After 34 years of trading, a beloved family restaurant is set to close and look for a new location at the end of its lease.
Tony and Maria’s is one of several businesses that share Park House, on Greenhill Crescent in Watford Business Park, but its lease will end in June.
Joe Iannotta, who runs the Italian restaurant his parents founded, said the family are pushing to try to stay at their current location until September, but explained they are now “battling” to continue trading as they have done for over three decades.
He said: “We currently have a real predicament.
“It is such a difficult situation because we want to keep being a family business and serving workers in the businesses park.
“It does feel like the public is behind us to help see if we can get an opportunity to be relocated or carry on here until September.”
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One option would be to move into a nearby development being built at the end of Greenhill Crescent, near the roundabout, if the family can secure a retail unit there.
This would be the preferred choice, allowing them to stay nearby, but if they close in June it would mean staying shut without a new location until those units are ready months later.
The restaurant, despite being hidden away on an industrial estate, is already a community fixture and particularly popular with those working nearby.
Mr Iannotta said: “Developers in the area said they are looking for places people can socialise and build a community feel and that’s what we’d like to contribute to.
“We love anyone to come and eat with us and as Italians we take any excuse to break bread with people.
“Our customers are so well known to us we can basically sit with any of them and talk with them at lunch.
Tony and Maria’s has been in touch with Watford Borough Council and chartered surveyors Stimpsons to see if it can get a “head start” and have its next location locked in before it has to close.
Watford Mayor Peter Taylor is due to visit and speak with the owners about their concerns in March.
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