Adored Italian restaurant with 90 branches across the UK closes in town centre after serving customers for over 9 years
A POPULAR Italian restaurant branch is sadly set to close its doors in a north of England town centre.
Bella Italia has announced the closure of its Darlington branch at the end of its current lease in early July.
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It was one of the first restaurants to open in the DL1 complex when it launched in 2016.
But it is now set to wrap up operations at the site after nine years of serving happy customer s.
No specific reason has been given for the restaurant's sudden closure.
However, Bella Italia has confirmed the branch will close its doors in the first week of July.
A spokesperson for the chain paid tribute to the "fantastic" branch staff as they announced the closure.
They said: 'We can confirm that our restaurant in Darlington will cease trading at the end of our current lease in the first week of July.
"We would like to thank our fantastic team at Darlington who have done an amazing job over the years.
"We would also like to thank our wonderful Darlington guests; we hope to see them again in one of our other north-east restaurants."
It comes as number of big name businesses continue to pull out of the DL1 complex in Darlington's town centre.
Tomahawk Steakhouse, Prezzo, Mango Bean are among the others to have left the site.
A spokesperson told the Northern Echo in April that it is 'still in the process of reviewing future plans and no final decision has yet been made regarding reopening'.
Bella Italia remains one of Britain's most popular Italian restaurant chains, with dozens of venues across the UK and Ireland.
Its parent company went into administration in 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic.
The company would be acquired and re-branded later that year.
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