Sophia Loren restaurant in Hong Kong closes first-floor dining outlet after less than two years

The Italian restaurant Casa Sophia Loren, part of the Sophia Loren brand in Wan Chai’s historic Woo Cheong Pawn Shop, will close on February 15 due to rising costs and operating challenges, while the pizzeria and music bar continue.

Sophia Loren Hong Kong announced today on social media that the first-floor Casa Sophia Loren will end operations this month. The decision follows increasing financial and market pressures, prompting the team to concentrate resources on other parts of the business.

The announcement thanked customers for the memories, laughter and shared meals; invited them for a final visit; and confirmed the ground-floor Sophia Loren Pizzeria and second-floor The Stage music bar will keep running.

Many online users reacted with shock, calling the timing—right before Lunar New Year—a sudden blow.

The brand, co-founded by Oscar-winning actress Sophia Loren and entrepreneur Luciano Cimmino, opened its first location in Florence in 2021 and later expanded across Italy. Hong Kong became its first overseas site in 2024, taking over four floors of the century-old Grade 2 historic Woo Cheong Pawn Shop in Wan Chai.

The venue offered authentic Neapolitan pizza, full Italian dining, cocktails and a rooftop bar, injecting fresh energy into the heritage building.

The same property previously housed Woo Cheong Tea House, which closed in October 2023 after two years. Its earlier tenant, The Pawn by Classified Group, shut in 2021. Sophia Loren Hong Kong took over in 2024 but now faces the same tough market conditions.