It started with a small pizza counter and a sauce that refused to be ordinary. Fifty years later, Lynora’s has grown into a South Florida institution, built on generations-old Italian recipes and a signature San Marzano tomato sauce that still anchors the menu today. Second-generation owner Angelo Abbenante now helms five full-service restaurants and one fast-casual spot from Boca Raton to Palm City—with a Melbourne outpost slated to open this month and more on the horizon through 2027—always with an eye toward honoring what his parents built.
“They hit it out of the park pretty fast,” Abbenante says of his parents, Raffaele and Maria, who immigrated to the United States from the small Italian island of Ponza. In June 1976, they opened the first Lynora’s, serving pizza by the slice out of an 800-square-foot storefront on Lake Worth Road. “Within two years, they outgrew the space and opened a 60-seat restaurant across the street, which is where my mother began making all the classic dishes that she learned from her own mother, Lynora, the restaurant’s namesake: meatballs, lasagna, pasta, eggplant, etc., all centered around our homemade tomato sauce, which remains a signature.”
To mark its milestone anniversary, Lynora’s is currently rolling back pricing on rotating classic dishes to 1976. For August, expect rigatoni with Maria’s famous meatballs, followed by chicken Parmesan in September and rigatoni alla vodka in October.
PBI recently visited with Abbenante to learn more about the anniversary and the Lynora’s legacy.
PBI: What makes Lynora’s so unique?
Abbenante: Time-honored traditions and family recipes—including our sauce, which is made with tomatoes imported from the same purveyor near Naples that we’ve always used and slow-simmered for eight to 12 hours. But more than that, Lynora’s is an extension of our family. It’s our home. It’s where we spend holidays, and people feel that.
What fueled you to take charge after your parents retired in 2008 and open a new location on Clematis Street?
I was determined to bring our family’s legacy into a new era by combining our classic dishes with a more modern restaurant experience. My parents came here to build a better life for us and probably imagined we’d become doctors or lawyers. But what we learned in the restaurant about never compromising on quality was just as valuable. That’s what’s driven our success.
I understand your parents are regulars there and still involved.
Yes, it’s in their blood. My dad loves visiting with guests, while my mom can’t keep away from the kitchen, where she talks with the chefs and offers her guidance.
How have you preserved the family’s recipes and sauce (now available at Publix and Whole Foods) while keeping pace with modern times?
Transitioning from a mom-and-pop operation into a structured business while preserving what was passed down has been the biggest challenge. But we’ve stayed true to our colors and core beliefs. Maintaining that balance means everything.
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