Mangia Italian Grill & Sports Bar provides a big “wow” factor. Sitting on the second floor, diners can watch the boats gliding in and out of Ego Alley while partaking the restaurant’s delicious food. Mangia offers a variety of services. The first floor is dedicated to carryout, especially their house-made pizza. There’s an eye-catching bar on the second floor and more seating for dinner on the third floor.
There’s a lot more on the way in the future. “The upside of the restaurant is huge,” explains Mangia manager Sean Perdomall, noting major renovations slated for early 2020. “We will have pretty much everything you could ask for in a restaurant.”
In the meantime, the restaurant, in coming months, will add to its appeal by featuring trivia night, live musicians, karaoke night, and drink specials most evenings. “If residents don’t have something to do (during the week), they can think of us as a place to go to,” Perdomall says. “They know they are going to get good hospitality, good food, and a warm environment.”
We recently sat down with the 27-year-old Perdomall to talk about Mangia’s creative menu, what makes the restaurant different, plans for the future, and owner Diana Melgar, who bought the restaurant in December 2016 from the Priola family.
What is the best-selling dish?
I would say the Chicken Parmigiana. It’s a traditional Italian dish. It’s one of the main reasons people come in here. We get a lot of athletes in here, and they are looking to eat carbohydrates. It’s the perfect go to. It’s all in the sauce, and if you have a good one, people will continue to order it.
What are the other customer favorites?
Chicken Marsala. It’s really good. It’s made with Marsala wine and mushrooms in a great brown sauce and pasta. It’s really popular.
If you dine here and decide not to eat Italian, what do you recommend?
Our burgers are pretty good for an Italian place. They put prosciutto on it. It’s more like an Italian-style burger. It’s a go to. The Mangia salad is really popular. It has pine nuts, roasted peppers, and fresh mozzarella. You can get grilled chicken or salmon on it.
I know you are excited about the new special events. Do you expect trivia to be a draw?
Yes. We are going to do trivia again with drink specials. We used to have trivia. It was pretty popular. We had a lot of Navy people come in for it. It will give people something to do that is engaging with others.
What has the current owner brought to the restaurant?
For us to keep in mind that respecting customers is of the utmost importance, and providing good service and good food. She has been an entrepreneur most of her life. She owns one of the largest transportation companies in Peru with limousines, travel buses, and vans. When important people go there, it’s one of the companies they use.
What challenges did the owner face in taking over the restaurant?
Everybody knew the old owner (Maria), and they loved her. It changed hands, and we had to get her regular customers to stay or come back. But the excellent food stayed the same and the hard-working cooks stayed.
How are things different under the current owner?
We changed the interior. We have added paintings throughout the entire restaurant. The owner definitely felt she could add a different kind of touch to the upstairs. I think it adds authenticity to it. You get to see what an Italian landscape looks like at our Italian eatery.
There is a lot of Italian restaurants in the area. How are you different?
We have a really great location, and we standout through our food and service. We offer discounts. We make sure we ask the customers about their experience. I ask, “How did we do tonight?” We really want to get feedback instead of having to rely on reviews. We really make sure things look good whether it’s downstairs in the to-go area or dining upstairs.
What discounts do you offer customers?
We have Groupon. If the customers are local or from downtown, we often give out 10 percent coupons to come back for the next meal.
Can you talk about the expansion set for January?
It’s going to be a major remodeling. We are going to be shut down for a month or two. I have been here two years, and people still don’t know about the upstairs. The layout downstairs and because of carry out, it doesn’t show you can come upstairs. That is going to be addressed in the remodel. So, people come in and see the stairs immediately, and say, “Let’s go upstairs.”
