Family to open second branch of popular Italian restaurant
A FAMILY-RUN run restaurant in Cardiff has announced that it will be opening a second branch of its popular diner, after 35 years in business.
Pizzeria Villaggio, one of Cardiff’s oldest Italian restaurants, first opened in 1986 and is run by the Palladino family.
The restaurant, which is based on Merthyr Road in Whitchurch, has now announced that it will be expanding the family business.
Posts across their social media channels say that the restaurant would be opening on Fidlas Road, near Rhydypenau crossroads
A post, which was shared across the restaurant’s Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter accounts, read: “Breaking News... We are delighted to announce that the family business is expanding further.
“Pizzeria Villaggio Rhydypenau Crossroads will be opening very soon on Fidlas Road, on the site of the previous Bon Cafe. Stay tuned for more news soon.”
Marc Palladino, owner of Pizzeria Villagio, says that he’s “excited” about the restaurant’s expansion.
“We’ve been looking for the right spot for years to be honest,” Marc told the Echo.
“This spot came up via a friend and it suited us down to the ground. I’ve always been on the lookout, but it had to be the right location.”
Marc says that the new outlet will need redecorating before it opens, but is aiming to open towards the beginning of October. Marc’s father, Umberto, opened the original Whitchurch site in 1986.
“I was there with him when we opened the front door, as a youngster,” said Marc, who would have been 24 at the time.
He said that the restaurant was set up after he and his father went to visit Marc’s brother, musician Pino Palladino, when he was living in London.
On these visits, they would go to Pizzeria Castello in Elephant and Castle, and thought that setting up a similar restaurant in Cardiff “would be a good thing to do”.
He said: “We lived in Whitchurch so it seemed like the perfect spot. There was nothing here at the time.”
Umberto had previously owned a Welsh restaurant, Yr Ystafell Cymraeg, on Whitchurch
Road, having opened it in the 1970s prior to opening Pizzeria Villagio.
Marc added: “We’re WelshItalian – my father’s Italian, my mother’s Welsh, but we class ourselves as Welsh-Italians.
“It is authentic to our family’s recipes rather than the staple Italians. We put our little touch on things.”
The popular restaurant also opened a restaurant upstairs in its Whitchurch location in December last year.
Called Sopra 73, which means ‘Above 73’ in Italian, the restaurant was opened by Marc – owner of both Sopra 73 and Pizzeria Villaggio – with head chef is Padrig ‘Paj’ Jones and Francis Dupuy running front of house.
The restaurant draws on French, Italian and Welsh influences.