An iconic Italian business has been brought back to life in George Town, 60 years after it first opened.
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Mario's was an institution and place where many community members gathered to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and other milestones.
Built and run by Mario D'Orazio and his family, the business started out as a cafe in 1960.
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A decade later it grew to become George Town's first licensed restaurant and the second of its kind in Tasmania.
After about 50 years Mario's was no more but when Rob Macedon found out about the business he could not resist researching its history.
"They [Mr D'Orazio and his brothers] came from Italy for a new life," Mr Macedon said.
"It's got massive, massive history."
While Mr D'Orazio built the business from the ground up, he also worked at the Bell Bay smelter and became a much-adored community member.
"After he opened the business, he went overseas and got married and brought his wife back," Mr Macedon explained.
"I saw this place for sale and the agent told me about the story behind it and I met the family. This is a landmark in George Town, it's Mario's Corner.
"I just fell in love with it and I bought the building off his children."
Mr Macedon put a new kitchen in and made some minor alterations before Don Mario's was opened last week.
"We've reincarnated it but we've added the Don in front of it, it's a mark of respect in Spanish, it doesn't mean gangsters," he joked.
"We tried to keep it as original as we could, the wallpaper is the same."
The business is viewed by Mr Macedon as another opportunity for him to give back to George Town.
"I love the town and I think it's very underrated," he said.
"It's awesome, people are beautiful and friendly.They don't have anything like this and we thought we'd revive what was here."
Eight staff members are employed at Don Mario's and Mr Macedon said one of them was a young apprentice chef.
"We're open seven days a week at the moment, but we will probably end up falling in line with the catering calendar and closing on Monday and Tuesday," Mr Macedon advised.
