This was sold by court trustees to Richard H. and Alice Smith in 1892 who sold it in 1909 to Mary and David Fisher, a former director of the Havre de Grace Banking & Trust. It is not known exactly when this building was constructed but as can be seen on the 1885 Sanborn Insurance Map there were buildings in this location at that time. In 1926, this property was bought from the Fishers by Eugene Vigna (1889-1965) and Luigina Mazzuca Vigna (1894-1977), his wife. They opened the very popular Vigna’s Restaurant here with authentic Italian food that they served to Havre de Gracians for about 70 years and is still talked (salivated) about.

It was in an apartment on the third floor of this building that Pat Vincenti and his mother, Bernadine Louisa “Betty” Vincenti (1925-2014), lived in 1958 for a while, before moving to Erie Street. Betty at that time worked in the “sparkler plant,” the fireworks factory, before going to work at the Bata Shoe factory. Pat is the well-known decoy carver whose shop is downtown on Pennington Avenue. Pat also currently serves as President of the Harford County Council.

Eugene and Luigina Vigna’s daughter, Rita Vigna Tarquini (1928-1997), who married Armando “Mike” Tarquini, took over Vigna’s from her parents and ran the restaurant until 1996. Mike Tarquini served in the Army during the Korean War and worked at the Aberdeen Proving Ground until he retired. He became known as “Big Mike” after he and Rita had their son, Mike Tarquini. Kerri Schweers Pierre says that Rita kept a list of people that she would call when she had specials such as roast turkey, rock fish, fried beef liver, fried tomatoes, or others. Most of her customers ate there two or three times a week.

They apparently made delicious food for which people today wish they could find recipes but those who ever spent time in Rita’s kitchen say they never saw any recipe in writing. What they all agree on is that a small amount of sugar was always added to the spaghetti sauce and that she always used fresh basil. Memories of Vigna’s that also are indelible are of a long-time waitress named Ethel Jones who has been called an “icon” by many, “a true town character,” or “one of a kind” by others. A good story shared by Bill Simone, who ate there every Friday night, is one evening when Ethel brought him the wrong meal from what he ordered. When he told her she just looked at him and said, “It may not be what you ordered but it’s what you’re going to eat” without missing a beat. And Jackie Brandon says that when Ethel was in a hurry she just slammed the silverware down in the middle of the table along with an order pad to write down their order. Both Kim Wilfong Windham and Keith Lay claim Ethel as their aunt; Kim says Ethel worked there as long as she can remember while Keith says Ethel was “one of a kind.” But while most people remember Vigna’s for the great food, Tony Buchanan’s memory is that there was a condom machine in the men’s room!

Mike and Rita Tarquini sold this property to "Margie" and Dwayne Coakley, sister and brother, in 1996 who opened Coakley’s Pub. Margie says she had the privilege of knowing the Tarquini family and Rita too, adding that “Miss Rita ate dinner in Coakley’s right before her passing.” Since then, Coakley’s Pub has expanded south into the corner building at Franklin and St. John Streets, as well as into the buildings north of here on the west side of St. John Street. Collectively the buildings are known as Coakley’s Pub and celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2017. The buildings are now owned by Two Fish Bowls, LLC.

County Records
Built 1900. 3455 sq ft commercial restaurant, 3967 sq ft lot.