farewell Damian's
Historic Houston Italian restaurant will shutter after 41 years in Midtown
Damian's will close in August.
A historic Houston restaurant will soon serve its last meal. Damian’s Cucina Italiana will close on August 17, the restaurant announced on social media.
The brief statement from owners Bubba and Nancy Butera, Judy Mandola, and general manager Johnny B. Mandola reads as follows:
After 41 years of service, we at Damian’s Cucina Italiana sadly announce our closing effective August 17, 2024. We would also like to thank our loyal customers for your outpouring of support and comradery. We would like to thank our amazing staff, which is also our family, for all their hard work and dedication
It’s been a great ride. We will miss you all dearly.
Founded by chef and restaurateur Damian Mandola, Damian’s has been a Houston staple since 1983. At a time when most Italian restaurant served Italian American food, Damian’s offered a more upscale menu of northern Italian favorites such as risotto, osso bucco, and seafood dishes like Linguine alla Gamberoni — gulf shrimp with black garlic, basil, cherry tomatoes, and olive oil.
It quickly established a reputation as both a power lunch destination and a pre-theater dinner spot — complete with a shuttle to transport diners from Midtown to downtown. In addition, the restaurant featured a chef’s table in the kitchen that’s hosted countless special occasions.
Mandola sold the restaurant to his cousins Frankie B. Mandola and Bubba Butera in 1992. Frankie’s son, Johnny B. Mandola, remains the restaurant’s general manager.
Mandola tells CultureMap that Damian's never fully recovered from Covid-era shutdowns and the corresponding changes in people's dining habits. At a time when most restaurants close abruptly, he and Butera wanted to make sure that closed with dignity by paying their employees their full wages and proceeding with scheduled events in the restaurant's private dining room. He notes a few other motivations for the advance notice.
"Once we sadly decided we needed to close, Bubba and I wanted to make sure our amazing staff would have time to make proper arrangements and we wanted to spend more time with the people who worked so hard and cared for this restaurant family for the past 41 years," he writes in an email. "We also wanted to make sure we would be able to visit with so many loyal customers at least one last time and share some memories."
Long before he was a James Beard Award finalist and Food & Wine Best New Chef winner, Houston chef Bryan Caswell worked at Damian's as a bartender and captain. "That place instilled a love and respect for service that I still draw from today," he tells CultureMap.
Although trends and tastes change, CultureMap checked in on the restaurant for its 30th anniversary in 2013 and found that it was still popular, complete with a full dining room on a Wednesday night.
“Not lessened by age, the authentic Italian dining spot has not only survived, but thrived,” Marcy De Luna wrote. “And not by bowing to trends, but by offering consistently good service and delicious, high-quality fare. Reservations never lack and devotees never waiver. Damian's is a Houston institution.”
Even though the social media posts have only been online for a little bit as of this article's publication, Houstonians are already expressing their sadness at the news. People who grew up in Houston in the ‘80s and ‘90s will recall Damian’s as somewhere they dined with parents and grandparents for special occasions or before performances in the Theater District.
Damian’s is only the latest enduring Houston restaurant to close in 2024. Prego, a Rice Village staple for more than 40 years, served its last meals in May.
