Inside Sunderland's new Bianco restaurant as it transforms empty city centre site in Green Terrace

A new Italian grill restaurant has opened its doors aimed at providing affordable quality food.

Business partners Edison Demiraj and Eduardo Llewellyn have spent the past six months transforming the corner unit in Green Terrace, which is passed by thousands each day on one of the gateways into the city centre.

Its previous guises have included Cafe Blue Cobra and Casa Italia, before most recently being Mariano's, but it has stood empty for some time since.

The pair saw the potential in such a prime site and have taken down stud walls to open up the interior of the site and transform it into Bianco.

"Sunderland is really on the up, it's becoming a place people will want to come to more and more," said Edison who has worked at restaurants across Sunderland and Durham for many years. "There's a huge amount of investment in the city, new restaurants opening, housing estates being built and hopefully the new film studios and we really saw the potential in this site.

"It's such a shame to have a spot like this, which is passed by so many people, stand empty.

"The restaurant had been empty for some time and hadn't really been changed in a decade so we did a full refurb and a major makeover - we filled four skip loads when we first got the keys - to make the most of the space and make it lighter."

Additions at the restaurant, which has created nine new jobs, include Venetian-style marble-effect murals which were hand-painted, a private dining area and around 55 covers.

The menu is 85% Italian as well as some fusion grill dishes made on the charcoal grill.

"As well as the quality of the food, the most important thing is the price," said Edison. "We think a family should be able to eat out affordably. I'd rather a family of four spent £50 here for a meal and came back than £100 on a one off meal."

Bianco opened mid-December and has already welcomed a number of diners through the doors, as well as the pre-theatre crowd.

Edison said: "We've had an amazing response. People have noticed all the work going on so they were keen to see inside. I think they are glad to see the site being brought back to life."

The menu features a range of pizza, pasta, grill and antipasti options, with starters priced from £4, pizzas from £6 and pastas from £6.

A mid-week specials menu runs from 12pm to 5pm Monday to Friday where you can pick up three courses for £9.

Bianco is one in a number of new restaurants in this corner of the city centre.

Saba Maison de Luxe recently opened in the former Victors site in Low Row and RIO has announced that it has started work on turning the old Halo unit into an unlimited steak house.

:: Bianco is open seven days a week from 12pm to 10pm Monday to Saturday and 12pm until 8pm on Sundays.