Meet LILGUY
July 30, 2026 · Jay De Natale
I had a pitbull named Gino. Hundred pounds, maybe more on a good week. Gentle, stubborn, took up the whole couch and knew it. I called him lilguy. The name fit in the way that names sometimes do.
Gino passed. Now I have Bruno. Also a pitbull. Also a thic boy. Also lilguy.
Some things carry forward.
Why the name
I went back and forth. Should I carry Abbot's Pizza forward? Why change? A huge success for two decades, yes it was fading but maybe I could bring it back. As I kept thinking about what this shop grows into, what it stands for, what it's called, LILGUY kept coming back.
It's an underdog name. A small shop name. A name that doesn't take itself too seriously. But mostly it's a name that already belongs to the two greatest dogs I've ever had. Gino and Bruno. That's a good association. That's the energy I want on this corner.
One of the few remaining independent local outfits on AK deserves a name that means something. This one does.
This isn't a well planned corporate rebrand. When cash frees up I spend it on updates. You'll notice week to week, lil changes. Exactly as it should be, step by step, everything good in my life came this way.
What's coming
Abbot's Pizza is becoming LILGUY. Not tomorrow, in the next few months. The sign will change, the name will change, and some things will stay exactly the same. The salad pizza stays. The BBQ chicken stays. The everything bagel crust stays. The corner stays. Selvin, Linda, Ryan, Carlito, Alvaro, Anthony, Zef, they stay.
What changes is everything that wasn't working. The name carried thirty years of history, some of it great, some of it not. The old Abbot's had been gone for a bit. I'm not interested in defending that version or being limited by it. LILGUY is the clean slate this shop deserves. It's true to me.
As long as I can be in this location, LILGUY is going to be the neighborhood joint Venice remembers and still needs. Thoughtful, straightforward, fun and of course delicious.
The rebrand is coming. Watch this corner.
- Jay