Vapiano opened in St Andrew Square in 2017 with some fanfare. It was a light, airy and modern Italian restaurant. The three-floor, £1 million restaurant provided around 50 jobs. The Edinburgh eatery was the chain’s first in Scotland and fifth in the UK.
However, it has become the most recent victim of the ongoing coronavirus slump, with Vapiano's German parent company collapsing into administration in July.
The majority of Vapiano's UK estate has been purchased in two separate deals - three London restaurants have been sold to UK VAP, which recently acquired the Vapiano brand and franchising rights. The company's Manchester site was sold to Minhoco 56. This secured the future of 209 jobs.
However, three restaurants will be closing: Soho, Centre Point and Edinburgh.
A former Vapiano staff member, who asked to be kept anonymous, said that staff had been told about the redundancies in a Zoom call on Monday 6 July.
This news follows the collapse of similar casual dining chains.
Casual Dining Group, the company behind restaurant chains including Bella Italia, Cafe Rouge and Las Iguanas, also collapsed into administration recently, and have announced they plan to shut 91 of their 250 sites nationwide permanently with immediate effect, resulting in 1,909 redundancies, reports the Manchester Evening News.
The Cafe Rouge restaurant on Frederick Street is one of the sites set to close.
James Spragg, CEO of Casual Dining Group, said: “After reviewing all our options with advisors, it became clear that we needed to take this action in order to protect the business and secure the best possible future for Casual Dining Group as we look to conclude a potential sale.
"We are acutely aware of our duty to all employees and recognise that this is an incredibly difficult time for them.
"Working alongside the administrators we will do everything we can to support them through this process with a view to preserving as much employment as we are able to.”
