Italian restaurant Oscar Italia in Varsity Lakes forced to close

A Gold Coast business owner says their hand has been forced as the cost of living crisis sees an unfortunate trend sweeping the Coast.

A celebrated Gold Coast eatery will close its doors for the last time on Saturday just a month after being nominated as best Italian restaurant in the city.

Oscar Italia owner Leisa Provost said the Varsity Lakes business had been devastated by the cost of living crisis, making it cheaper to shut up shop and pay rent until September 26 on an empty premises than to continue operating.

“Costs are going up, wages are going up and people don’t make reservations like they used to,” she said.

Owner Leisa Provost at the restaurant after making the decision. Picture Glenn Hampson

“You just have to wait around and nobody comes, so it’s costing me every week thousands of dollars – it’s going be cheaper just to pay the rent and stay closed than it is to open.”

The business owner said the move may be part of an unfortunate trend sweeping the Gold Coast as families were forced to tighten the belt on discretionary spending.

“We’ve always had lots of positive reviews and people love the venue – but when we first opened four years ago we were doing 80 to 100 people on Friday and Saturday nights, now we’re doing 30 to 40 people,” she said.

“For the last year that whole part of our market, which is people with families, have not been able to come because it’s just too expensive. You can’t give up groceries, the school bills, electricity – what you can give up is going out for dinner and that’s where we’ve really struggled.”

Ms Provost said costs would only increase as of next month with mandatory wage increases for hospitality workers across the country, but she wasn’t prepared to cut food quality just to make ends meet.

Owner Leisa Provost at the restaurant after making the decision. Picture Glenn Hampson

“I get the best quality ingredients and we make everything from scratch, which is expensive, but I’m just not prepared to put out shocking food,” she said.

“I didn’t mind that I haven’t paid myself – my husband and I haven’t made a single dollar. We’ve made a loss every year but we keep pumping in money from other businesses, waiting for times to sort of get better, but they seem to just be getting worse.”

Ms Provost said she wanted to be transparent with the community and make them aware that if anyone wants to hire the space for a function, she’s open to it.

“If anyone has a party or a large group booking, we can cater to that and open for the day,” she said.

“I’m open to ideas and fortunate enough that I own the venue next door where we are able to absorb some of our staff.”