Popular North Raleigh Italian restaurant has new owners and, soon, a new name
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Bongiorno & Son sold to longtime fans Dave and Sarah Danevich; takeover soon.
- New owners pledge to keep recipes, imports and catering while adding few items.
- Founder Michael Bongiorno to open Pranzo in spring, focus on lunch and aperitivo.
A specialty sandwich shop with an intense following is changing hands and, eventually, changing names.
The North Raleigh phenomenon Bongiorno & Son in Lafayette Village has been sold, and the new owners will take over in about a month. After opening in 2020, founder Michael Bongiorno sold the business recently to Dave and Sarah Danevich, longtime fans of the market.
“It was something I always wanted to do,” Bongiorno said of the market and sandwich shop. “There was a real need in this area for a real Italian market and deli. We built it up and made it successful and thriving.”
The newly opened Bongiorno & Son at RDU is a licensing deal and not part of this sale, Bongiorno said.
Bongiorno & Son menu, sandwiches
Quickly after opening in late 2020, Bongiorno & Son developed a reputation for exceptional Italian style sandwiches, built with cured meats, peppers and breads sourced from New York. The market offered gourmet Italian goods like artisan olive oils, housemade mozzarella, fresh and dried pastas and wine. Take-home meals and catering was also one of the shops calling cards, Bongiorno said.
“Our thing is quality ingredients — people will pay for quality,” Bongiorno said. “We’ve had a good ride. I’m sad to see it end, but always looking forward to the next thing.”
This isn’t the first time Bongiorno has opened and sold a successful restaurant. Before the Italian market he had Zanyu Asian Noodles, also in Lafayette Village, earning a four-star review from former News & Observer dining critic Greg Cox. Zanyu was sold in 2018 after three years and closed last year.
Mina’s Italian Market
Bongiorno will help the Daneviches with the transition over the next month. Within six months, the market will have a new name — Mina’s.
Pronounced “My-nas”, the new name is a nod to a storekeeping tradition in Sarah Danevich’s family that stretches back more than a century.
“We’re really excited to do this and have the Mina’s name continue on a market,” Dave Danevich said.
But for fans of Bongiorno & Son, Danevich insists the name is the only thing that should change.
“Everything as it is now should remain the same,” he said. “There could be a few new sandwiches or take home meals we’re really passionate about. But we will keep that Italian, family-style market and are mostly going to leave it alone.”
The new owners both hail from the Northeast, and found Bongiorno & Son reminded them of the kind of Italian market they had been missing in Raleigh. The Daneviches made their careers in finance, but dreamed of running a small business of their own.
“We were definitely passionate about finding something more meaningful that was serving the community,” Dave Danevich said.
Danevich said he worked in various pizza shops through high school and college in New Hampshire and imagined his restaurants days were in the past. Now with Mina’s, he hopes to build on a restaurant that’s been special to his family.
“(Mike) has the best eggplant, the best meatballs, the imports, the best stuff in-house,” Danevich said. “Weve been ordering catering there for years.”
Pranzo
While the chapter for Bongiorno & Son is ending, another restaurant is in the works for the Bongiorno family.
In the spring, look for Pranzo in the Exchange development in Raleigh, joining established restaurants like Peregrine and Toastique.
Pranzo is still being refined as a concept, Bongiorno said. A family trip next month to Italy for research and the Winter Olympics should help inform the menu.
For now, Bongiorno expects Pranzo will cater to the hundreds of office workers in The Exchange, offering lunch and after work bites and drinks.
At lunchtime, look for familiar sandwiches and a few pastas. After 5 p.m., Pranzo will lean into aperitivo vibes, serving Italian small plates, wines by the glass, spritzes and cocktails.
There may be a Sunday brunch and possibly meals to go, but the deli counter days are over.
“We will not be slicing cold cuts,” Bongiorno said.
This story was originally published January 9, 2026 at 8:03 AM with the headline "Popular North Raleigh Italian restaurant has new owners and, soon, a new name."
