A Toronto restaurant that's renowned for its unique approach to serving pasta has announced that they're closing all of their downtown locations.

In 2017, Pastucci's landed in Toronto, establishing themselves as Canada's first and only build-your-own pasta shop, growing to four locations in the city prior to 2020.

According to a video recently posted to the chain's TikTok account, though, the pandemic posed a nearly insurmountable challenge for the business, limiting foot traffic at the chain's downtown locations.

"Being a small business and a consumer has its challenges," says Leon, a co-founder of Pastucci's, in the video, "with rising costs [and] impacts of higher interest rates, we're all struggling through this together."

The drastic pivot from in-person dining to food-delivery apps, Leon adds, has also impacted the business, as he claims the delivery platforms take 30 per cent of the restaurant's revenue.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dished Toronto (@dishedtoronto)

In response to the challenges, Leon confirms, Pastucci's has now closed all of their three downtown locations permanently, with their College Park restaurant — the last surviving downtown location — having its last day in service on April 30.

It's not all bad news for lovers of the Subway-esque approach to pasta, though: Pastucci's' Etobicoke flagship remains open and operating business-as-usual.

Pastucci's Etobicoke is located at 759A The Queensway.