South Carolina’s Oldest Restaurant - Villa Tronco Italian Restaurant, Columbia

“It’s in the nature of Italians to live life with a positive tone and to celebrate the invitations that come along in life. Italian food is so conducive to all of that.”

Lidia Bastianich

Right in the heart of downtown Columbia, South Carolina stands the oldest restaurant in South Carolina. It is hard to believe but this family restaurant has been here for eighty years and five generations of the Tronco family have worked here since it opened in 1940. The restaurant is located in a building that was built in 1858 and was used as Columbia’s first fire engine company. This is one of the few buildings in Columbia that was not burned down when “Sherman’s March” went through Columbia. 

Sadie Carnaggio, a Sicilian immigrant, lived as a child in Philadelphia until her family moved to Columbia around 1910 and opened the first fruit stand in Columbia. Sadie met James Trunco when he was training to be a medic at Fort Jackson during WWI. They married in 1918 and opened their own fruit stand on Main Street named Iodine Fruit Store which later burnt down. They named it Iodine since the local soil was said to contain Iodine. They had four children together. 

During WWII, many soldiers, were away from home and missing some good Italian cooking, would stop by to see Sadie. She would make them Spaghetti with meatballs and Pizza and made them feel at home. The business boomed when the word got out with the soldiers stationed Fort Jackson. Sadie introduced Pizza to many people from the area who never tasted it before. 

When the Trunco’s bought this building in 1940, they choose well since the Greyhound Bus Station was located across the street where the soldiers from Fort Jackson arrived in town. Since their business was doing well and they decided to expand and added Iodine Grill which name later got changed to Tony’s Spaghetti House. Everyone loved her home cooking and could tell she put a lot of love into it. She made it a point to get to know her customers and make them feel as if they just came home for a nice family meal. She stayed very involved in the restaurant till she passed away in 1988 at 87 years young. 

Sadie’s daughter Carmella and her husband, Henry Martin worked with in the restaurant with Sadie and learned everything about the restaurant business from Sadie. When Sadie passed, she left the restaurant to them to carry on. It is now owned by their daughter, Carmella and Joe Roche. Their children are actively involved with the restaurant which would make them the fifth generation. The chefs still use some of Sadie beloved recipes. They are still carrying on the family traditions of greeting the customers, making them feel special and at home, and feeding them the best foods possible. 

Back dining room with exposed brick.

When we went inside the restaurant, we felt like we had just entered a European restaurant. Our hostess was super friendly and guided us to our table in the back dining room of the restaurant. The tables were dressed with linen table clothes and napkins. Our waitress, Emily came over to get our drink orders and gave us our menus. The menu had so much to choose from that it was difficult to make a decision. Everything sounded great. We both ordered a wine to go with our Italian meal and enjoyed that while looking through the menu. 

My dinner date, Joe. 

Joe choose one of their specials which was a seafood platter and I ordered the Linguine with white clam sauce. While we waited for our meal to come out, Emily brought us a lovely salad with freshly baked bread. When we got our meal, we were both extremely happy with the food and the portion size. Joe’s seafood was cooked with a light breading and was cooked perfectly. My dish was very flavorful and done just right. Neither meal could have been better.

Original doors to the firehouse. 

European accent piece. 

This cozy, casual restaurant has exposed original brick walls in the back dining room as well as the original stable doors from the old firehouse. The doors are in great shape and what gorgeous wood they used. We loved all the art work and decor that makes this place so unique. Emily gave us a little of the backstory of this restaurant. She explained how the front room was the original restaurant. It was pretty small when it first opened. Now there are three dinning areas and a bar. The whole restaurant gives you the feeling of being at home. As we left we noticed a small opening near the front and looked in to find another small booth with a light made of wine bottles. We wondered if that was for a romantic private meal for two.

Private room

Original restaurant

Room that was the Original Restaurant.

Another dining room.

Many celebrities have eaten here over the years like, Mickey Rooney, Andy Williams, Mark Wahlberg, and University of South Carolina stars, Marcus Littimore and Aleighsta Welch. After eating here, I know why. This place is unique and the food is fantastic. 

Bar

They now have special nights to come to this restaurant for fabulous entertainment. They have an Opera night, a Broadway night, and a Jazz night. We were told those nights sometime sell out and to make a reservation to make sure you can get in since they are so much in demand. That will be a must do some night when we are in town. Today we were here for lunch and it was easy to get a table even with them being steady busy.

This restaurant is open five days a week, Tuesday through Saturday. On Tuesday – Friday they are open 11 am-3 pm and then it reopens from 5 pm -10 pm. On Saturdays, they are only open from 5 pm – 10 pm. During the nice weather, they have seating outside and you are welcome to bring your dogs with you. Here is a link: www.villatronco.com. Their address is 1213 Blanding Street, Columbia, South Carolina. Phone: 803-256-7677.

We would highly recommend this place to come in and sit, relax, and enjoy the ambiance as well as the delicious food they serve. This is a special restaurant, a one of a kind restaurant and we will be back. Till next time. Bye for now.