MARIO’S RE-OPENS IN BROADBEACH

Good news if you’ve been missing Mario’s Italian Restaurant. The family favourite is back in business

ONE of the longest-standing eateries on the Gold Coast has just emerged from major renovations. The Ierna and Dimattina families have been hard at work creating a Mario’s that’s fresh yet familiar.

“Basically we had to do a bit of a makeover along with the whole renovation of the Broadbeach Mall,” Andrew Dimattina says.

“We took over the whole shop next door, which I think was originally Bugsy’s. What we’ve got now is a nice big island bar, we’ve opened up the kitchen and we used to have the cantina outside but that’s moved inside the restaurant as a walk-in area for gelato and coffee, all in one big space.”

Some things have changed, but others, including the menu, have stayed the same.

“We’ve had a classic menu for 27 years and, you know what they say, when something’s not broke …,” Andrew says.

“So we’ve got the same menu but with a few tweaks. We’ve got a new chef on board as well who’s fantastic. We’re going with a more traditional Italian theme – some of the pizzas were gourmet, but now they’re gourmet Italian. We’ve added a couple of traditional dishes such as osso bucco veal shanks with polenta and the burrata entree. We really do listen to our customers and if we make too many changes, trust me, we hear about it.”

A new bar means customers can sip classics like Negroni and Aperol spritz in Italian style

The murals that once covered almost every wall and surface, have been replaced with a more updated design.

“It’s still a pretty classic Italian fitout,” Andrew says.

“We’ve got the nice brick wall with arched mirrors, feature lights and beautiful green tiles that are in the bar and on feature walls. It’s a modern classic.”

Mario’s Italian Restaurant, Oasis Mall, Broadbeach