Pizzeria Villagio re-opened in March this year, bringing takeaway pizza, pasta, coffee and cotoletta rolls back to the centre of Yenda.

Since firing the ovens back up, Riverina residents have travelled from near and far to test out the authentic Italian food and manager Jude Hannon said she can't believe how busy they've been.

"It's been really, really good ... better than we ever expected," Mrs Hannon said.

"The Yenda community has been wonderful and they've been very grateful. We've had comments that the little town is buzzing again."

The venue was previously a dine-in restaurant, but re-opening in the middle of the pandemic inspired Mrs Hannon to shift the business to takeaway only.

"We've made everything COVID conscious and it has made things a lot easier to operate," she said.

"We are just across the road from the beautiful park and the skate park so it's been a really good family environment for picnics."

Mrs Hannon managed the business, which has also gone by Provedore Pizza, with her husband from the 90s up until the Yenda floods in 2012.

As a born and bred Yenda girl, she said she was proud to once again help out her hometown by delivering authenic Italian food right on their doorsteps.

"It's is homemade and it's all fresh produce," she said.

"Everything on and in the pizzas is fresh and we use all our own sauces so we've definitely got a unique taste which people seem to like.

"I think everyone is grateful to have another option for takeaway food in Yenda."

READ MORE

Mrs Hannon said she had received feedback that the pizzeria had helped lift spirits across Yenda and she was excited to see the town grow over the next few years.

"It's been really nice and it feels like the town is coming back to life," she said.

"We've got other things that are happening in the town and I just love it."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: