The neon sign on Vinnie’s Restaurant and Nightclub is hard to miss: The huge letters that spell “Vinnie’s” periodically change color, from purple to red to yellow to white.
Sixteen months ago, when it was called Emilio’s, the restaurant was destroyed by a fire that started after the business’ neon sign toppled over during Tropical Storm Gordon.
“It was bad luck,” said Lisa Farace, manager of the two-month-old renamed restaurant, and daughter of owner Vincent Napolitano.
The business, at 2101 S. University Drive in Davie, originally was named Vinnie’s Restaurant when Napolitano opened it in 1983. It was sold in 1990.
The new owners kept the name Vinnie’s, but by 1992 the restaurant was in bankruptcy. Napolitano got the restaurant back that year, but changed the name to Emilio’s, naming it after his father, to let customers know that a change in ownership had taken place.
Farace said it wasn’t difficult for her and her father to get the restaurant’s business back to how it was before it was sold. But the fire, on Nov. 14, 1994, forced the restaurant out of business.
“This was our life, our investment,” Farace said.
Father and daughter rebuilt the restaurant and changed the name to Vinnie’s because they thought the name Emilio had brought bad luck.
They installed a dance floor, changed the decor from burgundy walls and wood tables to white linen tablecloths and mirrors on almost every wall.
Even though the bar is twice the size and there is live music on weekends, the menu and food have stayed the same.
Napolitano, the executive chef at Vinnie’s, learned how to cook when he owned restaurants in New York.
“I learned through the years from watching all the chefs I had,” Napolitano said. “Then I’d go home and have the family taste what I made.”
Napolitano suggests the grilled veal chop, which is served with a veal stock sauce that complements the veal, a garden salad and choice of potato for $24.95.
Other menu items include pasta dishes such as penne ala vodka, which is a tube shaped pasta tossed with prosciutto, garlic, vodka, scallions and a tomato cream sauce for $13.95, and is served with a garden salad.
The restaurant offers chicken ala Vinnie, a boneless chicken breast sauteed with mushrooms and marsala wine and topped with ham and mozzarella cheese for $13.95 and is served with a salad and choice of potato.
Vinnie’s Restaurant and Nightclub (475-2006) is open Mondays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. The bar is open until 4 a.m. seven days a week.
