GRETNA, La. — “It’s my favorite place,” Tony Mandina, Founder of Tony Mandina’s Italian restaurant, said.
Table 41 is where Tony and Grace Mandina have eaten dinner every night for years.
It’s a table they’ve shared with friends in the restaurant where they raised their family.
“I have the three best girls in town,” Mandina said.
Engaged after just two weeks of dating, the Mandinas opened their doors and their hearts to their community in Gretna forty years ago.
“It took a lot of convincing, and finally, I broke her. Then we held hands and started skipping,” Tony Mandina said.
“I don’t think my crying was skipping,” Grace Mandina said, laughing.
Their three daughters have been with them every step of the way. Their daughter, Kolette Mandina Ditta, took over the family business five years ago.
“This is all I’ve ever known,” Kolette Mandina Ditta, Owner of Tony Mandina’s, said. “It’s who I am.”
Now, she says it’s time for her family to embark on a new journey.
“My daughter Lindsey is expecting, and she’s due in a month and that’s part of the new chapter,” Ditta said.
The family’s legacy will live on in grocery store shelves across Louisiana.
Another Italian spot will soon open in their place. The Mandinas hope to be seated at table 41.
You still have time to eat at Tony Mandina’s. The restaurant is taking walk-ins through this Saturday.
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