Bacio Italian Cuisine to Close

After almost eight years,  owner and chef Robert Minniti of Cinnaminson is closing the doors of his popular Route 130 restaurant.

But, it’s not due to the economy or poor attendance at the Italian restaurant. Minniti and his wife Pamela are concentrating on the  they started two years ago.

“The catering at the Marketplace has gotten so busy,” Robert Minniti said. “It’s just physically impossible to do both.”

Minniti called the catering aspect of Bacio a “real success story.”

After about five years into the restaurant, the Minnitis wanted to expand their business and sell retail of almost all the products they serve at the restaurant—including the most popular item, the mushroom soup.

They opened a storefront on Main Street in Moorestown and just recently, started to sell $6 bistro lunches to the busy work crowd downtown.

Because of the success of the , Minniti said the difficult decision to close the restaurant was made.

The last day will be June 25.

“We were struggling to get all the work done now,” Minniti said, hinting that come the holidays, it will only be busier.

“Rather than put ourselves in a positive to hurt our reputation, we thought it was in our best interest to go the way of the catering,” he said.

Bacio offers catering for any event and at the Marketplace, they offer a variety of soups, heat-and-serve items, breads, pastas and more. Now that the Marketplace is open for lunch, guests can order salads, sandwiches and more.

“We’re well-known because we’ve been around for so long,” Minniti said. “Truthfully, I didn’t expect us to get this busy this fast. It’s a good problem to have. I didn’t expect it to take off as quickly as it did.”

And because of the takeoff, Minniti is adding more events to the Marketplace location.

He already has a farm to fork event scheduled and Bacio cooking classes.

“We’re booking some really cool evening events,” Minniti said.

He wants to start special menus, chef’s tasting events and music nights.

“Although Bacio is changing,” Minniti said, “my wife and I are still going to be around feeding people for a long time.”

He’s sad to be moving his business out of Cinnaminson because of all the friendships he’s made, he said.

“Naturally, people are a little sad. I’ve gotten some really moving emails from a lot of my guests. I’ve seen some of these people get engaged in my restaurant, have their rehearsal dinner here, then have a baby and have their baby shower in my restaurant,” Minniti said. “We’re not disappearing or going away. We’re just going to be focusing in a different direction.”

Minniti said all gift cards will be honored at the Marketplace whether or not they are expired. They will be redeemable for any item, catering order or eat-in or take-out lunches. The Marketplace is located at 75 E. Main St. in Moorestown.

“I’m very appreciative of Cinnaminson and the residents we’ve known throughout the years,” Minniti said. “We’re very excited about this move. This is just the beginning of some really fantastic things we have in the works.”