Sinclairs: Former Sheffield department store to be ‘ambitious’ Italian restaurant with late night music

Grappa is set to be a restaurant and bar at 266 Glossop Road with outdoor terraza and music until 2am. A licensing application has been submitted to allow it to open until 2am Monday to Saturday, and until 1am on Sundays, if approved by Sheffield City Council.

The site was home to Sinclairs department store, famous for selling luxury goods for more than 50 years, from 1967 until 2019, before it moved to Ecclesall Road. The large unit was then taken over by burger restaurant So Famous, which closed following mixed reviews.

Now, Grappa founder, Steve Zsirai, is promising to set the standard for quality bar and dining in the area. The plan is to open in late autumn.

No one knows the West Street area better, he claims. Mr Zsirai landed his first restaurant management job at K-Pasa way back in the late 1990s. He previously worked at the legendary Flying Pizza and was the brains behind the Tequila Bar, which continues to draw crowds on West Street week after week. One of his most popular ventures was Viva Tequila in the Gleadless area of Sheffield – the restaurant was one of the most popular eateries in the region during the late 1990s and early 2000s. He has also run one of Chesterfield’s highest-rated Italians, Giorgio’s, for the past 10 years.

Mr Zsirai said: “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 30-plus years in the trade it’s the importance of providing customers with that ‘holiday feeling’ and a sense of escapism. I always treat my staff like my extended family – and I believe that same feeling should be passed onto our customers.”

Mr Zsirai says he was weened on the flavours and culture of Campania – the Italian region his mother grew up in and flavours and dishes from across Italy will dominate the Grappa menu.

It is also set to offer daytime coffee and lunch, after-work drinks and dinner. Plans show a rustic downstairs bar area and a more luxurious upstairs, 80-seater restaurant, connected by a 'breath-taking' mirrored staircase.

'Central to the DNA' of Grappa will be the legendary Italian liqueur of the same name. The Sheffield venue already has links with the Italian home of the drink – the country's oldest and most renowned distillery supplied Steve Zsirai with his very first bottles.

Steve Zsirai said: “We’ll have more varieties and more opportunities to celebrate my home nation's official liqueur than anywhere else in the UK.”