A POPULAR Italian restaurant in the heart of Bury town centre is set to become even more of a magnet for food lovers.

Verona Ristorante, which occupies a distinctive building in Silver Street, at the corner with Broad Street, has just undergone a £60,000 refurbishment.

And to mark the completion of the work, Bury’s mayor Cllr Sharon Briggs was invited to carry out the official relaunch.

During her visit, the civic guest chatted to owner Stefano Zuri and his staff, accompanied by the mayoress, Shirley Rabbitt.

Stefano is well-known within the restaurant and hospitality trade in Bury, having come to the UK from his native Italy and lived in the town for the past 23 years.

“Previously, he had worked at the then Bacco’s restaurant, which occupied the same site, for nine years.

“I bought the restaurant and changed its name to Verona 11 years ago,” he said. “I think the restaurant occupies the best building in the whole of the town centre.”

The recent refurbishment took three months to complete and the restaurant traded as normal throughout.

He added: “We now have a new and modern bar, a partition wall, a new kitchen and fancy brass lamps to keep the food warm.

“We are a 50-seater restaurant and business has been boosted already following the work.”

Stefano, aged 51, has also revealed that he plans to expand by opening a second restaurant in the borough next year which he says will offer a “continental” cuisine.

Further good news for Verona, which has a staff of seven, is that it is currently ranked first out of 156 Bury restaurants on the TripAdvisor website.