Vault unlocks expansion, renovation

By Amanda Rogers

Mansfield Record

The Vault Seafood & Steakhouse unlocked its new renovation and expansion last week, showing off its new space and style.

“It’s designed to have a ‘wow!’ at every turn,” said Lindsey Tonore Heefner, who runs the Vault and is part owner with her dad, Todd. “I wanted to bring Mansfield something like my girlfriends and I go to in Dallas with the fun vibes and intimate conversations.”

The Vault used the footprint of the original restaurant at 2300 Matlock Road, Suite 31, then spread out to absorb the empty building next door.

The Vault doubled in size, going from 6,000 square feet to 12,000 square feet, adding a second dining room with a second lighted bar, a cigar lounge with its own bar and more than 100 seats, Heefner said.

She updated the original Vault and continued the classy, but laid-back theme into the newer dining room.

A grand piano sits in the center of the new area, surrounded by tables with white cloths. The massive bar has a wood-lined bar back and centered mirror soaring to the ceiling. Massive merlot-colored booths line one wall.

“You see the wood lining and a lot of what it looked like, what it was,” she said. “But with a touch of femininity. I wanted booths, but I didn’t want it to feel like a diner. The booths are elevated so that people can see the live music.”

A hall leads to a separate cigar bar where Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. would feel right at home. Huge leather couches are spaced to give room for private conversations, while of wall of water flows against the back wall. There’s a penny-covered bar just for the lounge, and a window lets patrons watch a staffer roll cigars.

The new expansion and renovation also added two private rooms – the Monroe Suite and the New Orleans Suite, which can host separate parties. The expansion allowed the Vault to add 150 private lockers for patrons to rent for their private stock of beer, wine or spirits. The original Vault had sold out of lockers and had a waiting list, said Todd Tonore.

Construction took nine months with the Vault closing only for a few days before re-opening when the wall between the old and new areas came down.

The menu has also expanded, adding chargrilled oysters and options for every budget, Tonore said. The Vault will now be open seven days a week for dinner and for Sunday lunch.

“We are not a private club,” Tonore pointed out. “We are open to the public and now we have areas where we can have kids.

“It turned out better than I could have imagined,” he said. “I just enjoy bringing the community together.”

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