Leanna Coy

News Editor

Cane River Bar and Grill’s old location on Washington St. is now home to Venezia’s Garden, a new Italian restaurant in town. According to owner Audrey Villarreal, the restaurant should be open by this weekend.

Venezia’s Garden will be open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Villarreal said she wanted to open Venezia’s Garden because there weren’t any Italian restaurants in Natchitoches.

Villarreal said the restaurant will have a family atmosphere and emphasized that the food will be authentically Italian. Guests can choose from a variety of pasta, pizza, seafood and salads.

Some of the main entrees include parmigiana, piccata, milanese, marsala and cacciatore. The restaurant also offers a kid’s menu and a few dessert options.

Similar to Cane River Bar and Grill, there will be indoor and outdoor seating as well as a bar area.

Autumn Palmer, freshman, said she thinks Natchitoches will benefit from having a good Italian restaurant. Palmer said that although Cane River Bar and Grill had really good food, there are already a lot of grill houses here.

“Now with an Italian restaurant in its place, there will be a little bit more diversity on Front St. And Natchitoches,” Palmer said.

Stanley Pye, junior, agreed that Natchitoches needs a good Italian restaurant.

“I’m fine with it,” Pye said.

The restaurant is currently hiring servers, bartenders and dishwashers. Anyone over the age of 18 can apply by stopping by Venezia’s Garden in person or calling 214-226-9697.