Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Mangos, longtime fixture on Las Olas Blvd., is sold
Mangos Restaurant and Lounge, a fixture on Las Olas Boulevard for 25 years, has been closed since being sold last week, but its landlord and former owner say the eatery will reopen after a revamping that may include a switch to Italian cuisine.
A notice posted on the door of the shuttered restaurant reads, “Mangos is under new ownership and will be closed temporarily for some minor renovations. We will be back soon better than ever!”
John Day, a longtime Fort Lauderdale restaurateur, says he and his partners sold Mangos and its liquor license on Jan. 24 to a group that includes veteran Italian chefs. Day says it’s his understanding that the new group intends to reopen the restaurant, at 904 E. Las Olas Blvd., and that some managers and staff will be retained.
The property’s landlord, Tim Petrillo, says the group met the criteria to take over the lease, which runs another six years. He says the new team includes Bruno Vaccari, a master sommelier; Alessendro Manzo, a chef and former owner of Pappa & Ciccia in Miami Beach; and Giuseppe Galazzi, a chef who has worked at Fontana at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. There was no answer at Mangos’ phone number on Monday, and I couldn’t reach anyone from the new ownership group for comment.
“We had a sweet offer, and a great run, so it was time,” Day, 72, told me in a telephone interview Monday.
In 2013, one of Day’s partners sold the Mangos land, but not the restaurant, to a group that includes businessman Steve Halmos and Petrillo for $5.6 million. Earlier that year, a deal to sell the restaurant to an Orlando-based group for $2.5 million fell through. Petrillo operates several high-profile Fort Lauderdale eateries as president of the Restaurant People, including YOLO, S3 and Tarpon Bend, but he will not have control of Mangos until the lease expires or is bought out. Petrillo said his group couldn’t complete a buyout of the lease with the previous owners.
A shift to fine Italian would be a radical change for a place that’s long been known for casual food, freeflowing drinks and live bands on the weekend. Mangos opened in 1992. Before that, the site was home to Poets bar and restaurant. Mangos’ front patio overlooks a trendy stretch of Las Olas Boulevard.
As rents and land values have risen, a number of restaurants along the Las Olas corridor have closed in the past year, including Cafe de Paris, Johnny V’s and Fork & Balls.