Mangos restaurant and lounge, a fixture on Las Olas, closes

A Las Olas institution closed its doors last week after 25 years on the boulevard.

Mangos Restaurant and Lounge closed after owner John Day and his partners sold the restaurant and liquor license to a new group that includes master sommelier Bruno Vaccari and Alessandro Manzo, a chef and former owner of Pappa & Ciccia in Miami Beach, according to SouthFlorida.com.

The group took over the Mangos’ lease, which had six years remaining, and will likely reopen as an Italian restaurant, the Sun Sentinel blog reported. Mangos, known for its live music and drinks, opened in 1992.

An investment group led by Tim Petrillo, president of Restaurant People, and Steve Halmos bought the Mangos land at 904 East Las Olas Boulevard in 2013 for $5.6 million.

Other businesses have shuttered over the past year on the Fort Lauderdale boulevard, as rents and land prices rise. Those include Cafe de Paris, Johnny V’s and Fork & Balls, according to SouthFlorida.com. Commercial broker and investor Michael Comras plans to revitalize a four-block stretch of the corridor with new/renovated retail, restaurant and office space. The Comras Company was hired at the end of last year to handle leasing for three major property owners, which control about 90 percent of storefronts: Las Olas Companies, Barron Real Estate and Hudson Capital Group.

Major development is also underway for the area, including the Related Group’s Icon Las Olas and the Kolter Group’s 100 Las Olas. [SouthFlorida.com] –Katherine Kallergis