Another St. Pete Restaurant Closed This Week As Local Business Losses Keep Adding Up

Another familiar St. Pete restaurant has shut its doors, adding to a difficult summer for locally known businesses across the city. Rumba Island Bar & Grill closed its restaurant on 4th Street North this week after operating in St. Petersburg for approximately three years. Its sudden departure follows several other recent closure announcements involving Brutique, Good Intentions, Baba and Barbouni. The Merchant and Crislip Cafe have also revealed that they must leave their longtime home on the 600 Block by the end of August.

These businesses did not all close during the same week, and their individual circumstances vary. Together, however, the announcements have created a noticeable period of change for St. Pete residents watching longtime favorites and newer concepts disappear, relocate or move in different directions.

Rumba Island Closes Its St. Pete Restaurant

Rumba Island Bar & Grill has closed its St. Petersburg location at 6445 4th Street North. The Caribbean-inspired restaurant opened in February 2023 inside the approximately 5,300-square-foot building previously occupied by WingHouse. The location served seafood, tropical cocktails and island-inspired dishes along one of St. Pete’s busiest commercial corridors.

Baystar Restaurant Group, the company behind Rumba Island, continues to operate its longtime Clearwater restaurant. Owner Frank Chivas indicated that the company may consider rebranding the St. Pete property, but no replacement restaurant, reopening date or confirmed plan has been announced. The closure ends Rumba Island’s relatively brief run on 4th Street and adds another empty restaurant property to a corridor that has experienced several major changes in recent years.

The Merchant And Crislip Cafe Must Leave The 600 Block

The Merchant and Crislip Cafe have announced that they received notice to vacate their shared space at 645 Central Avenue by the end of August. Owners Jennifer and Kevin Schultz have operated The Merchant on the 600 Block since 2018, building the business around locally made artwork, gifts, apparel, food and other products from Tampa Bay creators. Crislip Cafe operates alongside the store inside the historic Crislip Arcade, serving coffee, food and drinks in the open-air shopping corridor.

The businesses are not closing immediately. Their current notice requires them to leave the property by the end of August, and the owners have said they do not yet know whether they will find another St. Pete location or be forced to close after nearly eight years in business.

That uncertainty makes this announcement different from a confirmed permanent closure, but the potential loss would be significant for the 600 Block. The Merchant has provided retail space for local artists and makers, while Crislip Cafe has helped turn the arcade into more than a simple walkway between Central Avenue storefronts. For now, both businesses remain open as they search for a possible path forward.

Brutique Is Preparing To Leave Central Avenue

Brutique, the combination bar and clothing boutique at 648 Central Avenue, announced in June that it would close during July. Megan and Austin Garcia-Cooper opened the downtown business in 2017 under the original name Bartique. The concept brought clothing, accessories, drinks, music and community events together inside one storefront before later rebranding as Brutique.

After nearly a decade on the 600 Block of Central Avenue, the business is now preparing to say goodbye. A specific final operating date had not been publicly confirmed as of Friday, July 10th, so customers should verify its current hours before visiting.

The coming departures of Brutique, The Merchant and Crislip Cafe are especially striking because all three are connected to the same historic stretch of Central Avenue. The 600 Block has long been known for independent art, retail and nightlife, making the loss or displacement of multiple locally owned businesses difficult to dismiss as routine turnover.

Good Intentions Plans To Close This Summer

Good Intentions, the vegan restaurant and bar at 1900 1st Avenue South, announced in June that it would close after four years in business. The restaurant became known for its entirely vegan food and drink menu, full-service dining experience and community events. Its owners said the economic realities of continuing the business ultimately made remaining open unsustainable.

Good Intentions had not initially established a firm closing date when the announcement was made. The business expected to continue operating into July, meaning it should not be described as permanently closed until its owners confirm that final service has taken place. Its eventual departure will leave another noticeable opening near the Grand Central District, an area shaped heavily by independent restaurants, bars and small businesses.

Baba And Barbouni End Their Run In Grand Central

Baba and its connected seafood bar, Barbouni, held their final service on July 3rd at 2701 Central Avenue. The Mediterranean concepts had become familiar parts of the Grand Central District, but the property is not expected to remain vacant. Longtime team members Andrew Duncan and Danielle McCoy are taking over the restaurant space and preparing to introduce two new concepts named Kaixo and Barra Barra.

Kaixo will draw inspiration from the food and culture of the Iberian Peninsula, while Barra Barra will develop the Basque-inspired concept previously introduced through a pop-up at Barbouni. The transition means Baba and Barbouni are gone as customers knew them, but this closure is more accurately described as a change in concepts than the complete loss of the restaurant space.

St. Pete’s Independent Business Landscape Is Changing Quickly

Each of these announcements has a different story behind it. Rumba Island closed after approximately three years. Brutique is preparing to leave after nearly a decade. Good Intentions is approaching its final days, while Baba and Barbouni have made way for concepts led by members of their former team.

The Merchant and Crislip Cafe face another kind of uncertainty. Their owners did not announce a voluntary goodbye or say that the businesses had failed. They were notified that they must vacate their space by the end of August and are now trying to determine whether relocation is possible.

It would be inaccurate to blame every closure on a single issue. Operating expenses, lease decisions, changing customer habits, personal circumstances, ownership transitions and continued development can all influence whether a local business remains open.

Still, the number of recognizable St. Pete businesses facing closures or displacement within such a short period is difficult to overlook. It also raises uncomfortable questions about whether the independent businesses that helped create St. Pete’s identity will continue to have a place in the city as properties change hands and commercial districts become more expensive.

New restaurants, bars and stores continue to open throughout St. Pete, but those openings do not automatically replace the businesses residents have supported for years. Every departure affects employees, customers, local creators and nearby businesses that depend on one another to keep a district active.

This summer’s growing list serves as another reminder to visit the locally owned places residents would miss if they disappeared. In a city changing this quickly, assuming a favorite business will always be there is becoming increasingly risky.