An Italian restaurant in Westquay has suddenly closed.

Pizza and pasta eatery, L’Osteria in Westquay is closing its doors to customers after seven years of being open to customers in Southampton.

The Italian restaurant has just two stores in the UK with a second venue in Bristol and more than 60 restaurants across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

L’Osteria’s Southampton site is 7,400 square foot premises that spans over ground and first floors.

The venue also has with a first-floor balcony of 610 square foot, and an external 1,140 square foot seating area at ground floor level.

Daily Echo: A notice on the door at the Southampton venue states that Westquay has taken possession of the premises.

Currently the venue sits empty with a chain lock across the front door and many Southampton customers have told of their disappointment that the eatery is disappearing from Westquay.

A spokesperson for Westquay said: “Since 2020, we have worked collaboratively with L’Osteria and provided considerable support to enable the restaurant to operate and serve customers. However, regrettably we can confirm that L’Osteria has now closed.

"We remain engaged with the brand.”

Regular L’Osteria customer, Flo Shanahan, said that she was saddened and disappointed by the news of the closure.

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She said: “We are absolutely gutted at the news of the closure; my family and I eat here all the time on birthdays and celebrations.

“The food is reasonable priced and delicious so I wonder why the restaurant is set to close.

“It’s really surprising – we have been here at least 10 to 15 times now and every time we visit the restaurant is completely packed.

“I just can’t believe it, such a big disappointment – it is my daughters absolute favourite place to eat out.

“It’s not at all over-priced, we love Italian food and the venue is nice inside.”

The first L’Osteria opened in 1999 in Nuremberg, Bavaria, and they have been using the same recipes since the restaurant’s inception.

The restaurant is well-regarded by the Southampton public, with a rating of 4.3 stars on Google out of almost 3,000 reviews.

L’Osteria has been approached for comment.