Billericay Italian restaurant opens next to White Horse Pub

Steve Haslam, who runs the White Horse pub, in Heath Road, Billericay, has opened the doors to Urban Italia after transforming a former South American restaurant. 

The site was previously Urban Fresh, owned by Mr Haslam, before he decided to revamp and switch focus to Italian food.

Urban Italia will have a full Italian menu, including fresh pasta and pizza, as well as the odd pub classicsYummy - Some of the food at the new restaurant (Image: Steve Haslam)

The restaurant had a soft launch yesterday, and will continue to operate throughout the rest of the week, before an official opening night on Saturday.

Mr Haslam said: “We are really excited by this.

“Before, we had Urban Fresh with a South American theme, but we wanted to do something different, a bit lighter, fresher, and hearty.

“We happened to have three guys that worked and spent a lot of time in Italy, and a chef that is Italian-trained, so we went with Urban Italia.

“The décor is amazing, with walls covered in graffiti, like you would see in any major city in Italy. It’s a very cool vibe.”

Exciting - Owner Steve Haslam (Image: Steve Haslam)

Mr Haslam is also hoping to add a “sprinkling” of Italian to the White Horse pub menu and is confident the new restaurant will become a big hit. 

“The pub has its own menu still, but with a few sprinklings of Italy. Then Urban Italia is the full restaurant with table service and everything you would expect from a restaurant,” he said.

Wow - The stunning inside of the restaurant (Image: Steve Haslam)

“It has a very Italian menu, but on the back, we also offer five or six classic pub dishes from next door.

“So, you get the best of both worlds.

“Our Urban in Ely has just become the number one restaurant in Ely, so it will be nice to work on this one and hopefully make it the number one Italian restaurant in Essex.”

The new restaurant comes after the brewery behind The White Horse Pub listed it on the market for £1.38million.

However, the lease on the pub remains, with it still operating as usual and remaining open “well into the future.”

Mr Haslam added: “It is not closing, and it is not affected by the sale.”