Italian restaurant Stango’s closing in Glen Cove after 96 years
Spaghetti and meatballs at Stango's in Glen Cove.
Long Island will lose its oldest Italian restaurant when Stango’s at the Orchard in Glen Cove closes for good after dinner on New Year’s Eve.
This according to Helene Suozzi, wife of former Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi and a lead member of a team of investors who bought the 96-year-old neighborhood icon in 2012.
The pizza and pasta house was originally opened by Concetta and Frank Stango in 1919 in the Orchard neighborhood, home to many Italian immigrants.
Over the years, the Stangos’ daughter, Stella Stango Cocchiola, and her husband, Gabe Cocchiola, kept the place going, along with their sons, John and Gabe Cocchiola. In 1973, a fire gutted the place. “I was just a kid then, “ said John Cocchiola, who currently tends bar at the restaurant. “My father pretty much rebuilt it by himself, got the place going.’’ He added: “I think a restaurant has soul. There are wedding proposals here, wakes, first dates, pregnancy announcements, baby showers and more.”
The restaurant’s history has been tied in with many local families, the Suozzis among them. Tom Suozzi’s father worked there as a busboy in the 1930s. And, said Helene Suozzi, she and her husband ate there regularly when they were dating and, later, with their children, as did many local residents. Despite strong community ties, Stango’s was hard hit by the economy and, by 2012, the Cocchiola family decided it was time to close.
That’s when the Suozzis stepped in. “When we heard the place was going to close, we put together a team of investors and kept the tradition going for the next three years,” said Helene Suozzi.
When the restaurant — now called Stango’s at the Orchard — reopened in 2013, it had been fully renovated. It had a vintage look, with red checkered cloths and nostalgic photographs of local families. Most important, it had Stella Stango Cocchiola, a regular presence there. The revitalized Stango’s garnered a two-star Newsday review in 2013 with its focused menu of family favorites. But in 2014, the restaurant changed chefs and launched a more extensive, higher-priced menu. Then, this past January, Stella Stango Cocchiola died at the age of 98.
“With Stella not there, it wasn’t the same any more,” said Suozzi. “It was time to move on.”
“In all likelihood, we’re going to put the building up for sale,” said John Cocchiola.
