Luftar Rusta, the current owner of Tasty Greek Souvlaki in Market Place, is set to launch a new Italian restaurant at the Bristol & West Arcade.
The arcade at the end of Friar Street was a busy pedestrian cut‑through lined with shops when it was open, providing access to and from Broad Street.
But the shops were closed in 2007, and they have remained vacant ever since.
What is going on with Reading’s Bristol & West Arcade as new plan is submitted
The building is finally set to be brought back into use, as Mr Rusta’s company La Oliva Ltd has applied to sell alcohol from one of the front-facing retail units.
He has promised that this new Italian cuisine eatery will be ‘the best in Reading’.
Mr Rusta said: “It’s not ready yet, I’m going through the design process and could start the build and fit out in a few months – it’s going to be a proper Italian restaurant, with fresh handmade pasta, steak, pizza dough, speck, seafood, seabass and all of those favourites.
“It’ll be a proper Italian eatery, for 26 years I was the chief executive chef in an Italian restaurant in Royal Tunbridge Wells – I want to make this the best Italian restaurant in Reading.”
Luftar Rusta, the owner of Tasty Greek Souvlaki at Market Place, Reading town centre. (Image: James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporting Service)
Ahead of the preparation works, Mr Rusta has submitted a licensing application to sell alcohol from 11am to 11pm each day to Reading Borough Council.
The La Oliva company is owned by Mr Rusta and fellow director Edra Shtembati.
La Oliva will enter an already bustling scene for Italian food in Reading, with the existing independents largely being small deli-size businesses and pizzerias.
Examples include Madoo, Mama’s Way, Amo, Zi Tore, Zottadeli and Vesuvio.
La Oliva will be more of a traditional restaurant, competing with chains Bella Italia, Zizzi, Prezzo and Bella Italia.
A statutory consultation into the application submitted by La Oliva is currently live.
You can respond by emailing licensing@reading.gov.uk. The deadline for responses closes on Monday, April 13.
Tasty Greek Souvlaki will be celebrating its sixth anniversary in May, as it opened in 2020, the year of the coronavirus pandemic.
The food at Tasty Greek Souvlaki in Market Place, Reading town centre. (Image: James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporting Service)
The restaurant in Market Place sells a range of beers, including Greek brands Mythos and Alfa, wines and spirits such as ouzo and metaxa.
There was previously a plan to demolish the Bristol & West Arcade and replace it with an eight‑storey hotel, which was ultimately never enacted.
Offices above the arcade are in the process of being converted into 20 flats.
