Vince’s Italian, an old-fashioned Italian restaurant serving up traditional family recipes, just celebrated 50 years in Renton. Inspired by the possibilities posed by the American Dream, founders Vince and Ada Mottola emigrated from Naples, the birthplace of pizza, to the U.S. in 1954 and opened Vince’s Restaurant on Empire Way — now known as Martin Luther King Way — in 1957. In the early '60s, the business moved from its original location to 10003 Rainier Ave. S. and became the Mottolas' earliest success. 

"It was maybe the busiest restaurant in Seattle — not just in South Seattle, (but) in Seattle," Vince Mottola Jr. told 425 recently. "We were open till 2 in the morning during the week, 3 in the morning on the weekends." Today, the business has grown to become Vince's Enterprises, Inc., which includes three different branches and five restaurants.