UT grad brings taste of New York to Tampa at Cousin Vinny's Sandwich Co.

Restaurant offers New York-inspired Italian sandwiches

FOX 13's Regina Gonzalez visited Cousin Vinny's Sandwich Co. in Tampa, which was founded by a University of Tampa graduate and New York native hoping to bring the taste of home to the Bay Area.

TAMPA, Fla. - A University of Tampa graduate from New York is bringing a taste of home to Tampa.

The backstory:

After a year of only doing pick-up orders from a ghost kitchen in Seminole Heights, Cousin Vinny's Sandwich Co. is now officially open as a grab-and-go-style restaurant on Cass Street, and their savory menu has been quite the talk around town.

It's a packed house during lunch every day. When you walk in, you'll hear order after order coming in, while a pot of homemade vodka sauce boils on the stove, only to be poured onto freshly fried cutlets sometimes 10 servings at a time, while hungry customers like Nate Tembi wait, ready to dig in.

Cousin Vinny's Sandwich Co. serves New York-inspired Italian offerings.

What they're saying:

"Cousin Vinny's is a different, unique flavor, it reminds me so much of the Northeast where I'm from," Tembi told FOX 13 as he carried out two large bags of sandwiches to share with his coworkers. "It's just really good. Authentic Italian sandwiches."

It's a taste of New York and Italy all at once, which is exactly what Executive Chef and co-owner Vinny Andriotti dreamed of bringing to the Tampa Bay area after moving here from Long Island more than a decade ago to study at the University of Tampa.

Executive Chef and co-owner Vinny Andriotti is living out his dream of bringing authentic Italian sandwiches to Tampa.

"I graduated with a degree in finance. But food is my passion," Andriotti stressed. "I was missing a piece of home, you know, and moving from home.... walking past this building almost every single day for class I always wanted there to be something that I could just casually walk right on into to grab a sandwich and then keep it moving. So, it's just very funny that ten years later, here we are coming full circle that it's me who is now providing that missing void to the next, you know, UT student that moves down here and wishes that there was a piece of home."

He's doing so with the help of his three buddies, Russ, Jake and AJ, who also hail from New York.

The group spent years pow-wowing the concept, growing a large social media following, scouting the location that's within walking distance of their alma mater, and coming up with a menu of Vinny's creations; which are each a different love letter to his childhood.

Cousin Vinny's Sandwich Co. is located at 1331 W. Cass St. in Tampa.

"My house was probably the house amongst our family that we all gathered. My mom is an incredible cook," Andriotti recalled. "So, I was always in the kitchen with her on Sundays, while my brother and sister set the table. My dad would just be sitting in the middle. He would always say, I'm just supervising.

Now he gets to share what he learned with his work family, as they make everything from the mozzarella and meatballs to the Tuscan-style schiacciata bread from scratch, in order to serve up some of their bestsellers, which even have names that attribute to inside jokes within his family.

Cousin Vinny's Sandwich Co. serves New York-inspired Italian offerings.

"The three heaviest hitters, I would say, is the chicken Caesar wrap, the Tony Piccante, which is a cutlet on a garlic bread hero, spicy vodka sauce, mozzarella, red peppers with some ricotta as well," Vinny described. "Then our Parmesan Don, it's a classic. It's the classic chicken parm hero. You can get it with a choice of red sauce, vodka sauce or spicy vodka sauce. "

Cousin Vinny's Sandwich Co. is located at 1331 W. Cass St. in Tampa.

They're open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. If you see a long line, don't worry, they're accustomed the quick, New York-style service, and the line moves pretty fast. When it's slower, they'll even start cooking fried ravioli to pass out to people waiting.

You can view their full menu by clicking here.

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The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Regina Gonzalez.

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