The Room
Damian Mandola opened his Midtown Italian-American restaurant in 1983 — the Mandola family-Italian institution that has aged into Houston's longest-running Italian-American dining room. Damian Mandola (a James Beard semifinalist and PBS-cooking-show host) is also the chef-partner of Carrabba's Italian Grill, but Damian's was the family's chef-driven flagship.
The dining room is unchanged from the 1990s renovation: white-tablecloth, leather banquettes, a long mahogany bar, framed Mandola family photographs. The Houston Heritage Restaurant designation recognises Damian's as one of the city's most-enduring institutions.
The Food
The menu runs Italian-American-classic. The pasta programme is hand-rolled in the kitchen daily — the seasonal-rotating ragù, the brown-butter ravioli, the cacio e pepe. The Italian-American secondi — the veal parmigiana, the chicken Marsala, the osso buco — run as the menu's spine.
Wine programme is heavily Italian. Cocktails are classic-Italian. Service is the family-restaurant register that the Mandola family has run for over four decades.
Best Occasion Fit
Birthday: Birthdays at Damian's are warm, family-Italian-American, candle-on-the-tiramisu affairs the Mandola family has hosted for over four decades.
Close a Deal: Damian's is the Midtown alternative to a steakhouse for a deal that wants the room to read as Italian-American-classic rather than corporate.
Team Dinner: The private dining rooms hold groups of twelve to twenty-four. The kitchen will run a set Italian-American family-style menu.