Restaurant owner retains all staff as he reopens following lockdown

Marco Giannasi bought the historic Battlefield Rest from Glasgow City Corporation in 1992 turning the former resting and courting place for tram travellers, which dates back to 1914, into a popular continental/Italian bistro which opened two years later.

He admits he didn’t know if it would last one year, but hard work brought success and now 26 years later he is confident he has the right team to weather the trials and hardship brought on by Covid-19.

Marco said: “I took the building from the GCC in 1992 and had no idea if we would survive a winter, however thanks to the wonderful people of the southside and our hardworking team we reached 25 years.

“A business without a good workforce will not survive, our dedicated and prepared staff has been with us for many years which gives me the confidence needed to reopen Battlefield Rest to mark in 26 years in October.

“This has been a horrible time, but the good news is that at the moment we will retain all our staff contrary to all the redundancy being done by some big companies which I think is very premature when no one knows what our future will bring.

“We will operate a one metre plus social distance and due to the reduced space please phone first to check availability.”

The Battlefield Rest, which is open seven days, has introduced a ‘Take Me Home’ menu and off-license sales are now available.

Marco has also submitted a planing application for an extended outdoor area to compensate the lost indoor space.