In 1948, the Iavarone family began what has become a truly successful history of dishing up delicious cuisine for the Tampa Bay area. It was at that time that Carmine and Frances Iavarone decided to close their grocery store located at Highland and Buffalo Avenues (later renamed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) and reopen as the Carmine Restaurant. The menu consisted of American and Italian food. Hamburgers were a quarter, cuban sandwiches were 35 cents and Italian sausage on a roll was 30 cents.
   
    It was from this location that the formula for success was developed, and later carried on by Carmine and Frances' offspring, Gene, Carmine, Malio and Teresa to three other locations: Malio's Restaurant and Lounge at South Dale Mabry Highway and Azeele Street, Carmine's on Seventh Avenue in Ybor City and Iavarone's in north Tampa at Humphrey Street and Himes Avenue.

    Malio's closed the South Dale Mabry Location in January of 2005, with expectations to reopen sometime in the future in a different, more intimate location.
    While open, Malio's was a success story. The location sat 400, with 150 in the main dining area, 150 in the lounge and 100 more in a cafe. Malio and wife Shirley had sold their home and car in 1969, to buy what was then the Tropics from Mary LaBarbara. With $35 in the register, Malio's opened their doors and stayed open... for more than 3 decades.

    Carmine's on Seventh Avenue in Ybor City moved to that present location in 1989. It seats about 400 and serves up both lunch and dinner to its patrons. The video story below from 2001 features one of the patriarchs in the Iavarone family, who has since passed on... Gene.



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    And that brings us to Iavarone's Steak House and Italian Grill which opened in the early 1990s and continues to pack in dedicated and new patrons weekdays and weekends.