The spot adjacent to The Lombardy Market has housed five restaurants in the last 15 years. (Mike Platania photo)
After a year in Shockoe Slip, an Italian eatery is heading west to a longtime Fan restaurant space.
Sprezza is preparing to relocate to 203 N. Lombardy St., according to plans filed recently with the city.
Initially founded as a pop-up in 2021, Sprezza opened in the former Morton’s The Steakhouse space late last year at the corner of East Canal and Virginia streets. Last week the restaurant announced on social media that it was closing in Shockoe Slip and heading to an undisclosed location in the Fan.
A few days after the announcement, owner Angela Petruzzelli filed for an ABC license and certificate of occupancy for Sprezza for the Lombardy Street address.
Sprezza’s signage has already been removed from the Turning Basin building.
Petruzzelli wasn’t available for comment by press time. Sprezza’s signage has already come down off the Shockoe Slip building.
Sprezza’s new 3,200-square-foot Fan storefront was the longtime home of Bogart’s before its closure in 2008 after three decades. The building has since housed restaurants Balliceaux, Flora and Poor Boys of RVA. Its most recent tenant was Brun, a cigar lounge that closed in early 2023 after about a year in business. The landlord is now suing Brun for unpaid rent and damages to the building.
Sprezza’s menu includes Southern Italian-inspired pasta dishes, fish specials and more, as well as a full bar. Many of its entrees are priced between $17 and $24.
It’d be the second new Italian restaurant in the Fan in the last 12 months, joining Uliveto, which opened in the former Secco Wine Bar space on North Robinson Street late last year.
