Formerly: Iodine Fruit Store · Iodine Grill · Tony's Spaghetti House
Columbia, South Carolina · Founded 1940 · Building: 1858–1863; sources conflict
A five-generation Columbia Italian restaurant whose Mama Tronco food-business legacy began in 1940 inside a nineteenth-century firehouse.
Villa Tronco is a five-generation family restaurant at 1213 Blanding Street in Columbia, South Carolina. The Tronco family's food-business story dates to 1940, while a new historic marker says Iodine Grill opened in the former firehouse in 1941 and became Villa Tronco in 1949. Mama Tronco's Italian cooking fed Fort Jackson soldiers during World War II and helped make pizza familiar to Columbia diners.
One historical account dates the building at 1213 Blanding Street to 1858, when it was built for the Palmetto Engine Company fire station. Other sources date the firehouse era to 1863, so the exact construction year remains unresolved.
Source: Richland Library, "Villa Tronco Ristorante menu" historic note; 6AM City, "History of Columbia's oldest restaurant, Villa Tronco," February 4, 2022
Sadie Carnaggio moved to Columbia with her family. Her father, Charles Carnaggio, ran one of the city's early fruit stores near the railroad.
Source: Villa Tronco, "About," accessed September 1, 2026; 6AM City, February 4, 2022
Sadie Carnaggio married James Tronco after he came to Columbia from Philadelphia as a World War I medic at Camp Jackson.
Source: Villa Tronco, "About," accessed September 1, 2026; 6AM City, February 4, 2022
Sadie and James Tronco opened Iodine Fruit Store on Main Street, followed by another fruit store location before the family moved into Italian food service.
Source: Villa Tronco, "About," accessed September 1, 2026; 6AM City, February 4, 2022
Villa Tronco identifies 1940 as the beginning of the family's restaurant legacy in Columbia.
Source: Villa Tronco official website and "About" page, accessed September 1, 2026; The State, "Villa Tronco: five generations serving Columbia," June 16, 2026
A historic marker unveiled in 2026 identifies Iodine Grill as opening at 1213 Blanding Street in 1941.
Source: The State, "Columbia, SC's Villa Tronco restaurant gets historic marker," January 15, 2026; Spectrum News, "Italian restaurant 'Villa Tronco' receives historical marker," January 15, 2026
Iodine Grill was renamed Villa Tronco, according to the 2026 historic-marker account.
Source: The State, January 15, 2026; Spectrum News, January 15, 2026
Carmella and Joe Roche took over the family restaurant, beginning the Roche generation's stewardship.
Source: Villa Tronco, "About," accessed September 1, 2026; 6AM City, February 4, 2022
Columbia City Council honorarily renamed the 1200 block of Blanding Street "Villa Tronco Way."
Source: The State, January 15, 2026
Villa Tronco continues operating under the Roche family, with Joe and Carmella Roche and fifth-generation family members Tripp and Donovan Roche involved in the business.
Source: The State, June 16, 2026; Villa Tronco official website, accessed September 1, 2026; Palmetto Opera, 2026 event listings
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The State's 2026 historic-marker coverage calls Villa Tronco Columbia's oldest continuously running restaurant, and local historical coverage describes it as a long-running city landmark. The claim is credible, but this review did not compare every older Columbia restaurant or inspect business licenses, closures, and day-to-day operating records across the full 1940–2026 period.
Villa Tronco markets itself as South Carolina's oldest restaurant, and some local directories repeat the claim. The strongest independent reporting reviewed here gives the narrower title of Columbia's oldest continuously running restaurant. No statewide inventory or comparison of older South Carolina dining businesses was reviewed, so the statewide title is not established.
Villa Tronco's history, 6AM City, and recent State reporting say Sadie "Mama" Tronco fed homesick Fort Jackson soldiers and introduced pizza to Columbia, initially giving it away because local customers did not recognize it. The account is strongly repeated and chronologically plausible, but this review did not locate wartime menus, advertisements, food permits, or comparative city restaurant records proving a first-commercial-pizza claim.
Current 2026 reporting identifies Joe and Carmella Roche as the family owners and Tripp and Donovan Roche as fifth-generation participants in the business. Villa Tronco's current site also identifies itself as family-owned and operated for five generations.
Multiple local sources identify 1213 Blanding Street as a former firehouse. Accounts differ on whether it was built in 1858 or 1863, but the firehouse origin is consistent; the exact construction date and full fire-department occupancy sequence require municipal property and historic-building records.
Villa Tronco has been South Carolina's proven oldest continuously operating restaurant since 1940.
The strongest independent 2026 reporting calls Villa Tronco Columbia's oldest continuously running restaurant. The restaurant itself markets a broader South Carolina-oldest claim, but no statewide historical comparison or full operating-record audit was reviewed to establish that title.
Source: The State, January 15, 2026; Villa Tronco official website; Main Street Columbia, "Villa Tronco"
Villa Tronco opened under its current name in 1940.
Villa Tronco uses 1940 for the family food-business origin, but the 2026 historic marker says Iodine Grill opened at 1213 Blanding Street in 1941 and the business was renamed Villa Tronco in 1949.
Source: The State, January 15, 2026; Spectrum News, January 15, 2026; Villa Tronco, "About"
Mama Tronco introduced pizza to all of South Carolina in 1942.
Local histories credit Mama Tronco with bringing pizza to Columbia during World War II, when she fed Fort Jackson soldiers. The reviewed sources do not verify an exact 1942 date or establish a statewide first-vendor claim.
Source: Villa Tronco, "About"; 6AM City, February 4, 2022; The State, June 16, 2026
Villa Tronco is in an 1870s former firehouse.
The building is consistently identified as a nineteenth-century former firehouse, but sources give conflicting dates of 1858 or 1863. The 1870s date is unsupported in the reviewed record.
Source: Richland Library historic menu note; 6AM City, February 4, 2022; The State, January 15, 2026
Villa Tronco survived because the family has treated its history as an evolving inheritance, not a frozen 1940s set piece. Sadie "Mama" Tronco turned a fruit-business background and wartime demand from Fort Jackson soldiers into Italian meals that became a Columbia tradition. Carmella and Joe Roche carried the restaurant forward from 1972, and fifth-generation Tripp and Donovan Roche now help run it. The recipes, opera nights, firehouse setting, and family presence give the restaurant a continuity of character even as its name, menu, and ownership generation have changed.
Villa Tronco traces the Tronco family's Columbia food-business history to 1940. A historic marker says Iodine Grill opened at 1213 Blanding Street in 1941, inside a nineteenth-century former firehouse, and was renamed Villa Tronco in 1949. Mama Tronco fed Fort Jackson soldiers during World War II, Carmella and Joe Roche took over in 1972, and fifth-generation family members now help run the restaurant.
Villa Tronco promotes itself as South Carolina's oldest restaurant, but this review does not establish a statewide oldest-continuously-operating title. The strongest independent 2026 reporting calls it Columbia's oldest continuously running restaurant. A direct comparison with older South Carolina restaurants and a full operating-record review would be needed before declaring a statewide winner.
Mama Tronco is widely credited with introducing pizza to Columbia during World War II. The restaurant's history says she fed homesick Fort Jackson soldiers and initially gave pizza away because many local diners had never seen it. The story is strongly repeated by local sources, but original wartime menus, advertisements, and comparative restaurant records have not been reviewed to prove an exact citywide first.
The restaurant occupies a nineteenth-century former firehouse at 1213 Blanding Street. Sources disagree on the precise construction date, giving 1858 or 1863, but agree that the building housed early Columbia fire operations before its restaurant era. Villa Tronco still displays elements associated with the old firehouse, including stable doors in the back dining room.
A 2026 historic marker says the original restaurant at 1213 Blanding opened as Iodine Grill in 1941 and was renamed Villa Tronco in 1949. The Tronco family's broader food-business story is dated by the restaurant itself to 1940, so the dates mark different stages of the same family enterprise.
Villa Tronco is owned and operated by the Roche family. Joe and Carmella Roche are identified as current owners, and their grandsons Tripp and Donovan Roche are fifth-generation members involved in the family business. The restaurant's exact legal ownership entity and license records were not reviewed here.
1213 Blanding St, Columbia, SC 29201
(803) 256-7677
Villa Tronco currently serves dinner Tuesday through Saturday and hosts periodic opera and Broadway events. Reservations are recommended; confirm current hours and event dates directly before visiting.