A Japanese restaurant chain that also sells their goods in grocery stores across Ontario has permanently closed their only Toronto location.

Founded in Guelph by husband and wife team Jared and Miki Ferrall, Crafty Ramen has become something of an empire in the years since they opened their first flagship in 2017.

Going on to open a restaurant in Kitchener, make an appearance on Dragon's Den (where they were successful in securing funding), launch an assemble-at-home ramen meal box and, finally, opening a Toronto location on Lower Ossington in 2023.

In the year since, Crafty Ramen has only continued to grow.

They've partnered with Hello Fresh to sell their meal kits through the much larger brand's site, continue to sell them through their own website, and have introduced frozen 'heat-and-eat' ramens which are now being sold at Metro, Sobeys and Sobeys-owned grocery stores across Canada.

It seems it's not all hunky-dory for Crafty Ramen, though, as just last month, after only operating for a little over a year, the business has shut down their Toronto location.

The centre of much buzz when it was first announced, the restaurant seemed primed to succeed, already equipped with a TV appearance, brand recognition and two other brick-and-mortars, and yet, in spite of that, it simply does not seem as though the restaurant was able to thrive — in this most recent iteration, that is.

At the time of publication, Crafty Ramen has not provided blogTO with information on the reasoning behind the restaurant's closure, but in response to a comment left on a recent Instagram post of theirs, Crafty Ramen did acknowledge that they're "always looking at new opportunities," to open in Toronto and will "let everyone know when the time comes."

On the bright side, you can get your fill of Crafty Ramen in a number of different places across Toronto and beyond, whether you're picking it up in store, ordering meal kits to be delivered straight to you, or visiting one of their two remaining brick-and-mortar restaurants.

Crafty Ramen was formerly located at 217 Ossington.