Pizza a Metro taking over Via space in Gilbert

Wood-oven pizza kitchen Via has become the latest restaurant casualty on the southwest corner of Greenfield and Warner in Gilbert.

The building had been home to a short-lived Tutti Santi location before Via took over in January.

But this dark cloud has a silver lining: A new tenant already is moving in, and it’s a good one. Pizza a Metro, a favorite in west Phoenix, expects to open this weekend.

Owner/chef Maurizio Benforte introduced his Italian cuisine to westside diners in 2007, drawing rave reviews despite a run-down Phoenix strip-mall location.

He says his Gilbert restaurant will have mostly the same menu, with a few exceptions, as the original. It also will do only 16-inch pizzas (and not the meter-long pies that gave the restaurant its name).

Benforte, who cleaned up the space last week, says he may be able to open as soon as Thursday.