Brand-New Business: Mangia Un Buon Piatt

The owners of Mangia Un Buon Piatt, a new local Italian restaurant in the village, are quite literally inviting residents to come down and eat a good meal. Indeed, the establishment’s name, Mangia Un Buon Piatt, translates into, “Eat a Good Meal.”

The restaurant is family-owned and -operated by Maurizio Curto, his brothers Filippo and Roberto, and their mother Mariella. The family formerly owned two pizzerias, the last of which was transformed into a full-service, sit-down restaurant, and it hopes to duplicate the same success in Lindenhurst.

The four of them recently settled in the community, and opened the restaurant soon after.

“We love Lindenhurst and what it has to offer,” Curto said. “The beautification people [the Mayor's Beautification Society of Lindenhurst] do a nice job dressing up the public gardens, and the atmosphere is great.”

Business has been growing, Curto said, with customers enjoying the unique features of Mangia Un Buon Piatt.

“You don’t often see Italian buffets, so we decided to include one, in addition to a regular menu," he said. "The buffet consists of several Italian specialties, as well as a full salad bar."

Curto continued: “All meals are cooked to order, and a majority of the desserts are prepared on site. We make phenomenal fresh cannolis. The rest of our desserts come from a superb nearby bakery.”

Some of the most popular orders are the lasagna, the personal pizzas and the buffet. Mangia Un Buon Piatt also serves an extensive menu including hot and cold appetizers, soups, salads, heroes, panini sandwiches and pasta, meat and seafood dishes. 

The restaurant also covers the needs of burger lovers and children - with the requisite chicken tenders and macaroni and cheese - and is even set up to provide breakfasts.

“Yes,” Curto said, “we serve eggs and egg sandwiches, omelets, Belgian waffles and French toast. We offer a huge selection to our customers.”

Coffee, espresso and cappuccino are available to complement a dessert menu which includes New York cheesecake and tiramisu.

Customer satisfaction is also key, and the wide selection is part of the strategy to achieve that.

“We want customers to be satisfied with their meals and happy with the price,” Curto said. “In this economy, people are being careful, and we wanted to open a restaurant where people could afford to go out and have a good time without hurting their pockets.”

In addition to being a restaurant, Curto said: “We’re also a catering facility. We recently did in-house catering for the celebration of an employee’s 25-year anniversary. We did off-premises catering for a 50-person baby shower.”

The restaurant’s catering schedule currently includes several upcoming events, including a baptism, a pre-wedding party and some communions.

Mangia Un Buon Piatt is a member of the , too, Curto said.

“We want to be a contributing member of the Lindenhurst community," he said. "We’ve participated in the Chinese auction fundraisers of the elementary schools, and . We love it here, and we’re looking forward to serving our customers well."

The restaurant is located at 183 South Wellwood Ave., and can be reached at 631-225-2860.