Leo's in Bristol: 16 years of serving family recipes

Owner dismisses closing rumors, prepares for 16th birthday celebration with classic dishes

By Victor Paul Alvarez
Posted 4/21/16

Mario and Paul Mancieri opened Leo's Ristorante on Valentine's Day, 2000. Formerly the Golden Goose, the restaurant at the corner of Hope Street and Church Street has seen its menu and footprint grow in the last 16 years. Tonight, they'll celebrate that birthday by bringing back some old favorites from their first years in business.

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Leo's in Bristol: 16 years of serving family recipes

Owner dismisses closing rumors, prepares for 16th birthday celebration with classic dishes

Posted

Mario and Paul Mancieri opened Leo's Ristorante on Valentine's Day, 2000. Formerly the Golden Goose, the restaurant at the corner of Hope Street and Church Street has seen its menu and footprint grow in the last 16 years. Tonight, they'll celebrate that birthday by bringing back some old favorites from their first years in business.

Diners can expect classics such as Italian baked fish and Spaghetti alla Gina. The Gina sauce, named for Mario's mother, is a sweet pasta sauce that goes well with chicken and veal. It's a fitting tribute to the opening days of the restaurant. When they opened in 2000, Mario and Paul (father and son) channeled the vision of Pantaleone "Leo" Mancieri and his wife, Gina – their respective parents and grandparents – who opened the original Leo's on State Street in 1948.

"We're going to have some fun here," Mario told The Phoenix in a 2000 article.

He was right. The restaurant, now operated solely by Paul, has seen a lot of fun in the last 16 years. On Tuesday, Mario reflected on his son's achievement and the connection to the original Leo's from 1948.

"It was like having friends and relatives for dinner. Each day we would be called out from the kitchen by friends and strangers to hear a story about their memories of Leo's," Mario said.

He went on to call Leo's a labor of love, fun and accomplishment. But there shave been struggles, too. Route 114 changes three years ago eliminated significant parking spaces in the area. A collapsed roof shut the restaurant down for ten weeks. Recently, rumors of a relocation or closing have made their way around town.

"We're here. We're not closing. We're looking to the future," Paul said Tuesday morning before opening for lunch.

He hopes his regular customers will join new diners to enjoy the classic menu items he'll run this weekend in honor of the restaurant's Sweet Sixteen. One classic that will not return is the designation banning lone men from the dining room at the original Leo's in 1948. At the time, the dining room was for couple's only.

"No stags," read the sign.

Bristol, Leo's Ristorante, Mario Mancieri, Paul Mancieri, Victor Paul Alvarez

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.