Veteran Dallas restaurateur Larry Lavine will expand Mandola’s Market out of Austin

by Teresa Gubbins

DALLAS — Veteran Dallas restaurateur Larry Lavine, best known for having created Chili's Bar & Grill, has sold Red's Patio Grill in Plano so that he can focus on launching a new fast-casual Italian-market concept founded in Austin called Mandola's Market.

He plans to open a branch of Mandola's in Dallas by the end of 2009.

"It's like going into an Italian market," he says. "You can get a bottle of wine, cookies, bread, pasta from Italy, and you can also sit down and eat."

He sold Red's to Avery Dickens, a restaurateur from Louisiana.

"We knew we had Mandola's and we wanted to give it all the attention we can," he says. "He'll be there night and day to give it a personal touch that I just couldn't do. We got a great offer on Strong's and the same thing happened with Red's."

Strong's Everyday Tavern closed at the end of 2008 and the space is now the site of the new Nick & Sam's Grill.

Mandola's, which opened three years ago on Guadalupe Street, might at first resemble Eatzi's to the uninitiated eye. But aside from its distinctive Italian focus with housemade pastas, gelato, and more, Mandola's also has a more serious sit-down area for on-site dining.

"It's by the guy that founded Carraba's," Lavine says. "He had this dream of building an Italian grocery where you could go and in one spot find pizza, pasta, gelato, dried pasta, like going into an Italian market. He didn’t want to take the time and energy to expand it, but we think it has a lot of potential."

Eventually, he'd like to put "five or six" outlets in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

"We hope to have one open by the end of the year -- it depends on how quick we find a location," he says. "You’re going to see why, the food is very good and [the concept] has a lot going for it."