Sebastian “Sabby” Wordell sits comfortably in the dining room area of the business his grandfather started 100 years ago this year and reflects on how a proud Sicilian who immigrated to America began living the American dream.

Located at 260½ Wood St., the Wood Street Café is marking its 100th anniversary this year, and as Wordell explains, things have gone better than anyone could have imagined.

“My grandfather, Sebastiano Cannizzaro, was a hard-working Sicilian who came to this country with visions of grandeur,” he said, his face lighting up with pride with each passing account of his grandfather’s rise to prominence. “He started this business with his wife, the former Francesca Bruno, at this same location on Wood Street on Jan. 8, 1923. It was just a cafe back then. No liquor was served.”

As the story goes, in December of 1934, Mr. Cannizarro applied for a liquor license, which was granted, enabling the Wood Street Café to become a neighborhood bar. Now, it’s believed to be the oldest, continuous family-owned bar business in the state of Rhode Island.

According to Mr. Wordell, during those years from a restaurant standpoint, a crab meat sandwich at the Café cost 15 cents, a far cry from today’s prices.

“My grandfather was also into real estate and he owned a lot of property,” said Wordell. “He was a very intelligent man who was well-respected in this town.”

Sabby’s own father, Frank, ran the business following the death of Sebastiano, and then his mother, Madeline Wordell, who was working as an accountant at the local Kaiser Aluminum plant, quit her job when her husband passed away and took over the everyday operation at the Café in the mid-1950s with her sister, Angela Gayer.

“I was lucky to have parents who really cared about this business,” Sabby offered. “They were very special, not only to me, but a lot of people in this town.”

When Sabby Wordell looks around the confines of his business, he knows the hard work which goes into its everyday operation.

“I’ve been involved in this business my whole life,” he said. “I’m 65 years old now, and I can’t believe I’ve been a bartender here since I was 18 years old. I ran the everyday business with my mother for 10 years and when she passed away, I took over everything. To think, I’ve been here now for 47 years. It’s amazing. It never gets uninteresting.”

Aside from great food and drink, Wood Street Café has had its fair share of presenting quality entertainment as part of its heritage. Among the many acts the Wood Street Café has featured was the musical talents of Freddy Komiega of the rock group “Trinity,” which has appeared a number of times at the Café.

“The Wood Street Café is where I started my music career in the early 1970s, when Madeline was there,” said Freddy. “Sabby was also my best man at my wedding. So you see, I have special memories with the Wood Street Café. This has always been a fabulous place to perform. Everyone is so accommodating and very appreciative every time we appear here. A lot of local musicians have appeared there for many, many years. It’s been a great place for people to hang out.”

In conjunction with Wood Street Café’s 100th anniversary, a brand new business sign was commissioned by Tony Depoto of Handmade Signs, and it currently hangs proudly in front of the building.

“Tony did such remarkable job for us,” Sabby noted. “This sign is amazing.”
Married for 41 years to the former Barbara Ormond, the Wordells have one son, Sebastian, 39, of Connecticut.

At the conclusion of this interview, Sabby sat back in a relaxing posture and professed, “We’re just a neighborhood bar, but that’s all we want to be...and we’re good at it.”