Bistro to reopen as Trattoria with familiar Italian menu

A local restaurant is once again opening its doors for business.

The Bistro will reopen Tuesday as Anthony’s Trattoria, serving the same Italian-style cuisine that made the original restaurant so popular.

The Italian eatery at 1312 Nevada Highway is under the new management of Drew Stopper and Brandy Sandoval.

Stopper said his goal in opening the restaurant is to create a feeling of familiarity that former owner Bryce Hansen worked to cultivate before his death in September of last year.

“The Bistro was always a place where you could come in and get a good steak and a glass of wine,” Stopper said. “The new restaurant is going to stay like that — a place where you can get good food, wine and conversation.”

The restaurant will have a soft opening, giving employees and the owners a chance to try out the new menu and customers an opportunity to talk about the food and the restaurant’s aesthetic.

Sandoval said she has high hopes for their debut and that the new menu would be well worth customers’ time.

“Everything is starting to come together,” Sandoval said. “We have some amazing food ideas and the portions are really big right now so I think our guests are going to be really pleased with that. I am just really excited to get started.”

Sandoval said that Sundays will be reserved for special events.

Stopper is no rookie to the industry, having run restaurants and bars in his hometown of Reading, Pennsylvania, since the 1980s.

Stopper’s former employee Tony DelVecchio, who worked as a casting producer on the Food Network show “Restaurant Impossible,” said that Stopper taught him to be successful in the restaurant business and that his venture as a Boulder City restaurateur will be successful.

“I owe everything to Drew because he taught me how to run an organic and personally owned restaurant,” DelVecchio said. “This restaurant is going to do great because Drew has a personal touch with everyone who walks through the door and he knows how to run a business where the customers matter.”

DelVecchio also said that reopening The Bistro would not be possible without Hansen’s legacy.

“I did not know Bryce very well, but he did a wonderful job at creating a restaurant that kept people coming back,” he said. “I don’t think anyone would feel as confident as we do about reopening this place if Bryce hadn’t put a smile on every customer’s face when they ate at The Bistro.”

The restaurant opens at 4 p.m. For reservations or more information, call 702-955-5988.

Contact reporter Max Lancaster at mlancaster @bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9401. Follow him on Twitter @MLancasterBCR.