Mandola's Italian Kitchen Makes Its Florida Debut In Riverview

BLOOMINGDALE-RIVERVIEW, FL — Mandola's Italian Kitchen made its Florida debut in Riverview on Monday.

Some of its signature dishes include spaghetti and meatballs, chicken parmesan, Minestra Maritata (Italian wedding soup), Tortellini Modo Mio, Mandola’s Hero Panino and pecan pie gelato.

The new restaurant is a casual owned by Damian Mandola, a chef and co-founder of Carrabba's Italian Grill, and his wife and business partner, Trina Mandola.

The Mandolas have already established a Mandola's Italian Kitchen in Texas.

"We found that there was a need for an authentic Italian restaurant with good portions at a fair value in the fast growing Riverview area," the Mandolas told Patch in an email. "The Riverview community is so welcoming and people seem to be very grateful to have new restaurants in the area. And when looking for the perfect location, we realized that there is nothing like Mandola’s in the area, or the state for that matter."

As many entrepreneurs have experienced difficulties in either maintaining a business or opening one during the coronavirus pandemic, the Mandolas said their biggest hurdle was finding staff.

"We want to make sure our staff and our guests feel comfortable at all times in our restaurant, and we do everything in our power to ease their minds," the owners said. "Many guests and staff have commented on how thorough we are with our cleaning and sanitizing process, and they were grateful for that."

Mandola's, 12926 US Highway 301, is open every day from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The Riverview establishment is casual with 5,500 square feet of indoor seating, and an outdoor patio space that has 1,000 square feet for outdoor dining.

For more information about Mandola's, visit Mandola's Italian Kitchen.

This article originally appeared on the Bloomingdale-Riverview Patch