June 29, 2016
Manco & Manco Pizza/Facebook
Ocean City's famous Manco & Manco Pizza announce Wednesday, June 29, 2016 on Facebook that the restaurant's owners had purchased the former Strand Movie Theatre on the Ocean City Boardwalk. The owners says they will redevelop the property to became their new "flagship" store, set to open April 2017.
A few years ago Ocean City's iconic boardwalk pizzerias got a new name, and now Manco & Manco is redeveloping a high-profile property for the restaurant's flagship store.
Manco & Manco's owners announced the news on its Facebook page Wednesday, posting that they had purchased the former Strand Theatre property at 9th Street and the Boardwalk. The new pizza shop is slated to open in April 2017 and will replace the existing restaurant further south on the 900 block of the Boardwalk.
Manco & Manco's two other boardwalk locations near Eighth and 12th streets will remain open.
The Strand Theatre closed before the 2014 beach season, and for a time, the property was occupied by a business called Boardwalk Bounce, which did not reopen for the 2016 beach season.
According to cinematreasures.org, when it opened in 1938, the Strand featured classic Art Deco design and twin balconies. Toward the end of its existence, the main theater was divided into five smaller theaters and the lobby area was eliminated.
An artist's rendering of the plans for the property features the Manco & Manco name displayed in lights across the former theater's marquee. The new restaurant is expected to have "more seating, a boutique retail store, and more," according to the Facebook post.
Manco & Manco operated for decades under its original name Mack & Manco after founders Dominic "Duke" Mack and Frank Manco. Their first pizza shop opened at Ninth Street and the Boardwalk in 1956.
Mack died in 2009 and his sons took over his share of the business. On Jan. 1, 2012, Mack & Manco split up, though the reasons why were never completely clear, and the pizza shop's name changed to Manco & Manco.
Chuck Bangle now co-owns the restaurants with his wife Mary, daughter of Frank and Kay Manco. Frank Manco died in March 2013.
In July 2015, Chuck Bangle pleaded guilty to one count of federal tax evasion stemming from 2010.
The Press of Atlantic City reported in May 2015 that evidence against Chuck and Mary Bangle included nearly $1 million in income the couple never reported – $770,000 of which could be traced to business' credit cards being used for personal expenses.
Chuck Bangle's sentencing has been delayed multiple times, most recently in late May, and now is scheduled for Oct. 13. Bangle faces as long as 15 years in prison. Mary Bangle has pleaded guilty to lying to the IRS and faces up to five years in prison.
