Redevelopment blamed for closure of Italian restaurant

ONE of the country’s biggest Italian restaurant chains is to quit Birmingham completely.

Strada had announced in January it was closing its Mailbox site.

Now its second major restaurant at the International Convention Centre (ICC) has closed.

Staff were only informed a week before the closure.

General manager Natalja Bulgakova said a contributing factor towards the closure was the scale of redevelopment in the Broad Street area.

She said: “The amount of building developments in the city is crazy and drives us mad, but they are going to be fabulous for the city.

“The decision to close was made from the top and is nothing we can influence so it’s the end of an era.”

She added: “We have 25 great staff and we’ve already managed to find new jobs for many of them.”

As well as Strada Mailbox, other high profile closures in Birmingham this year include Square Pie, Izza Pizza, Cereal Killer Cafe, Rofuto, Turners at 69, Friska and Cheval Blanc.

Last year also began with the closure of Le Monde, a fish restaurant in Brindleyplace, followed by the closure of of Lobster Peninsula, Mr White’s English Chophouse, Annexe, Modu, Fishylicious, Mechu, Portofino, Comida 21, Meating, Two Cats, Searcys, Chi Kitchen and the £1.2 million Viva Brazil.

However, recent high profile openings in Birmingham include Gusto, Gaucho, The Ivy and Revolucion de Cuba with Gino D’Acampo coming soon.