Italian restaurant and bakery to move to downtown South Bend

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A popular Italian restaurant and bakery is moving to downtown South Bend.

Right now, Ciao's is located on Niles Avenue, but the lease is up. So the owner decided to move to Michigan Street where the old No. 1 Chinese Restaurant used to be.

The St. Joseph County Public Library owns the space and is happy to get a new tenant.

"Ciao's has been in the area for quite awhile, and has an established clientele.  So, we know she'll bring that to the plate when they open up over here," said Jennifer Phillips, the Communications Executive of the SJCPL. "It can only be beneficial to downtown where it's a little bit quieter on this corner."

The store front has been empty since 2007.

Ciao's hopes to open its new restaurant by late summer or early fall.