Bellissimo Restaurant on the Dunmore Road is celebrating 20 years serving the people of Waterford and beyond this week.
Proprietor Tony McMahon says business today is a lot different to the year that we originally opened in the year 2000. The restaurant has grown and evolved through the years from the initial restaurant location in the courtyard at the Dunmore Road Business Centre to move to the corner unit to add additional space to having a custom-built New York style loft restaurant built in the perfect location at the epi-centre of Ardkeen. Now two decades on Tony has grown his team and a loyal customer base over these years and is very grateful to both.
Tony says: “We are delighted to celebrate 20 years in business when we first opened in the year 2000 business was certainly very different to how we are operating today. Certain elements have remained steadfast, these include our commitment to local suppliers, celebrating great seasonal ingredients and excellent customer service. However operating a restaurant through lunch, dinner and a click and collect service is certainly being done differently right now. We have put all of the measures required in place and have gone above and beyond in aspects and achieved out Failte Ireland COVID Safety Charter.
“We are very lucky to have built a very loyal customer base over the last 20 years and we are always thrilled to keep that strong following by refreshing our menus each season and endeavouring to keep up with the constant changes and developments in the food world. We are constantly looking for improvements, trying to ensure that a great dining experience is the end result of each and every customer visit. So it’s so far so good and it always brings a smile to our faces when we see customers that were once children arriving into our restaurant some years back, bringing their own kids in now.”
As far as the future goes, Tony says “We are certainly chartering unprecedented waters right now but we have worked through many challenges over the years including the last recession and we are hopeful for the future.”
Tony is also very proud to celebrate the huge growth in the food supplier offering in Waterford over the last two decades, saying, “We really have some incredible local food producers on our doorstep and Waterford in certainly making a name for itself as a food destination, we are very proud of this and are delighted to be part of the Deise culinary scene.”
To celebrate 20 years in business Bellissimo is holding a customer appreciation week at the restaurant from August 25th to 31st with customer tables being randomly rewarded on a lucky dip basis – from Kids Eat for Free, a 10% voucher for your next online order and even enjoy a Free Blue Butterfly Coffee on Bellissimo over the weekend (29th & 30th) by just dropping by and saying ‘hello’. To all of the loyal customers who enjoy Bellissimo@Home, they can enjoy 5% off orders up to €60 online and 10% off orders over €60 online.
