Award-winning Galway restaurant closing one chapter and 'moving on' after 12 years

Il Vicolo will be leaving their home at Bridge Mills and will celebrate 12 years of “food, wine and unforgettable moments” there with a final service on September 30.

They thanked their customers, friends and team for being “part of our journey” and said they are open nightly until their final service on September 30.

The award-winning restaurant has won best Italian Establishment in Ireland three times at the Food Awards as well as being mentioned six years in a row in the Michelin Guide.

In a statement on their Instagram page, the owners said: “After 12 memorable years at the Bridge Mills, we are delighted to announce that Il Vicolo is relocating.

“Our final service at the Bridge Mills will be on Wednesday, 30 September, and we’ll be announcing our new premises in the coming weeks.

“All existing gift vouchers will, of course, be honoured when we reopen.We would like to thank our customers and staff for being part of Il Vicolo over the past 12 years.

“We’re excited for the next chapter and look forward to welcoming you all back to Il Vicolo very soon.”

The restaurant raised €116,000 five years ago to launch legal action against the Covid vaccine passes which would only allow people with the Cert into pubs and restaurants during the strictest of lockdowns.

They claimed this to be “legally, morally, and ethically wrong”.

However, in February 2022 once life had returned to normal, the restaurant came under scrutiny as to what would happen with the raised funds now that the lockdown was over.

The restaurant said: “With the recent lifting of the restriction, our legal challenge needs to be reconfigured and/or varied somewhat since the immediate threat of closure is no longer in issue."

Il Vicolo closed the donations page and said “most of the money went to cover solicitors and court costs”, and they say they also “donated the remaining money to charity [as well as] to Galway Fire Service".