Giuliano Italian restaurant launches expansion after successful 2023

Giuliano has expanded its restaurant on Wilmslow Road in Handforth.

Bucking the national trend, the award-winning Italian enjoyed a successful 2023, prompting owner Lulzim Culaj to increase their capacity.

He said: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the response from our loyal customers and ended last year finishing in the top eight best restaurants in the country.

“We’ve now reached the stage where we are consistently fully booked and have found ourselves having to turn customers away.

“Therefore, we have decided to convert our function room to allow for additional seating in the restaurant.”

Giuliano enjoyed a record-breaking Christmas and New Year period (Image: Supplied)

Work to renovate he function room was completed in time for the weekend just gone and all efforts have been taken to ensure this new area replicates the “charm and comfort” of the main dining area.

Giuliano ended 2023 on a high note, experiencing record sales over the Christmas and New Year period.

This comes after the restaurant was named the best in Cheshire at the Englands Business Awards.

READ MORE: ‘Unbelievable' turnaround complete as restaurant named the best in Cheshire

It went on to compete with the nation’s best, coming up short at the grand final in November.

However, it remained a proud moment for Lulzim and his business partners, who took over the then-struggling restaurant in 2019.

Despite having no experience in the industry and an almost impossible start with the pandemic, Lulzim was able to turn the restaurant’s fortunes around.

“It’s been hard, Covid hit soon after we took over,” Lulzim said.

“Since then though we have never looked back and the restaurant has gone from strength to strength.

“It’s been an unbelievable turnaround.”

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Giuliano is located on Wilmslow Road in Handforth (Image: Newsquest)

On the secret to their success, Lulzim added: “I don’t think there’s another restaurant like us who connect to the customers in the way we do - they feel at home and we think of them as part of the family.

“There are places that probably do better food than us, places that are more beautiful and there is probably places that are even more welcoming but I don’t think there is one place that has it all like us and there is hundreds of reviews to back that up."