Award-winning Italian restaurant to move from Bolton-le-Sands to Morecambe

Thursday, 17 March 2022 20:49

By Greg Lambert @greglam72

MiaItalia pizza restaurant in Bolton-le-Sands will move to Morecambe.

An award-winning pizza restaurant is set to move from Bolton-le-Sands to Morecambe.

Miaitalia will soon relocate after nine years in the village, to Queen Street in Morecambe town centre.

Plans are in place to demolish the current restaurant in Hawthorne House on the Byepass Road and replace it with five houses.

The pizzeria has been operating solely as a takeaway since the Covid pandemic began and owner David Waddington said the restaurant business was "no longer viable" on the Bolton-le-Sands site.

He said that his customers had "generally been very supportive" of his relocation plans.

Listen to David Waddington talking about the history of Miaitalia and his decision to move to Morecambe.

"I don't think it's a shock to anyone that many catering and hospitality businesses have had to reassess what they can and can't do; we've all lived through the same pandemic," said Mr Waddington, who set up Miaitalia with his wife Katy in 2013.

"For lots of reasons, Miaitalia hasn't been viable. It ran at a loss for several years before turning a small profit in 2018.

"We can often appear to be very busy but the economics are, it doesn't always tell the full picture.

"We've put in a lot more than what's come out of it, even before Covid. So the decision was made pre-Covid, although the pandemic has cemented that decision."

MiaItalia won Best Pizzeria at the national 2016 Italian Awards, supported by celebrity chef Aldo Zilli.

It then followed this up by winning Best Italian Establishment at the 2019 Food Awards England.

"I think we have a pretty good reputation locally and further afield, we've won quite a few notable awards, including national awards; it's always done very well reputationally," said Mr Waddington.

"We are planning to move it to Morecambe. Our premises on Queen Street will be a smaller version, with room to seat about 18 people, probably an even split between diners and takeaway."

The new Miaitalia will be housed inside a premises where Mr Waddington previously made his Italian gelato ice cream (see below)

He will also continue to run his popular cafe and gelato shop on the opposite side of the road in the former Hart's cafe.

Currently named mia.mio (see below), this will be renamed miagelato, and gelato will be made and sold on the premises.

"We've had the two premises for several years now and had this conundrum of how best to operate," said Mr Waddington.

"I've always been fond of Morecambe, having grown up in the area. You can see and feel that Morecambe is going through a regeneration, and deserves to."

Meanwhile, Lancaster City Council planners have recommended that plans to demolish the Hawthorne House building in Bolton-le-Sands and replace it with five new houses, should be refused.

A council report, published this week, said a more "robust and transparent marketing exercise" needed to take place to show "that the retention of the existing use is no longer economically viable or feasible".

Mr Waddington is pressing ahead with plans to relocate regardless, as he awaits a final decision.

He explained to Beyond Radio why he believes his Bolton-le-Sands restaurant is no longer viable. Listen here: