Felisberto Sousa, co-owner of iconic Portuguese restaurant O Gil's, dies at 77

FALL RIVER — Portuguese cuisine has shaped Fall River in ways beyond what’s on the menu, with a culture that focuses on family and good food, and the comfort and joy they bring. These were ever-present in the life and work of Felisberto Sousa, one half of the team that co-owns and operates Portuguese restaurant O Gil's.

Sousa, a Portuguese immigrant who brought the values of the Old Country to America, died suddenly on Friday. He was 77.

He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Maria Fatima, and three children Peter, Dan and Andrew — two of whom followed him into the restaurant business.

How Sousa helped spread the flavor of Fall River

Like many people of Azorean heritage in Fall River, Sousa was born on the island of Sao Miguel. He served in Portugal’s military before coming to America in 1972, riding the crest of a great wave of Azorean immigration from the 1960s to ’70s that transformed the city.

Sousa arrived along with his friend, Victor Fagundo, who would become his brother-in-law and lifelong business partner.

Again like many Azorean immigrants, Sousa found work in Fall River’s mills. When he first arrived, he worked at United Merchants textile mill and then Quaker Fabric Corp. He also cooked at what was then the St. Michael’s Athletic Club on Webster Street — not a gym as the name might have implied, but a restaurant and bar in the Flint neighborhood that developed a reputation for some of the best Portuguese cooking in the city.

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Sousa’s father-in-law, Gil Fagundo, had been a chef in the Azores before coming to Fall River. Gil Fagundo is credited with bringing to the city a Portuguese dish known as the bitoque — what we know as the Portuguese steak, a thin cut of beef pan-fried in wine and garlic, served with french fries and rice, and topped with fried eggs.

Sousa and Victor Fagundo honed their craft alongside him in the kitchen at St. Mike’s for years, cooking likely thousands of steaks for Portuguese and American families alike, perfecting the recipe.

By 1991, the Portuguese steak was being made by every Portuguese restaurant in town, the key ingredient in the city’s culinary appeal.

When Gil Fagundo died that year, his son Victor and Sousa went into business as partners, buying the former Duke’s Tavern on County Street. Victor Fagundo once told The Herald News they considered naming the restaurant Bon Appetit since it was in a neighborhood once largely French Canadian, “but when he died, I had to put his name on the restaurant.”

They called it O Gil's. Coming along with them were family, friends and fans from St. Mike’s who wanted to follow Sousa and Fagundo’s cooking.

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A family business and a family man

Over the years, restaurants came and went in Fall River but O Gil's developed and maintained a reputation as one of the best — not the fanciest, with its wood-paneled walls and attached bar, but simply the best.

Though located broadside along County Street, O Gil's is unassuming to the point that newcomers might drive past without spotting it. Inside, Sousa and Fagundo traded off time cooking up Portuguese American comfort food like their famous steak and shrimp Mozambique and carne alentejana. They kept the atmosphere homey and comfortable, the menu prices so affordable it felt for years like they were untouched by whatever was happening in the outside world. The bar was a relaxing hangout, with Sousa — known to friends as Phil — always quick with a joke.

O Gil's was built around the family. Sousa and his wife raised three boys, two of whom, Peter and Dan, followed their father into the restaurant business. They own and operate Mesa 21 across town, the menu full of Portuguese classics like the kind cooked up by their father — bifanas, shrimp Mozambique and yes, Portuguese steak — with a more modern sensibility.

In recent months, Sousa and Fagundo have attempted to sell O Gil's and retire. In December, the two put up their County Street building, including restaurant space and apartments, asking for $1 million; with no takers, the price has been reduced to $749,000 but remains on the market.

The restaurant continues to welcome customers pending a sale, but has closed for the week for bereavement.

Besides his wife and children, Sousa leaves behind five grandchildren; seven brothers and sisters in Canada, the Azores and England; and an extensive extended family.

His family has scheduled visitation for Friday at the Silva-Faria Funeral Home, 730 Bedford St., from 5 to 8 p.m. His funeral will be held on Saturday at 8 a.m., with a Mass to be celebrated across the street at St. Anthony of Padua Church at 9 a.m.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Fall River Portuguese restaurateur Felisberto Sousa dies; owned OGil's