Owners of closed Swindon Italian restaurant making shock comeback

Many in Swindon were dismayed when the owners of the Italian restaurant La Carbonara, in Kingshill, announced its sudden and unexpected closure before Christmas last year.

It was a family-run restaurant, managed by Lino and Sue Goncalves for over a decade, but the pair made the heart-breaking announcement that due to family health reasons they couldn't continue.

The restaurant building was then placed up for sale in January this year and has remained that way until now. 

That's because Lino and Sue surprised everyone recently by announcing on the restaurant's Facebook page they were going to reopen it. 

It said: "Dear Customers,

"Last year we had to make the hard decision to close La Carbonara, due to ill health and personal reasons but this year we are delighted to announce that we will be re-opening as something different, same owners with new ideas!

"Look out for more updates in the coming weeks. With fondness Lino and Sue."

The post was met with a huge reaction from members of the public, many meeting the news with enthusiasm and positivity and others begging chef Lino to bring back popular dishes from La Carbonara that they've had to go without. 

La Carbonara, Swindon (Image: Newsquest)

Speaking further to the Adver, Sue explained a little bit more about their decision to return months after they had called it a day. 

"We closed La Carbonara because of health issues, but those are on the mend now, so we've been thinking about doing something for a while now and how we might return," she said. 

"We made the announcement just to plant the seed that we're coming back. We don't want to give too much away about our plans yet and there are a lot of things we still need to work out but we've been overwhelmed by the response. It has brought tears to our eyes."

Sue explained that as the hunt for a buyer for the restaurant continued after its closure, it was a difficult and dark time and she began to miss running an eatery and kept think that she wanted to get back in that environment. 

"One of the best things about running a restaurant is seeing people, talking to them, making them happy. There's nothing quite like that moment when people walk out the door with a smile on their faces saying thank you.

"We want to recreate that atmosphere and that ambience we had."