Shutters down, phones off and 'bookings cancelled' as mystery surrounds Italian restaurant

Diners are mystified after a south Liverpool restaurant reportedly cancelled bookings and closed its doors for weeks.

Justino's Italian Restaurant and Bar, on Aigburth Road, appears to have been closed since the start of March, despite the venue being listed as open on Google and Facebook and no information having been shared online about a closure. For a number of weeks the shutters have been down on the restaurant, which was once visited by Steven Gerrard.

The site was previously Et Alia, before owner Justino Romero opened the Italian restaurant in 2019. While the restaurant hasn't announced its closure, customers claimed bookings were cancelled and no reason was given. When the ECHO attempted to call the restaurant today on the number published on its website, an automated message said the number "could not accept calls."

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The last post on Justino's social media pages was on Instagram on February 25, when they advertised their roast dinner. Multiple people have left comments, questioning whether it was open or not. One person said: "Hey tried ringing up and online booking and it won't work." Another person replied: "It's been closed for weeks now."

A recent Google reviewer said a meal they had booked was cancelled "for no reason", and they added: "No response from anyone, mailbox full on voicemail."

A recent TripAdvisor review reads: "Booked my fiancée birthday meal here for 6.30pm on 13th March. Confirmed text message from the restaurant. Got to the restaurant on the evening of the booking, to the restaurant to be shut with the shutters down...

"I've messaged and called multiple