A Liverpool restaurant is rightfully ingrained in the hearts of Liverpudlians after serving generations of families for nearly five decades.
Casa Italia is one of the most famous restaurants in the city, with families, friends and co-workers often choosing the Italian eatery for their get-togethers. Based on Stanley Street, the family-run restaurant is known for its delicious traditional pizza and pasta dishes, with hungry customers often being seen queuing outside Casa Italia’s door.
The restaurant first opened in 1976 and has been owned by the same Italian family for nearly five decades. As part of the Liverpool ECHO ’s How It Used To Be series, we spoke to the current owner of Casa Italia, Arran Campolucci-Bordi, who’s the great-grandson of the original owner, Cavaliere Mario Campolucci-Bordi.
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Arran has worked at the restaurant for 15 years and has been in charge for nine years. He told the ECHO how life at Casa Italia has changed since it first opened back in the 1970s.
He said: “It’s so rare to see any business, especially a restaurant, thrive for almost 47 years and to serve three generations of local families. Our customer base is different to when we first opened because the demographic of people eating out has changed over the last few decades.
“To be blunt about it, in the 1970s, only the ‘well off’ used to eat out. We now serve everyone from grandparents to teenagers, locals to tourists, students to lawyers, first dates to 50th anniversaries. It's a great mix of people all together enjoying a meal which all adds to the atmosphere.”
Arran tells us it’s this atmosphere that’s most talked about, but he thinks the secret to Casa Italia’s success lies elsewhere. He explained: “I believe it's our ability to maintain our exceptional service and quality food while delivering value for money for four decades.
“A lot has changed in that time and we’ve worked hard every day to maintain our standards. Our menu has largely stayed the same over the years. I’d say almost 90% of it is exactly the same as it was 47 years ago when we opened.
“We have condensed it slightly over the last 10 years to ensure we maintain quality and also to keep our prices as low as possible. Costs over the 47 years have increased, of course, due to living wage increases and food prices, but we have largely stayed on the same track as inflation.”
In 2019, Casa Italia won the award for best restaurant in Liverpool. It’s safe to say the eatery wouldn’t have continued to thrive for nearly five decades if it wasn’t for its loyal customers.
Speaking about their customers, Arran said: “A massive, genuine and heartfelt ‘thank you’. We are proud to have served the great people of Liverpool for all these years.
“We believe that, if we can provide genuine value to people, they will reciprocate that back to us by returning. When Casa Italia opened there were only a handful of restaurants in the city. Now there are hundreds of restaurants in Liverpool, and we're still as busy as ever.”
Casa Italia is on 36-40 Stanley Street, L1 6AL. It’s open seven days a week and offers delivery. The restaurant only takes reservations for six people or more which can be booked here.
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