An Italian restaurant has delivered a savage and highly critical farewell message to its neighbors and the wider community after closing down, stating, “Thank you for never supporting us, not even once.”
Don Ciccio shut down operations in Highgate, north London, earlier this month, exactly six years after opening. Announcing the closure on its website, the Hampstead Lane restaurant published a furious parting shot titled “Farewell” aimed at the local “community.”
Don Ciccio explicitly stated: “We have closed due to a lack of customers.” The message then launched a series of pointed criticisms:

The restaurant specifically thanked the community of Highgate “for never supporting us, not even once.” It also singled out those served during lockdown, when Don Ciccio was reportedly the only restaurant open, saying, “thank you for never visiting us once the pandemic ended.”
A jab was also directed at locals who lived a few doors away yet “ordered delivery from somewhere else.”
The sign-off concluded: “In short: thank you all for supporting us so perfectly. WE MAY BE THE FIRST ITALIAN RESTAURANT TO CLOSE… not for bad food, bad reviews, or bad luck but for the sheer indifference of our neighbors.”

The restaurant also addressed the Highgate Society, stating, “thank you for never replying to any of our proposals for collaboration.” Andrew Sulston, chair of the Highgate Society, responded to the restaurant’s broadside by expressing regret over the closure of any local business but noted that because the Society has no paid staff and is run by volunteers, they “cannot always follow up on all requests.”
The online letter lamented that strong reviews and awards were not enough to sustain the business. The restaurant noted, “It wasn’t enough to be Traveler’s Choice 2023 – 2024 – 2025 on Tripadvisor. It wasn’t enough to be told we had one of the best pizzas in London.” The restaurant also maintained a 4.7-star rating on Google, based on 700 reviews, for its entire six years of operation.
Despite the positive history, Don Ciccio has a 4.6 rating on TripAdvisor (out of five) from 239 reviews, though the two most recent reviews were negative. The restaurant’s menu, which remains online, listed classic Italian dishes with prices ranging from $19 to $35. The farewell message ended simply with the Italian word for goodbye: “We’ll simply say: addio.”