Italian restaurant Mario House in Barrow to close doors

This is the last year of trade for Mario House in Barrow, bosses have revealed.

The Dalton Road restaurant first opened its doors in 2019 and marked three years of trading in October.

Last year, owner Ionut Dolocan announced plans to expand the business and open a café and shop, known as the Adina Café, in Dalton Road.

However, Mr Dolocan has now revealed the café, which was due to open this summer, will no longer go ahead.

The business-owner will also not be extending the lease of Mario House which is due to expire in December.

Mr Dolocan has attributed one of the reasons which has prompted the restaurant’s closure to a failure to recruit staff.

He said: “This is sadly the last year for Mario House.

“We also started the Adina Cafe project but will be stopping that as well.

“It is a hard decision but we have struggled to find staff and have been trying to find bar staff for over six months.

“We will not extend the contract for Mario House in December.”

Colin Garnett, manager for Barrow BID, hopes the restaurant will reverse its decision to close the site.

He said: “It is really disappointing as I personally loved sitting outside at Mario House and enjoying a meal and a drink.

“The venue embraced pavement dining and made the town look more vibrant with their outdoor furniture and tables. I hope they reverse the decision and choose to stay in Barrow.  

“We have seen a range of ‘eat in’ venues converted to take away or delivery venues during the pandemic and I wonder if the general public are yet to regain the confidence to start eating out again.

“Barrow BID would be interested to hear from ‘eat in’ venue owners to discover if they are still feeling the effects of the COVID pandemic and are witnessing a reduction in customer numbers in comparison to pre-pandemic times.

“Individuals can contact Barrow BID at manager@barrowbid.co.uk or 07955 816000 to discuss how the pandemic is still affecting them and how Barrow BID might be able to assist."