London pasta chain Spaghetti House closes all restaurants after 70 years as family-run business collapses into administration

By JON BRADY, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 10:51, 14 May 2026 | Updated: 10:55, 14 May 2026 Family-run Italian restaurant chain Spaghetti House has entered administration, leading to the immediate closure of its restaurants. The chain of restaurants was founded by Simone Lavarini and his friend Lorenzo Fraquelli in 1955. They opened the first restaurant, on Goodge Street in Fitzrovia, in 1955. Begbies Traynor has been appointed as administrators to the chain's parent company Lavval, which had filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators last month. A notice published on the Spaghetti House website reads: '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 [Thank You].' In September 1975, the venue was the subject of an armed robbery that became known as the Spaghetti House Siege. Three robbers - Franklyn Davies, Anthony Munroe and Wesley Dick, held staff hostage and barricaded themselves in the venue. Stalwart Italian restaurant Spaghetti House has entered administration - bringing to an end 70 years of serving top pasta to Londoners (pictured: the original Goodge Street restaurant)  For six days, police were engaged in a standoff with the criminals before the gunmen gave themselves up. All three men, who were associated with Black liberation movements, were later put in prison. At one time, the chain had nine venues including the Goodge Street eatery alongside branches in Argyll Street, Marble Arch, Oxford Street, Holborn, Kensington and at the Westfield shopping centre in Shepherd's Bush. Some of these closed in the last two years: the remaining five in Argyll Street, Kensington, Cranbourn Street, Marble Arch and Carnaby Street have now closed, as has A Braccetto in Earl's Court, which opened two years ago. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.