Johnny Marzetti originated in Columbus, Ohio, at Marzetti's, an Italian restaurant established in 1896 at Woodruff Avenue and High Street by an Italian immigrant named Teresa Marzetti.[3][4] One of the dishes Marzetti offered her customers was a baked casserole of ground beef, cheese, tomato sauce, and noodles that she named for her brother-in-law, Johnny.[5] Teresa Marzetti was the first person to serve the casserole Johnny Marzetti in a restaurant.[6] Proximity to the nearby Ohio State University helped the first restaurant succeed and spread Marzetti's fame.[7]
By the 1920s, it had become popular across Ohio and the Midwestern United States. The original restaurant closed in 1942, but a second location, opened in 1919, remained in operation until Teresa Marzetti died in 1972.[8] Marzetti's later became known for various salad dressings, which are still produced under the T. Marzetti Company label.
Johnny Marzetti also became a popular dish in the former Panama Canal Zone, where Zonians referred to the dish as "Johnny Mazetti".[9]
In Season 3, Episode 18 of Gilmore Girls, "Happy Birthday, Baby", Johnny Marzetti casserole is referred to as "Johnny Machete", a dish [10]Richard Gilmore's grandmother made for him when he was feeling sad.[11]
