Belgrade Plaza's Italian restaurants a hit

Enthusiastic diners are providing a roaring trade for Coventry’s ‘Pizza Plaza’.

PizzaExpress and Bella Italia opened restaurants at Oakmoor Deeley’s Belgrade Plaza development before Christmas and have both enjoyed massive interest.

The restaurants, the first two to open at the £130m Belgrade development, both say that trade has been busier than expected.

PizzaExpress, which can seat 164 customers, was first to open at the Plaza in early November, and manager Natalie Green says she’s been thrilled with the local response.

“We’re delighted to be in the Belgrade Plaza and have been busy since we opened.

“We’ve got a fantastic new spring menu and a great team from the local area.

“The theatre and cinema keep us busy during the week and at weekends and we expect to welcome more customers as more businesses come to the development.”

Bella Italia has also enjoyed a surge of diners using the restaurant.

Deputy Manager John Gonzales said: “We were expecting the first few months of the year to be quiet months, though Coventry has proven us wrong and ever since we opened we have been booked up at weekends as much as two weeks in advance.

“Coventry has really welcomed the Bella Italia dining experience being brought to the city and judging by the positive feedback we’ve had from our customers Coventry has needed a place like this for many years.

“Being located next to the Belgrade Theatre and shopping quarter is great for us and we’ve also been getting a lot of people staying at the Premier Inn dining with us.”

The Belgrade Plaza development also includes the Premier Inn, a multi-storey car park and a new £1m public square with water features.

Picture: Tim Hurdiss (Oakmoor Deeley), Natalie Green (Manager, PizzaExpress), Justyna Przybysz (Assistant Manager, Bella Italia), Lisa Bennett (Oakmoor Deeley)