Frankie B. Mandola
STHS Class of 1965
Attended 1961-1965
Frankie B. Mandola, St. Thomas class of 1965, was a larger-than-life figure in Houston’s restaurant community and one of the most decorated scholar-athletes in STHS history. Twice named All-State in both baseball and football, an All-American his senior year, and co-captain of the undefeated 1965 American Legion state championship baseball team, Frankie was inducted into the St. Thomas Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. He accepted an athletic scholarship to Rice University, where he was a starting offensive lineman for the football team and starting first baseman for the baseball squad — ranked fourth nationally in 1967. He graduated in 1969 and served in the Army Reserves from 1970 to 1976.
Frankie grew up in Houston’s East End, steeped in the extended Mandola family’s Italian grocery traditions — the Mandola corner groceries that his Sicilian-born grandfather Vincenzo opened in the near East End, one of which, on Leeland Street, endures today as the cousin-run Mandola’s Deli. In 1974, he partnered with brother Luke and friend Ray Hay to open Ray Hay’s Cajun Po-Boys on Richmond Avenue, later rechristened the Ragin’ Cajun. In the early 1980s, he joined four fellow STHS alumni — Damian Mandola ’71, Vincent Mandola ’61, Ciro Lampasas ’51, and Johnny Carrabba Sr. — to launch Damian’s Cucina Italiana on Smith Street. In 1992, Frankie and Bubba Butera purchased Damian’s outright from cousin Damian, and it became Frankie’s signature restaurant for over two decades.
His greatest pride beyond his restaurants was co-founding the Texas Italian-American Sports Foundation with classmate Dan Sessions ’65, providing college scholarships to student-athletes for over three decades — with checks presented by legends like Yogi Berra, Craig Biggio, and Jeff Bagwell at the annual luncheon at Damian’s. As former Houston Oiler Dan Pastorini said, “When I first came to Houston, he brought me into the Italian community, embraced me. I’ll forever be grateful for that.” Frankie passed away in July 2016. His Celebration of Life filled St. Thomas’s Cemo Auditorium.
