Mario's father, Antonio Saggese, and grandfather Mariano Saggese opened Mario's Cafe in 1957 as Tony's Restaurant. They came with the wave of imigrants after the Second World War from a small fishing village of Cunano Verano just outside Foggia in southern Italy. The site was previously a butcher's lock up, owned by the Balfour Brothers and was soon converted into a local bustling coffee house, frequented by students from the North London Polytechnic.

1989 saw the next generation take up the challenge of running a busy workers cafe when Antonio's son Mario decided to give it another shot incorporating their Italian roots. They were the only workers cafes to have a proper cappuccino machine in the surrounding area. Within a couple of years Antonio went into semi-retirement which saw Mario's mum Carmella begin to play more of a role in the cafe. Cooking traditional Italian recipes that she had for years made her family saw the cafe evolve into the Anglo-Italian family run cafe that it is today.