{"id":2397,"date":"2026-06-03T04:35:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T04:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2397"},"modified":"2026-06-03T04:35:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T04:35:07","slug":"red-mesa-cantina-closes-permanently-after-16-years-in-downtown-st-pete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2397","title":{"rendered":"Red Mesa Cantina closes permanently after 16 Years in downtown St. Pete"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.<\/strong> – <\/span>A staple of the downtown St. Petersburg dining scene has served its last taco. Red Mesa Cantina closed permanently this week after 16 years in business.<\/p>

Read more Viral Pomeranian creates candy-coated getaway for 2 struggling Bay Area families: \u2018It means the world to us\u2019<\/a><\/p>

Downtown St. Pete restaurant closure<\/h2>

The backstory:<\/p>

<\/div>

This closure came as a surprise to many customers who stopped by Tuesday night and found a “permanently closed” sign taped to the restaurant\u00a0front door.<\/p>

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n <\/div>

Rhoda R. and her husband, Michael, were headed to dinner with another couple when they discovered the news.<\/p>

“I\u2019m always disappointed when I see a business that\u2019s locally owned, that\u2019s not a chain, close down,” Rhoda said.<\/p>

This week, Red Mesa Cantina\u2019s parent company filed for bankruptcy.<\/p>

Past wage theft investigation<\/h2>

Dig deeper:<\/p>

The closure also brought renewed attention to a 2023 U.S. Department of Labor investigation that recovered more than $190,000 after investigators found employees had been denied tips. The restaurant later said it terminated the outside firm responsible for handling that portion of its business.<\/p>

“All that I heard was that they were skimming some of the tips,” Rhoda said. “We kind of boycotted after that.”<\/p>

Employees packed equipment into a Red Mesa van Tuesday night as customers peered through the restaurant\u2019s windows.<\/p>

Longtime St. Pete resident Connie Whitehead was headed into the restaurant for a midweek margarita when she found out it had closed.<\/p>

Read more What\u2019s next for Blue Origin? Space company repairs after \u2018anomaly\u2019 explosion on Florida coast<\/a><\/p>

Community reacts to loss of local favorite<\/h2>

What they’re saying:<\/p>

“I was disappointed to hear,” Whitehead said. “They\u2019ve been so involved in our downtown charities for years.”<\/p>

In a farewell Facebook post, Red Mesa thanked customers for 16 years of support.<\/p>

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n <\/div>

“The lovely courtyard and the night lights, and the fun with friends and stuff like that,” Whitehead said.<\/p>

In a statement sent to FOX 13, Red Mesa Cantina and Red Mesa Events blamed a tough economy, hurricane impacts and the year-long closure of Tropicana Field for the shutdown.<\/p>

“Restaurants and events are luxuries that, for many in the community, have become difficult to prioritize,” the company said.<\/p>

“Their costs are rising, just like everybody else\u2019s, so they have to charge for it. People are really watching their spending,” Rhoda said.<\/p>

What’s next:<\/p>

The company said the closure applies only to Red Mesa Cantina and Red Mesa Events. Red Mesa Restaurant, Red Mesa Mercado and Red Mesa Mercado West remain open.<\/p>

Company officials say they\u2019re working with customers who had weddings, parties and other events scheduled at the restaurant.<\/p>

Read more AAA, TGH launch safety campaign after Tampa doctors report surge in serious e-bike injuries<\/a><\/p> <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A staple of the downtown St. Petersburg dining scene has served its last taco. Red Mesa Cantina closed permanently this week after 16 years in business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[142,240,144],"tags":[143,241,145],"class_list":["post-2397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-restaurants","category-st-petersburg","tag-business","tag-restaurants","tag-st-petersburg"],"yoast_head":"\nRed Mesa Cantina closes permanently after 16 Years in downtown St. Pete - Tampa moving journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2397\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Red Mesa Cantina closes permanently after 16 Years in downtown St. Pete - Tampa moving journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A staple of the downtown St. Petersburg dining scene has served its last taco. Red Mesa Cantina closed permanently this week after 16 years in business.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2397\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tampa moving journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-03T04:35:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/3840855b679a63bffc20973d95e9a717.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"932\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"524\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2397#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2397\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\"},\"headline\":\"Red Mesa Cantina closes permanently after 16 Years in downtown St. Pete\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-03T04:35:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2397\"},\"wordCount\":467,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2397#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/73b317ecb430b6db08aabb1a460158eb.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Business\",\"Restaurants\",\"St. Petersburg\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Business\",\"Restaurants\",\"St. Petersburg\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2397#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2397\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2397\",\"name\":\"Red Mesa Cantina closes permanently after 16 Years in downtown St. Pete - Tampa moving journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2397#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2397#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/73b317ecb430b6db08aabb1a460158eb.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-03T04:35:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2397#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2397\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2397#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/73b317ecb430b6db08aabb1a460158eb.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/73b317ecb430b6db08aabb1a460158eb.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=2397#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Red Mesa Cantina closes permanently after 16 Years in downtown St. Pete\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tampa moving journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Red Mesa Cantina closes permanently after 16 Years in downtown St. Pete - Tampa moving journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2397","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Red Mesa Cantina closes permanently after 16 Years in downtown St. Pete - Tampa moving journal","og_description":"A staple of the downtown St. Petersburg dining scene has served its last taco. Red Mesa Cantina closed permanently this week after 16 years in business.","og_url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2397","og_site_name":"Tampa moving journal","article_published_time":"2026-06-03T04:35:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":932,"height":524,"url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/3840855b679a63bffc20973d95e9a717.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2397#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2397"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a"},"headline":"Red Mesa Cantina closes permanently after 16 Years in downtown St. Pete","datePublished":"2026-06-03T04:35:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2397"},"wordCount":467,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2397#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/73b317ecb430b6db08aabb1a460158eb.webp","keywords":["Business","Restaurants","St. Petersburg"],"articleSection":["Business","Restaurants","St. Petersburg"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2397#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2397","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2397","name":"Red Mesa Cantina closes permanently after 16 Years in downtown St. Pete - Tampa moving journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2397#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2397#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/73b317ecb430b6db08aabb1a460158eb.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-03T04:35:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2397#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2397"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2397#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/73b317ecb430b6db08aabb1a460158eb.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/73b317ecb430b6db08aabb1a460158eb.webp","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2397#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Red Mesa Cantina closes permanently after 16 Years in downtown St. Pete"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/","name":"Tampa moving journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com"],"url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}