The cafe on its opening day in July 1961
Mario's Continental Cafe was an eatery on Rosamund Street that opened up in July 1961 in the former premises of Snape's Cafe after owner Sylvia Snape moved to Newcastle.
It was owned by Mario Bonarti, an ambitious youngster from Castellammare, Italy who had been in the United Kingdom since 1956 working for his Uncle Giovanni in his cafe in Rochdale and thought he knew what sort of business would go down well in a place like Weatherfield. His father Leo had come over from Italy three months before to join him and he had his own firm ideas, convinced that authentic Italian cuisine would be welcomed by the locals, an assessment that Mario thoroughly disagreed with though as a dutiful son he let his father have his way.
The Bonartis did not make wholesale changes to the structure or layout of the cafe, choosing instead to invoke an Italian atmosphere through the use of its decor including flowered wallpaper, wine baskets, trellises, vines, table cloths, appropriate accordion music and, for Mario, a poster of his beloved Castellammare. Whilst English food was available, Leo also came up with an Italian menu but the residents of Weatherfield were not used to such culinary delights at that time and mostly stuck with their tried and tested choices. Elsie Tanner was an exception and braved the bolognese. Leo tutored her how to eat the dish with a spoon rather than wrapping it round her fork which she did with some difficulty, commenting that it was like eating tripe through a veil.
In time, the residents did try the cafe more and more but Mario was always on the lookout to make improvements to please the customers, such as installing a jukebox in the premises to attract the younger crowd.
- The cafe and its occupants did not appear, nor were mentioned in the programme again after September 1961.