It’s Sunday at 5 p.m., and the wait list at Little Toni’s in North Hollywood is already one hour and getting longer by the minute. Families, friend groups and couples are huddled in clusters, scrolling on phones or taking pictures of the Italian restaurant’s red signage that boasts a history dating to 1956.
They’ve all descended upon the triangle lot where Lankershim Boulevard meets Vineland Avenue for the same reason. Well, everyone except a 60-ish woman, Trisha, and her husband, who have been Little Toni’s regulars for 30 years and have no clue why their beloved haunt is so crowded on what appears to be an average Sunday.
“The food is good, but we were sitting here wondering, ‘Dang, what’s going on here?’ ” explains Trisha, who learned in real time that her favorite NoHo restaurant is now one of the most popular tourist attractions in the San Fernando Valley after being featured in Curry Barker’s Obsession, a horror movie that shocked Hollywood — in a good way — by raking in nearly $300 million globally off a $750,000 budget, making it the most successful release in Focus Features’ history.
“Is there anyone famous in it?” Trisha asks, shocked to hear the answer was no. “So, is everyone here to celebrate the movie or something?”
