A much-loved Italian restaurant chain is set to disappear from London’s dining scene after 70 years, following the collapse of Spaghetti House into administration.
The group, which has served generations of London diners since the 1950s and long claimed to be the capital’s oldest family-run Italian restaurant business, has closed all remaining sites with immediate effect.
Owner Lavval Restaurants Ltd was placed into administration on 6 May, with BTG Begbies Traynor LLP appointed as administrators.
The closures bring an abrupt end to a once-familiar presence across central London, with branches on Marble Arch, Carnaby Street, Oxford Street, Kensington High Street and Cranbourn Street all shutting their doors.
The first Spaghetti House opened on Goodge Street in 1955, founded by Simone Lavarini and Lorenzo Fraquelli. That original restaurant closed last year, marking the start of the group’s final decline.
A spokesperson for the company said: “We’re sorry all our restaurants are now closed.
“We would like to express our deepest gratitude to our loyal customers, partners and team members, past and present, for your support over the years. From our family to yours, Grazie.”
Luigi Lavarini, executive chairman and chief executive of Lavval Restaurants Limited, said the business had been hit by a prolonged period of rising costs and falling demand.
“After 70 years of serving our loyal customers, it is with a heavy heart that we announce Lavval Restaurants Limited has entered administration and will cease trading,” he said.
“Years of increasing costs from the pandemic, Brexit, government budgets and global instability have created difficult market conditions for hospitality.
“Balancing these costs with reduced demand and spending from customers as they navigate the rising cost of living has proven too challenging.”
He added that despite “best efforts and seeking professional advice”, the company had been forced to wind down operations.
Administrators BTG Begbies Traynor said they would now work to secure the best possible outcome for creditors and support former staff with claims, while continuing statutory investigations.
Partner Asher Miller said the hospitality sector had been hit by “soaring operational, employment, energy and tax costs”, adding that the decision to enter administration had not been taken lightly.
The collapse marks the end of one of London’s longest-running Italian dining institutions, which for decades was a familiar fixture of the capital’s post-war restaurant landscape.
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