2 restaurants vie for Sinatra connection

NEW YORK, April 1 (UPI) -- Owners of two Italian restaurants in New York are in court this week, haggling over which one was the preferred hangout of the late entertainer Frank Sinatra.

Both Patsy's Italian Restaurant in Manhattan's theater district and Patsy's Pizzeria on Long Island are battling in federal court for the bragging rights to be known for having been a favorite of Sinatra's, the New York Post said.

Patsy's Italian Restaurant has claimed Patsy's pizzeria has "caused confusion" for patrons, while the proprietors of the pizzeria insist they secured rights to the name through a second, less famous Patsy's in 1933 -- 11 years before the Midtown Patsy's opened, the Post said.

Attorneys for Patsy's Italian Restaurant said they will call on the widows of Sinatra's fellow Rat Pack member Sammy Davis Jr. and actor Jackie Gleason to testify about what the restaurant meant to Sinatra.

"We usually ate at Patsy's late at night after a show with friends, such as Frank, Barbara and Nancy Sinatra," Altovise Davis wrote in court papers.

Meanwhile, lawyers for the pizzeria stated during opening statements Monday that Sinatra was also a fan of its pies.