Leo’s was first opened in 1948 by italian immigrants Pantaleone «Leo» Mancieri and his wife Gina. What began as a small neighborhood pizzeria in the State Street section of Bristol, RI, soon became a gathering place for local families and workers in the years following World War II.

Leo and Gina, together with their sons Mario and Reno, built the restaurant on simple principles: fresh ingredients, traditional recipes, and treating every guest like family. Those values shaped the original Leo’s and became the foundation of a family tradition that would endure for generations.

Although the original Leo’s closed in 1976 after Leo’s  passing, the Mancieri family’s passion for hospitality never faded. In 2000, Leo’s grandson, Paul Mancieri, together with his father Mario reopened Leo’s Ristorante in historic downtown Bristol, bringing back the spirit and many of the recipes that had made the original restaurant a local favorite.

Today, more than 75 years after Leo and Gina opened their doors, Leo’s remains proudly family-owned and operated by the third generation, Paul and Adriana Mancieri, continuing a legacy of Italian hospitality that had been part of Bristol for generations.