How a new Italian restaurant is feeding the family for cheap
Family friendly and big serves on a budget is the business model behind a new Italian-inspired restaurant now open in the Cairns CBD.
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FAMILY friendly and big serves on a budget is the business model behind a new Italian-inspired restaurant now open in the Cairns CBD.
Nonna Leotta’s House owner Shane Shroj has branched out from his mobile food truck business to invest more than $150,000 in a total refit of a prime Shields St tenancy formally occupied by national outlet Fasta Pasta.
“It’s really exciting,” he said.
“We have been wanting to do it for a while but we just couldn’t find the right shop.
“And then this popped up and we got a good vibe from start. It’s a good location.”
On the road for years selling Ringers Western gear from mobile trucks, Mr Shroj, originally from Mareeba has made the move down the hill to set up in Cairns.
“My wife is having another baby in May, so that will be number seven all up and number four with me and my wife,” he said.
“So we thought we will come home and build this up and in a couple of years’ time we will be good to go.”
The new business owner has named the restaurant after his Nonna, whose family originally emigrated from Italy to Innisfail to work in the cane industry, before relocating to Mareeba to grow tobacco and mixed crops in 1942. Nonna Leotta’s House proudly displays old family photos in a refreshed interior complete with a fully stocked bar.
“We have given it a full repaint. It was all black ceilings, so we changed it all to white and opened it up a bit more,” he said.
“We have put some Italian flag concepts into it and changed all the seating.”
Mr Shroj said the idea behind the cuisine was to offer good home-style food at a reasonable price.
“It’s not fine dining,” he said.
“It’s just good old fashioned home cooked meals. We’re doing like family bowls of pasta.
“You can get the normal main sizes. Then we have (super) size which is like big boys serve of half a kilo of pasta.
“And we’re doing half metre, one metre and two metre pizzas.
“We kept the prices affordable for families. Basically, you can come in with a family, husband, wife, and three teenage kids, and you won’t spend any more than $150 with drinks.
“There’s not too many places you can go where they don’t look at you cross-eyed when you walk in with six kids.”
Nonna Leotta’s House is open seven-days a week from 11am to 9pm.
“The main thing is, we are happy, bubbly and welcoming for people,” Mr Shroj said.
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Originally published as How a new Italian restaurant is feeding the family for cheap
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