Back in 1988, my father, Rosario “Ross” Mittiga, a 44-year old immigrant from the hills of Calabria in Southern Italy, bought this bar. The bar was called the Cap-n-Cork Lounge and needless to say, it wasn’t much of a student hangout. The Cap-n-Cork was a local, smoky, blue collar kind of place.  My father wanted to get more student business and he knew some renovations were needed to give the bar a fresh start. With this risky endeavor, an undaunted Ross replaced the dilapidated wood façade with brick, added a bunch of new windows for natural light, and tore out the drop ceiling in the main bar exposing the beautiful, stamped tin ceiling original to the building during its construction in 1898.

Shortly after the renovations were complete, Ross was approached by representatives from Tri-Star pictures out of Hollywood, California. They proceeded to tell Ross all about this movie they were filming about a Notre Dame student who had a dream of playing football for the Irish and they needed to film a few scenes in a bar. Our bar would represent a bar named Corby’s that was located just southwest of campus and was a favorite hangout of the players during the 70’s.  They fell in love with our bar and a deal was made shortly thereafter. The director and writer of Rudy, David Anspaugh and Angelo Pizzo, respectively, also collaborated for the critically acclaimed film Hoosiers back in 1986. The deal they worked out was to close our bar for 2 weeks total. The first week would be spent remodeling and decorating the bar to their preference and the second week would by spent filming. Among the many blessings this film brought to our family business were also included the beautiful murals, painted on canvas in Hollywood, shipped to South Bend and currently adorn the walls of Corby’s. The largest mural, located on the East wall, represents the “Perfect Play” (for more info click here). Other art that they generously left behind includes the large Corby’s neon, all the placards behind the bar (Grace Hall, Fisher Hall, Play Like A Champion sign etc).

The Four Horsemen mural on canvas and the large “5th Quarter Souvenirs” placard on wood. All these pieces add a
tremendous authenticity, comfort, and character to the room and the bar as a whole.

In the end, Ross changed the name to Corby’s and was left with a bar that was given instant brand recognition and has since achieved landmark status with locals, students, and out-of-towners here for the big game. While Ross isn’t here as often as he used to be, he started a valuable tradition that we strive to continue. Ross and family thank all of the loyal customers over the years that have made this amazing story possible.