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Mannino's Restaurant: a taste of Margate history
• Good food, fair price, treat people well
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Thursday,
June 25, 2009
Vinnie Mannino moved to Margate with his Dad Joe, Mom Annette, and his two sisters back in the early 1970s. They came from the south side of Brooklyn, Mill Basin to be exact. The family opened Mannino’s in Margate’s Bell Plaza in 1974. The restaurant was an instant success, and people came from miles around to enjoy tasty Italian delights.
Vinnie was 12 years old when he made his first pizza.
“My Dad’s goal was to create flavorful food that would appeal to everyone,” Vinnie said, “The style of our marinara has always been light and sweet and without meat – just a little olive oil, garlic and seasoning.”
Thirty-five years later, Vinnie Mannino still makes pizza and serves Italian specialties in Margate, but now in two locations: Mannino’s on Coconut Creek Parkway, and his new store at 171 State Road 7, formerly known as Pizza King.
Oversize slices are two bucks at Mannino’s and a combo platter that feeds a family of four costs $20. Now that’s amore!
Those in the know remember Vinnie as the original owner of Pizza King, which he opened in 1995. “We jammed there,” he said, “three deep at the counter and three drivers.”
Vinnie sold Pizza King at the height of its success, but the restaurant, just like the original Mannino’s in Bell Plaza, was eventually run it into the ground by unsuccessful owners.
Six months ago, Vinnie bought Pizza King back, renamed it Mannino’s and has since tripled store sales.
“I saw that it [Pizza King] was getting ready to go out of business and I didn’t want to see it close,” he said, adding that people associate Mannino’s with good food, and the family name has developed into a well-known, beloved brand.
Since the Pizza King days, Vinnie has opened and sold “Vinnies Pizza” in Plantation and “Vincents” in Coral Springs – both successful. Why not name the restaurants Mannino's?
He couldn’t. Because when his dad sold the original Mannino’s in Margate he sold along with it the family name as part of the deal. But after being sold twice to the 'wannabe crowd' (one owner lost the restaurant to a gambling debt), the original Mannino’s eventually failed due to poor management and the family name returned to Vinnie.
“When I got the name back, I decided to open again in Margate, where our family started,” he said.
Vinnie’s secret to success is good food, a fair price and "I treat people well," he says. About 60 percent of his business is take-out and he aggressively markets his offers in local flyers and direct mail to attract 25 percent of the market he wouldn’t otherwise get. He just added a $9.99 early bird special to the menu: a choice of 30 entrees, soup or salad, garlic rolls, beverage and desert.
“I’ve got offers,” he said, “and people love ‘em.”
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Copyright Cassius Group 2009
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