A new restaurant is preparing to open in the former location of Cafe Pizzaria, a Bloomington staple for over 70 years that closed suddenly in August 2024.

Read more: Cafe Pizzaria, Bloomington's oldest pizza restaurant, closes

The new restaurant, Bella Ciao, wants to open before the upcoming fall semester. It awaits a final food service inspection from the city.

According to representatives of the new ownership group, the operators had hoped to acquire the Cafe Pizzaria name and its recipes, but another party obtained those rights first.

"We know it was like history, like a restaurant that made history,” said Oprah Gonzalez, marketing manager of Bella Ciao.

“It was here for more than 70 years, and we wanted to take over that. We wanted to buy the name, but unfortunately, some people got it first."

Because of that, Gonzalez said Bella Ciao will be a new concept.

"It's going to be a pizzeria, but everything is going to be homemade,” she said.

"It's really exciting that people have that memory, and we're going to try to continue to make those memories."

Even though the restaurant will not carry the Cafe Pizzaria name, Gonzalez said the ownership group understands the significance of the location to the Bloomington community.