‘Iconic’ restaurateur made his mark establishing beloved city eateries
Vincent Mandola, one of the pillars of a dynastic Houston restaurant family, is being remembered as a consummate professional, innovative restaurateur and dedicated family man. Mandola, who went by the family nickname “Bubba,” died July 19. He was 77.
Family members confirm that while Mandola contracted the COVID-19 virus in June, he died of heart failure at Houston Methodist Hospital on Sunday morning.
Mandola was the middle child of five who have left their mark on the Houston dining scene. He is survived by his four siblings.
His brother Tony created Tony Mandola’s Blue Oyster Bar and later Tony Mandola’s Gulf Coast Kitchen, which remains in operation on Waugh; his other brother
Damian launched Damian’s Cucina Italiana in Midtown, co-founded the original Carrabba’s and owned the former Pesce. Sister Rose married into the Carrabba family and her son, Johnny Carrabba, was a partner in the original Carrabba’s and currently owns the two original Carrabba’s,
Grace’s and Mia’s. Vincent Mandola’s other sister, Margaret Anne, is the only sibling not in the Houston restaurant business.
The Mandolas were Sicilian immigrants who moved to Houston in 1913, opened grocery stores and, two generations later, built game-changing restaurants.
Vincent Mandola opened his first Italian restaurant, Nino’s, on West Dallas in 1977. In 1984 he opened Vincent’s, followed by Grappino’s in 1996, all on the same Montrose site, creating a charming compound of family restaurants he ran with his wife Mary; their daughters Dana Corbett and Vinceanne Mandola are both involved in the business. He launched Pronto Cucinino in 2005, which now has two locations in Houston.
“Sometimes I think the word icon is overused, but he was iconic,” said Phyllis Mandola, the daughter of the legendary Houston restaurateur “Mama” Ninfa Laurenzo, who married into the Mandola family through her husband, Tony Mandola. “He comes from the generation that was old school and classic. It wasn’t about the latest trend, it was about selling and serving great food from family recipes. He was old school in the best way.”
Phyllis Mandola said that all walks of Houston life found their way to Vincent Mandola’s compound of restaurants marked by the founder’s dedication to customer service.
“This man got up and put on a pressed shirt every day of his life. He was impeccable,” she said. “When I say old school, every customer felt he was the most important person in the room with Bubba Mandola. It’s lovely to see how someone so loved touched so many people.”
Longtime Houston wine authority Guy Stout recalls that Vincent was one of his very first customers when he moved to the city in 1981 as wine distribution partner. “I was the new kid in town and we became friends. He appreciated good wine, good food and he loved people,” said Stout, a master sommelier. “The front of house is where he did his best work. He was always so friendly and gracious. ”
Chef Mark Holley of Davis Street at Hermann Park said he got to know Mandola during the 12 years he was executive chef at Pesce. Mandola found the time to patronize Holley’s restaurants, including the now closed Holley’s Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar in Midtown, which Holley opened after his turn at Pesce.
“He loved good food and he knew good food,” Holley said. “When it came to consistency, he made sure things came out of the kitchen they way they were supposed to.”
That dedication to consistency was one of the many things that Roz Pactor said she’ll remember about Mandola. “We had every significant anything — birthdays, anniversaries, my daughter’s wedding — there. It was always at Vincent’s or Nino’s,” said Pactor, the fashion and marketing consultant whose family, like the Mandolas, grew up in the East End of Houston where Italian families of their generation called home.
Pactor’s brother, the Grammy Award-wining vocalist Steve Tyrell, was like a brother to Mandola. They went to high school at St. Thomas and played sports together, said Pactor, adding that Tyrell dines at Nino’s whenever he visited Houston.
“He was a hard-working, hands-on, no-frills kind of guy,” she said of Mandola. “He was so personable. He hugged you, kissed you, and knew your names.”
Pactor added that Mandola brought the rotisserie chicken trend to Houston when he introduced them at Vincent’s in the ’80s. “I never thought he got enough credit for that,” she said. “Now rotisserie chickens are everywhere. I still think his rotisserie chickens are the best there are.”
Dominic Mandola, Vincent’s cousin, who runs Ragin’ Cajun with his father, Luke B. Mandola Sr., said Mandola was a pioneer, opening Nino’s in a section of town that “was no-man’s land 30 years ago.”
“Look at what he created over the years at that property,” Dominic Mandola said. “He kept creating with the times. He went from fine dining to casual service when he started Pronto. He was like an old-school Italian who went to work every day and knew all his customers. He was very successful because he was the face of the business.”
Johnny B. Mandola, a partner at Damian’s Cucina Italiana, recalls his cousin as a good cook who trained his staff on how to prepare
Italian fare to his specifications. He also was a commanding presence, said Johnny Mandola, whose father, the late Frankie B. Mandola, opened Damian’s with Damian Mandola.
“He was always very confident in what he was doing,” he said. “He always had a swagger about him.”
Vincent Mandola also was known for his sense of humor.
In a 2007 interview with the Houston Chronicle, he said this about his decision to become a restaurateur: “I had always wanted a business of my own. I was working with a food broker in town at the time and I thought the restaurant business would be fun to get into. Of course I woke up the next morning wondering, ‘What did I do?’ ”
Johnny Carrabba said his uncle had only one rival in the humor department — Johnny Carson. “He had the best dry sense of humor I’ve ever run across,” Carrabba said.
Today, though, Carrabba also recalls the restaurateur’s dedication to his business and his family.
“I was fortunate enough to work with my three uncles — Vincent, Tony and Damian. I learned everything from them but from my uncle Vincent not only did I learn to run a restaurant with style and grace, I learned two things: a work ethic and how to be a family man,” Carrabba said. “He worked countless hours but he worked for his family. He never missed a sporting event or school event for any of his six grandchildren. You always saw my uncle Vincent and my aunt Mary at every one of the school functions. Yes, he was a legendary restaurateur. But he was an even more legendary husband, father and grandfather.”
Mandola’s daughter Dana Corbett said that her father was hospitalized at Methodist for about two weeks. Because of coronavirus precautions, “he was there all alone. We were not allowed to visit,” she said.
But Mandola’s family was able to talk to him by phone. “They put a phone to his ear. We all got to say something to him,” she said. “I honestly feel he heard us and heard everything.”
Corbett said that her father, who was still going to work right up until the time he got sick, will be known for his pride, dignity, loyalty and faithfulness.
But the role he cherished more than that of restaurateur, was family man. “Family was the biggest thing in his life,” she said. “Everything he did was for his family.”
Public visitation will be 5 to 8 p.m. July 22 at Geo. H. Lewis & Sons funeral home, 1010 Bering.