Paesano Cucina in North Adelaide closes after more than 30 years, owing $330,000 in rent

Over more than 30 years, North Adelaide cafe Paesano has survived a change of location, multiple owners, a fire and an infamous bike shooting. Now, it is gone.

Over more than 25 years, North Adelaide cafe Paesano has survived a change of location, multiple owners, a fire and an infamous bike shooting. Now, however, the O’Connell St landmark has gone into liquidation, owing more than $300,000 in rent, as well as other liabilities.

The closure comes less than a week after the Archer Hotel, right across the road, also shut its doors, with an administrator taking control after the operators, Huntsman Hotel Pty Ltd, couldn’t attract a buyer.

The original Paesano opened in 1991, on what is now the empty site owned by the Adelaide City Council.

It then shifted into the North Adelaide Village Shopping Centre, where it has operated since 2009, despite a number of changes in ownership.

In 2011, a gunfight erupted outside the restaurant between a group of Comanchero bikies dining there and a lone attacker.

Police outside Cafe Paesano after the bikie shooting in 2011.

A bullet hole in the window of the display at Paesano the day after the shooting.

Three years later a fire above a pizza oven caused an estimated $100,000 damage.

James Robertson, manager at Hrvatin Koch, confirmed the accounting firm had been appointed liquidator for Paesano.

He said the landlord, North Adelaide Village Shopping Centre Pty Ltd, had terminated the lease, claiming it was owed $338,417 in rent.

Additional liabilities could include employee entitlements and debts to suppliers.

Other restaurants trading in O’Connell St have cited parking and high rents as one of the main problems with the retail strip.

“The issue with the North Adelaide area is that there is not enough parking,” Asif Haque, a co-owner of popular Moroccan restaurant Marrakech said.

“When there is a big game at the (Adelaide) Oval, we get less people coming in, not more.”

Mr Haque also said rents were higher than in many other areas.

Caffe Paesano in 2014, with then owner Joe Sheeran, after a fire forced its closure. Picture: Noelle Bobrige

“But we are still doing okay because we have lots of regulars,” he said.

Lauro Siliquini, co-owner of Tony Tomatoes and Spaghetti Meatballs on the street, as well as Ruby Red Flamingo around the corner, said it was sad to see a restaurant closing.

“It’s no secret that it can be tough going, and our industry like many has its ups and downs,” he said. “But the North Adelaide precinct for us is a great place for our business and for our customers.”

Mr Siliquini said Spaghetti Meatballs would be replaced next year by a new venture by the same group, L’Italy.