems of that time, forced him to stay in Italy longer than expected. He married his beloved Amalia and in 1923 they moved to Viareggio. With the money saved in the USA, they started renting a property on the Passeggiata and opened a bar-tobacco shop which he named after himself, GALLIANO.
1932
In 1932 Galliano purchased building permit in front of Hotel Excelsior in Viareggio, where he built the current premise. In the beginning life was tough, but thanks to his strong character and even stronger personality, he overcame this rough period. Vannozzi had to fight against some people, who were trying to block the construction of the premise. He was a man with no interest in politics, simply wanting to work on his new opened business. Apparently, during those hard times, it was almost impossible to lead a life free from the official and political matters.
1940s
After the war ended and the situation in Italy got more stable, people starting going on holidays and finding some peace by the seaside in Viareggio. That’s also when Galliano and his wife Amalia decided to keep on developing their bar with the help of their children: Enzo, Virginia and Franca. The daughters decided to follow their own paths, leaving Enzo in charge of family business. He started improving his business skills, learning from his father Galliano, and trying to find his own interests, which turned out to be the art of Gelato. The young Vannozzi got married to Licia, who was warmly welcomed to the family. She soon bore his 3 children: the oldest son Roberto, daughter Ornella and the youngest son, Galliano, named after Enzo’s father and the business itself.
1950s
The 50s brought big changes and innovative technologies from abroad that we wanted to introduce in GALLIANO. Unfortunately, city administration was not following worldwide spreading trends and created some problems for Vannozzi’s business. In 1952 Galliano, inspired by touristic resorts in South France, built the first veranda for his guest to sit and relax in. The city claimed that it was blocking road traffic and wasn’t easy on the eye (according to them it resembled chicken hoop house). They decided to withdraw the approval and in December of the same year, the veranda had to be demolished.
1960s
During the 60s Viareggio, alongside the entire Versilia region, was gaining popularity as the most important summer resort in Europe. That rapid popularity forced Vannozzi’s to restructure GALLIANO to become more suitable for the modern needs. Enzo, who replaced his father as the main manager in 1963, decided to break down some walls and change the interior design. The renovation was completed in 1964 and in March of the same year the inauguration took place. Ever since, GALLIANO was thriving and became a favourite place for many celebrities visiting Viareggio and surroundings from all over the country. It was a period full of new ideas, hard work and fast development. This economic boom reached its peak in the mid-60s and slowly started fading with the decade’s ending.
1970s
The decadence of Viareggio started in late 60s but hit the city hard during the 70s. The lack of policies regulating tourism and other administration problems, had forced the change in tourism industry. People began to prefer to come to Viareggio for a daily trip or, regular visitors who had their summer houses in the town, for a week or two instead of a month or two. In the mid-70s, after graduating high school, Roberto and Galliano sided their father in the management of GALLIANO, while Ornella chose to follow her own path. In 1977 the Vannozzi family opened a new ice cream shop in Marina di Pietrasanta. Roberto and Galliano together with their wives ( Deanna and Alessandra) started taking care of the new point, managing it, organizing supplies and providing professional customer services.
1980s
Roberto and Galliano became more and more involved in the administration of GALLIANO in Viareggio. In 1981 with the help of their father Enzo, Vannozzi brothers decided to invest in the future and try something completely new. They opened a new area in GALLIANO a restaurant serving basic dishes, that combined the most important values:, quality, speed, price and hygiene. GALLIANO BURGER was a perfect mix of fast food restaurant and Italian quality and style. It was the best solution for tourists in 80s, who wanted to have a quick bite that was tasty and filling. They could just grab a sandwich, hamburger or a salad and head to the beach, where they were relaxing all day. The innovation in GALLIANO was accepted by all family members, including the founder- Galliano Senior, who sadly passed away in 1985 at the age of 89.
1990s
The 90s began with a new renovation of the venue, which changed the look but not the wall structure, as the space layout that Enzo designed in 1963 was still optimal. The use of plasterboard reshaped ceilings and interior curves and the new lighting transformed the environment. The ice cream parlour was also completely renovated, with the use of the most suitable materials: steel, marble and glass. During the nineties, the pressure of new laws, especially European ones, gave way to continuous improvements to the premises and its appurtenances, up to the last works carried out between December 1999 and January 2000 to complete the adaptation to the most recent European and national regulations in force, together with a further intervention by the architect that made the premises brighter and more welcoming. In the meantime, in 1993, grandmother Amalia also left us, after 70 years spent in the café that she had helped build and grow, handing it down to her loved ones. After the death of its founders, the “Galliano” company has, however, continued to move forward and the Vannozzi family to grow. Started up by Galliano and Amalia, continued by Enzo and Licia, continued by Roberto and Galliano with their wives Deanna and Alessandra and their children Barbara, Elisabetta, Edoardo, Francesco and Leonardo (the fourth generation), the family now consists of 14 people including his sister Ornella, who returned to the family a few years ago, and his son Andrea. Today, Roberto and Galliano run the company while their father, who over the years has become an internationally renowned Master Gelato Maker, winner of two “Oscar dei Gelatieri Artigiani” awards and boasts a long curriculum of training and refresher courses held in Italy and abroad, devotes himself to making ice cream and all the preparations related to it, assisted by his daughter Ornella. Enzo Vannozzi also presides over the Accademia della Gelateria Italiana, an organisation of the highest level in the field of artisan gelato making of which he is a founding member and president since 1996.
2000s
The almost simultaneous death of Enzo and Licia (23 January and 16 February 2005) dealt a blow to the Vannozzi family, who took a long time to absorb it and fill the void, affective and professional, that had been created. Fortunately, the teachings handed down over the years by Enzo have served their children Roberto, Galliano and Ornella to carry on in the tradition, and have enabled them to set up a production full of new ideas, new types of ice cream and special, mouth-watering preparations in the field of “cold desserts”. In the pastry shop, then, the dedication and skill of Roberto's wife, Deanna, made it possible to expand and improve the offer. Starting from Enzo's recipes, Deanna has strengthened this department by producing new types of pastas, mignons, savouries and desserts with her own recipes. Customers responded very positively to this by flocking to the Galliano bar at all hours of the day for a coffee with a pastry or a rice or semolina pudding. The Vannozzi family's commitment to maintaining the historic bar at the highest level has been rewarded by the “Guida del Gambero Rosso”, which has included Bar Galliano among the best bars in Italy since 2005, praising its ice-cream parlour, pastry shop, restaurant and the level of excellence of its products and services. In particular, the rice pudding from the Galliano bar has, for years, been classified as “the best rice pudding on the Tuscan coast”.