Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Piazza Italia opens in old Mangos site
New owners, new concept … and this time a new name for a familiar old spot on Las Olas Boulevard. Piazza Italia has partially opened at the former site of Mangos, a popular restaurant and watering hole for 25 years that failed quickly last year after a reboot as a South Beach-style club with Italian cuisine.
Piazza Italia is something different for Las Olas, its owners say, with an Italian “town square” theme and multiple dining options that make it more than a typical Italian restaurant. Piazza Italia is opening in stages this month and will eventually be a 3-in-1 destination.
A casual eatery/cafe known as the Piazza featuring a bar and backyard “vineyard” veranda had a limited opening this past weekend. An area known as the Market with an espresso bar, gelato, paninis, salads, cured meats and other Italian products is scheduled to open later this week. And a formal dining room known as the Venetian room (dinner only) will open later this month.
“We’ve still got some kinks to work out, but so far people are really enjoying it,” owner Frank Talerico says.
Piazzas are the bustling town squares that form the heart of Italian cities, not to be confused with pizza or pizzerias. Talerico and partner James Tomecsek say the inspiration for Piazza Italia is the Piazza San Marco in Venice. They say it’s only fitting that Fort Lauderdale, dubbed the Venice of America for its waterways and canals, now has its own piazza.
“It’s not a food hall,” Talerico said in an October 2018 interview. “We are creating an authentic Italian experience that will immerse our guests in cuisines from different regions ... We want to make our guests feel like they are with family in Italy.”
Talerico and Tomecsek also operate the Ocean Manor Beach Resort in Fort Lauderdale and its Casa Calabria restaurant.
Whether Las Olas, Fort Lauderdale’s premier shopping and dining corridor, wants or needs more Italian eateries is unclear. Piazza Italia, at 904 E. Las Olas Blvd., is within a meatball’s throw of Louie Bossi, Caffe Europa, Noodles Panini and Luigi’s Tuscan Grill. Timpano Italian Chophouse and still-underconstruction Tuscan Prime are a few blocks west.
Talerico and Tomecsek bought into Mangos last year, after a group headed by an Italian restaurateur shuttered the property four months after reopening as an Italian restaurant and nightclub following a oneyear renovation.
The original Mangos, which lasted 25 years, featured live music and a casual, boozy vibe with a Florida-Caribbean menu of burgers, fish sandwiches and wings that was popular with tourists and locals. Owner John Day sold it in January 2017.
“Mangos — at one time it was a nice spot, but it’s had its day,” Talerico said in October. “After two different owners and two closings we figure we’re better off starting over and going in a new direction.”
Piazza Italia has a lease that runs through 2024. The property is owned by Fort Lauderdale businessman Steven Halmos and The Restaurant People
(restaurateur Tim Petrillo, developer Alan Hooper), which approved the lease takeover by Talerico’s group.
Piazza Italia, 904 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, 954-533-7130, ThePiazza Italia.com. The Piazza/Vine yard, now serving lunch and dinner, open 11 a.m.-1 a.m. daily (until 2 a.m. FridaySaturday, kitchen closes at midnight daily). The Market is expected to open later this week 7 a.m.-10 p.m. daily (until 11 p.m. Friday-Saturday). The Venetian Room (dinner only) is expected to open later this month, 5-10:30 p.m. daily (until 11:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday.)