Florida has no shortage of restaurants, but some closings still feel bigger than a routine business update.
This month, three locally loved Florida restaurants either closed or announced their final days, adding to a difficult stretch for familiar dining spots across the state. The news follows other recent Florida goodbyes, including a longtime waterfront restaurant that shut down after more than 30 years.
From a popular Orlando dessert spot to a longtime Coral Springs pizzeria and a downtown St. Petersburg Mexican staple, each closure represents a different kind of loss.
These were not just places to grab a meal. They were date-night destinations, family traditions, neighborhood gathering places and local favorites that built real followings over the years.
Better Than Sex in Orlando
Better Than Sex closed its Orlando location this month after 10 years in business.
The adults-only dessert restaurant and cocktail bar, located at 1905 N. Orange Avenue in the Ivanhoe Village neighborhood, opened in January 2016 and served its final customers on June 14, 2026. The concept became known for decadent desserts, suggestive menu names, dim lighting and a playful atmosphere that made it stand out from the usual Orlando dining options.
For many customers, Better Than Sex was not an everyday restaurant. It was a celebration spot. People went there for birthdays, anniversaries, date nights, girls’ nights and after-dinner drinks. That made the closure feel more personal for regulars who associated the restaurant with special occasions.
The company said the brand’s other locations will continue to operate, including the original Key West location (which opened in 2008), Savannah, Plano in Texas, and Greenville in South Carolina. But for Orlando diners, the closing ends a decade-long run for one of the city’s more distinctive dessert destinations.
The restaurant’s goodbye message thanked guests for the love and support it received over the last decade. That kind of farewell is a reminder that even restaurants built around fun and indulgence still depend on loyal local customers to survive.
La Fontana in Coral Springs
La Fontana Pizzeria and Italian Restaurant in Coral Springs is closing June 21, 2026 — Father’s Day — after 18 years in business.
The family-owned restaurant, located at The Walk on University Drive, has been a longtime favorite for Italian food, wood-fired pizza and neighborhood dinners. Owners Spartaco and Antonio Tare, brothers originally from Ferrara, Italy, thanked the community in their closing announcement and said the restaurant had been more than a business. It had been their home, their passion and a place where families gathered year after year.
That message explains why the closure is hitting customers hard.
La Fontana was not just another pizza place. It was the kind of restaurant where regulars knew what they wanted before they sat down. It was a place for thin-crust wood-fired pizza, focaccia, pasta, tiramisu and family meals that became part of local routine, built around recipes and techniques the Tare brothers brought from Northern Italy.
Over their 18 years in business, the brothers weathered a recession, the COVID-19 pandemic and the loss of their family patriarch. Now, they said, they are preparing to return to Europe, turning the closure into a personal goodbye as much as a business one.
Restaurants like La Fontana often become part of a community’s memory without much fanfare. They are the places families return to after soccer games, school events, birthdays and ordinary weeknight dinners. After nearly two decades, La Fontana’s final service will mark the end of a familiar chapter in Coral Springs.
Red Mesa Cantina in St. Petersburg
Red Mesa Cantina in downtown St. Petersburg closed abruptly this month after 16 years.
The longtime Mexican restaurant, located at 128 3rd Street S., announced its immediate closure on the morning of June 2, 2026, just one day after its parent company, Veytia Ventures LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Middle District of Florida. The closure also affected the Red Mesa Event Spaces above the restaurant, which had hosted celebrations, milestones and gatherings over the years.
For downtown St. Pete, Red Mesa Cantina had been more than a restaurant. It was a familiar stop for margaritas, tacos, rooftop meals, group dinners and nights out near the heart of the city, known especially for its extensive tequila selection and outdoor patio. It was also a longtime fixture in the city’s LGBTQ+ community, hosting drag brunches and community gatherings over the years.
The sudden nature of the closure made the goodbye especially jarring. Unlike restaurants that give customers a few weeks to visit one last time, Red Mesa Cantina’s announcement was immediate. For many regulars, there was no final dinner, no last drink and no chance to say goodbye in person.
The closure also left engaged couples in the lurch. The rooftop terrace was a popular wedding and event venue, and several couples with future bookings have been scrambling to find new venues — including one Land O’ Lakes couple now waiting on a bankruptcy judge to potentially refund a $6,300 security deposit for a September wedding. A lawyer for the company said it is committed to working with affected clients on rebookings at other Red Mesa spaces or refunds, pending court approval.
In a statement to 10 Tampa Bay, the owners attributed the closure to broader economic pressure: “Red Mesa Cantina and Red Mesa Events became casualties of a combination of economic and market factors that have created extraordinary challenges for hospitality businesses throughout the region. Restaurants and events are luxuries that, for many in the community, have become difficult to prioritize.”
The cantina also has a more complicated recent history. In 2023, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found that both Red Mesa Restaurant and Red Mesa Cantina had violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, resulting in the recovery of more than $190,000 in back wages for 89 employees.
The broader Red Mesa restaurant family, owned by the Veytia family, is not disappearing entirely. The original Red Mesa Restaurant on 4th Street N., which opened in 1995, remains open, as do two Red Mesa Mercado locations — one on 1st Avenue N. (opened 2014) and one on Central Avenue (opened 2025). But the Cantina itself is gone.
That matters because each restaurant has its own identity. Red Mesa Cantina had built its own place in downtown St. Petersburg, especially as the city changed around it.
Florida keeps losing familiar restaurants
The three closures are very different.
Better Than Sex was a playful Orlando dessert destination that lasted 10 years. La Fontana was an 18-year Coral Springs pizzeria and Italian restaurant built around family, regulars and neighborhood loyalty. Red Mesa Cantina was a 16-year downtown St. Petersburg staple that closed suddenly after a bankruptcy filing.
Together, they show how fragile even beloved restaurants can be.
Some close because owners are ready for a new chapter. Some close because the money no longer works. Some are caught up in larger financial problems. Others simply reach the end of their run.
For customers, the reason often matters less than the loss.
Florida diners are saying goodbye this month to restaurants that meant something to their communities. Whether they lasted 10 years, 16 years or 18 years, each one leaves behind regulars who will remember what made it special.
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