A Chinese bakery that's been an indelible part of Toronto's landscape appears to have permanently closed and has been completely emptied out.

People arriving at Ding Dong Pastries in Chinatown over the past few months have been saddened when they were greeted by a locked door. Passers by can now observe that it looks like the place has been emptied.

The bakery was one of the classic spots along Spadina serving buns, sesame balls, egg tarts and dumplings on red trays for good prices, and has been around for many years.

A Reddit user started a thread a couple months ago asking what had happened to the bakery after coming back from a trip and finding it closed.

"Lady at the cashier was super nice," they wrote. "She used to stay open late ~ 11PM on some days. Gonna miss this place."

People in the thread commented that some may have preferred nearby Mashion as they felt Ding Dong was starting to look more run down, and also pointed out that the bakery had racked up some health code infractions over the years.

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Local Facebook group WEIRD TORONTO was officially alerted when someone posted "MY DING DONG IS MISSING!" with photos of the darkened storefront and interior.

The post has around 100 engagements and around 70 comments, with one person commenting they've been gone for months.

Someone even took to Instagram to post an impassioned obituary for what had been one of their favourite bakeries.

"The number of times I came here from grade 7 until now is uncountable. Every time I felt shitty, I would come here for snacks and pastries before or after school, during spares," reads the post.

"I grew up eating their taro pastries, spring rolls, buns, and of course, their infamous 3 for $1 egg tarts back in the day. I was in shock when I tried to come back and visit today to find the storefront empty. This is a truly a loss for Chinatown."