Facts thin on ground as Fat Angelo's restaurants close

Mystery surrounds the fate of Italian dining chain Fat Angelo's after all three of its Hong Kong restaurants shut their doors yesterday.

"Fat Angelo's has closed due to major renovations," said signs put up outside the popular Italian chain's outlets in Kennedy Town, Tsim Sha Tsui and Tsuen Wan.

The chain's owner, Andy Chworowsky, could not be reached for comment last night and calls to the restaurants went unanswered. But the news spread quickly on discussion forums, with diners expressing shock. Those who paid upfront for discounted vouchers with group-buying firm Groupon feared they would not be able to redeem their purchase.

One internet user wrote on parenting forum Baby Kingdom that she had received a call from a Fat Angelo's restaurant yesterday afternoon, saying the entire chain had closed and could not fulfil her request for a reservation.

The chain's website, which was still operating last night, boasts of its "big tasty portions of family-style Italian food (and we mean BIG)" and that its outlets "make an immediate impression from the street with a look that could be straight out of Little Italy in New York City".

Chworowsky has expressed concern over a problem that has dogged many restaurant chains: the city's fast-rising rents.