A popular Italian eatery in Southampton is back open and serving customers after it suddenly closed for more than three months.

L’Osteria closed its doors to customers in April after seven years of serving pizza and pasta to customers in the city.

A notice was put on the door stating that, to the disappointment of many, the Italian eatery was disappearing from Westquay.

Last week, Southampton residents and Italian food lovers noticed that the pad lock on the door had been removed and replaced with a notice.

The notice read as follows: “Dear La Famiglia, we are very happy to announce that we will be re-opening very soon.

“We look forward to welcoming you all back.”

Today, July 9, the restaurant is back open and serving customers in at its Westquay venue.

The Italian restaurant has just two stores in England with a second eatery in Bristol and more than 60 restaurants across Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.

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L’Osteria’s Southampton site is 7,400 square feet and has two floors with a modern interior at the Watermark area of Westquay.

The venue also has a first-floor balcony of 610 square feet, and an external 1,140-square foot seating area at ground floor level.

Regular L’Osteria customer, Flo Shanahan, previously said that she was saddened and disappointed by the news of the closure at the time.

She said: "My family and I eat here all the time on birthdays and celebrations.

“The food is reasonable priced and delicious – we have been here at least 10 to 15 times now and every time we visit the restaurant is completely packed.”

The first L’Osteria opened in 1999 in Nuremberg, Bavaria, and they have been using the same recipes since the restaurant’s inception.

The restaurant is well-regarded by the Southampton public, with a rating of 4.3 stars on Google out of almost 3,000 reviews.