Marco Mannino stands in Villa Mannino’s “Bistro Room,” on Oct. 8, 2009. The Bistro Room is a banquet hall built in April 2008. (Staff photo by Myles Ma.)
By Myles Ma
Marco Mannino has worked in the food industry since his father Giovanni had him fold boxes in Mannino’s in Chambersburg when he was 7. Giovanni taught his sons, Marco, Maurizio and Francesco everything about the restaurant business.
“He made us learn things from the bottom up,” Marco Mannino said.
Now, the three brothers have used that knowledge to run a restaurant of their own for almost 10 years. Villa Mannino, like the Chambersburg restaurant their father owned from 1972 to 1988, is a pizzeria, but it is also a sit-down restaurant and banquet hall.
The banquet hall and catering side of the business are the newest additions to Villa Mannino. The banquet facility itself was built in April 2008, and has already hosted a number of sweet sixteens and First Communions.
Just as the restaurant has three facets, the brothers divide up the responsibilities among themselves. Marco handles catering and banquets, Maurizio mans the pizzeria and takeout, and Francesco acts as the executive chef in the kitchen.
The arrangement makes for an efficient division of labor, and it also keeps the three brothers from getting in each other’s way.
“We get along, but we’re like any brothers,” Marco said.
The brothers are second-generation restaurateurs. Before starting their own place, they worked at their father’s restaurants in the area, first at the original Chambersburg Mannino’s, then at a Hamilton Square offshoot and finally at Mannino’s 4 in Hightstown, before opening Villa Mannino’s in 2000.
The Manninos wanted to be able to serve not just pizza, but classic Italian dishes like chicken parmigiana and vodka rigatoni, what Marco Mannino calls “comfort Italian food.” They also saw the potential of the area, just outside of Hamilton’s southern border.
When they first moved in, the Manninos saw an area that they thought would grow, and an outside observer would call them prophetic after seeing the big box stores and chain restaurants that have sprouted on the strip of Route 130 where Villa Mannino’s is located.
“We always felt that this area was underdeveloped and that eventually it would pop up,” Marco said.
Giovanni Mannino, aside from bringing them up in the restaurant business, helped the brothers when they opened the restaurant. And the Mannino name is still a draw.
“We get a lot of customers that my dad served (when they were) in high school,” Marco said.
Giovanni, an immigrant from Italy, has since retired. While Marco has made use of a life in restaurants, his sons won’t be folding boxes anytime soon.
“There’s no reason for them to get involved,” he said, adding that he worked out of necessity. But, he said, “The restaurant will always be there for them.”
Who knows? In 20 years, the area may have the opportunity to dine in a third generation of Mannino’s restaurants.
Villa Mannino is located at 73 US 130, Bordentown. Hours are Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday, 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. For more information, call (609) 298-9000.
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