40+ YEARS IN THE VALLEY

In 1964, Frank and Agnes Mancuso moved their family from New York to Phoenix. They had no restaurant experience, but Agnes's dream was to open a dessert parlor. A few years later, in 1969, the family debuted Fran's Italian Fruit Ices, named after their daughter. They borrowed $1,000 from Agnes's parents and opened with only a few bar stools and tables and 10 different flavors. After many suggestions from their customers, the Mancusos expanded their menu and opened a full-fledged restaurant called Fran's Italian Gourmet Dining, using Agnes's own recipes and sauces inspired by her heritage in northern Italy. They moved their concept in 1974, opening a restaurant that was an homage to the Old World. The family kept their downtown location for more than a decade while opening up other restaurants around Phoenix and California throughout the '80s, including the award-winning Mancuso's at the Borgata in Scottsdale in 1982. Mancuso's at the Borgata became the Mancusos' longest-running restaurant until the castle-like banquet hall was torn down in 2005, due to the Borgata's renovation plans, which included closing the Mancusos’ adjacent restaurant Frankie's Patio Cafe. Since then, there have been Mancuso restaurants throughout the valley with different names, including Bobby's, Frankie's Little Italy, Skinny Italian Kitchen, and Mancuso's. The Mancusos' restaurants have been family owned and operated from the start. Frank and Agnes's children, Fran and Bob, worked at the restaurants while working on homework in between shifts as adolescents and have continued on through taking over the business when their father Frank passed in 1993. Many other family members have helped with the business over the years. And now, six decades after opening their first concept, Frank and Agnes’s grandchildren have taken on the family's legacy as managers at their Italian inspired restaurant in the heart of downtown Phoenix on Washington and 3rd street.