Brandon GirodPensacola News Journal
Looking back, 2022 was a huge year for Pensacola's restaurant scene. There were about 70 new restaurants, food trucks, bars and more that opened.
Seventy sounds like a pretty staggering number of new businesses, and one might begin to wonder whether or not the restaurant market is becoming saturated.
Fortunately, that answer seems to be a resounding no. In the same year, only ten restaurants shut their doors —most of which did so on their own volition, and others moving on to different ventures.
Keep reading to find out which Pensacola restaurants closed in 2022.
Saltgrass Steakhouse
Full story:Saltgrass Steakhouse permanently closes its Pensacola restaurant after 5 years
Pensacola’s Saltgrass Steakhouse closed its doors permanently in April. Terry Turney, chief operating officer of Saltgrass, said in an email that management was presented with a good opportunity to sell the restaurant and went ahead with the sale.
Saltgrass, which was formerlyLandry's Seafood, was transitioned into the steakhouse in July2016 under the same ownership of Landry's Inc.
The space is now the new home of the expanded South Market Restaurant and Bar.
The South Market menu is known for taking traditional items and putting a unique twist on them, such as thehouse blue cheese fries, bacon jam burgeror market meatloaf.
The new South Market menu continues all of the menu staples for lunch and dinner but added more high-end menu items. Now, you can grab more seafood, oysters and steaks.
Franco’s Italian Restaurant
Full story:'I can’t thank Pensacola enough': Franco's Italian Restaurant selling after 23 years
Franco’s Italian Restaurant closed its doors after 23 years of business in February. Partner Franco Manzi said that the building, located at 523 E. Gregory St., was put on the market in the fall of 2021, but the sale of the building was still pending in the beginning of 2022.
Manzi and his two partners, Gennaro Intermoia and Giovanni Volpara, strived to create the same authentic Italian experience with Franco’s they had while growing up in different parts of Italy.
The business was slow to get started, but the three found their groove. Volpara and Intermoia made the from-scratch recipes, while Manzi’s main responsibility and greatest privilege was to stay out front greeting guests, he said. The Italian dressing recipe, however, was something Manzi always made himself.
The business suffered several challenges in recent years, particularly when Intermoia was diagnosed with cancer, leading to his death. Sadly, Franco Manzi also passed away in December.
Another significant challenge wastheclosure of the Pensacola Bay Bridgefollowing Hurricane Sally.The closure prevented many customers, everywhere from Gulf Breeze to Fort Walton, Beach from having easy access to the restaurant.
Manzi said it was time to put the building on the market.
What sits in its place now? Restaurant NOLA.
The new restaurant opened its doors in October and carries over much of the same menu fans of Café Nola on Pensacola Beach have come to love.
JAKS Bar and Grill
Full story:Neighborhood spot JAKS Bar and Grill closes doors permanently, building ready to be leased
JAKS Bar and Grill, the family-owned sports bar that replaced Italy's Finest Pizzeria in November, permanently closed its doors in July.
The restaurant opened by local business owners James "Jim" Masino, Artie Erd, Keely Erd and Sean Masino in late 2021, was known for its take on elevated bar food, array of televisions and family-like atmosphere.
The menu had a variety of things like wings, sandwiches, small bites and full-sized entrees.
The space is now occupied by a new restaurant called Chasing Cars Pizza and Grill, which is owned by Chris McMillan. McMillan is the CEO and founder of the Panhandle Restaurant Group and owns other franchises across the region, like Slims Chickens and Sonic.
Chasing Cars still holds the same neighborhood pub look and feel that past tenants had, like Italy’s Finest. The menu is built around craveable comfort foodslike homemade pizza, burgers, wings and even fried pies.
Village Inn
Full story:Village Inn restaurant on Nine Mile to close, popular restaurant is rumored replacement
Village Inn closed its doors in September after serving the Pensacola community for decades. The restaurant was known for its homestyle classics for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Some of the menu staples includedmade-from-scratch buttermilk pancakes, country-fried steak skillets and slow-cooked pot roast and gravy. Also, worth mentioning was the restaurant's expansive pie menu, which was loaded with a dozen different varieties—ranging from Michigan country apple to a Southern pecan—and could be purchased by the whole pie.
Thelocation at4843 U.S. Highway 90 in Pace was not be affected by the Pensacola location's closure.
What’s in store for the location? Another Broken Egg owners have since announced they are opening a second location in this spot.
The Magnolia
Full story:The Magnolia in Pensacola is closing shop, but don't fret! Familiar faces are stepping in.
The Magnolia was a beloved place for people to gather after work and enjoy pleasant company, wine and light plates. In November, just a year after moving into its new East Hill spot, the popular hangout spot closed its doors to make way for a Jitterbug expansion
Owners Bill and Kiley Manning said that it was the initial goodbye when the couple shed the most tears. "Life is just pulling us in a different direction," Bill Manning told the News Journal in November.
"There is no solid plan for the future of The Magnolia. But I'm not going to say we will never do it again, either. Our official statement would be: If we were to do The Magnolia again, which is definitely a possibility, it would look a lot like the original. Small and cozy.”
Jitterbug plans to continue providing patrons with the same coffee and pastries it is known for during the day, but it’s also expanding to fill the gap left by The Magnolia.
TROUBADOUR
Full story:Pensacola fine-dining pop-up TROUBADOUR is closing, but they've got a new project cooking
When it came to intimate, even romantic, fine dining, TROUBADOUR was unmatched. Until newlyweds Ashley Vosmera-Mitchell and Alex Lamonte decided to stop their pop-up dinners in October to focus on their wedding.
"It was never meant to be a pop-up forever,"Vosmera-Mitchell told the News Journal.
For the past three years, their weekends have been spent creating special evenings for others instead of out exploring the Pensacola community themselves. But the nights spent in the candlelit-Bodacious fueled culinary inspiration for Lamonte and allowed the two to make a lot of friends through their guests.
"We know all of our guests by name, essentially, and they've grown with us over the years," Lamonte said. "That's the coolest part. It's almost like we're family, in a sense. We're just so close-knit.”
The good news? You’ll soon be able to enjoy the now husband-and-wife duo’s cooking again — just under a different name.
Though details are still to be announced to the public on what the new concept will entail, Vosmera-Mitchell said it will be a quick turnaround after their honeymoon to Italy.
Blue Bayou Coffee Co.
Full story:Blue Bayou Coffee Co. closes, leaving vacancy for new restaurant on Gulf Beach Highway
Blue Bayou Coffee Co. closed its doors in April after being one of Southwest Pensacola’s only locally-owned options for iced coffee, tacos and sandwiches.
The final day for the spot known as Blue Bayou CoffeeCo. was April 24. Co-owner Karen Bull and husband, co-owner Robert Smith,made the decision not to renew their lease somewhat spontaneously. The two learned from an inspector that a significant number of repairs needed to be made to the building, Bull said.
However, the two were not left high and dry, as they still have their second location intact nearby at8666 Gulf Beach Highway. The two opened the second location out of American Legion 240early this year, giving the spot its own identity as Blue Bayou Portside Grille. The spotoffers tableside and curbside lunch and dinner service, in addition to a weekend brunch.
The couple hopes to find a new, move-in ready location to expand the business and revive the Blue Bayou Coffee Co. name in a spot closer to Perdido Key or downtown Pensacola.
The space at 8701 Gulf Beach Highway is now occupied by Royal Vape Mart.
Chicken 'N the Egg
Full story:Chicken 'N the Egg permanently closes its doors on Pensacola Boulevard this week
Chicken 'N the Egghas closed its 6707 Pensacola Blvd. in September.
The eatery was known for its breakfast staples such as pancakes, waffles, omeletsand build-your-own-breakfast combinations, along with third-pound burgers and sandwiches for lunch and dinner. The restaurant was openseven days a week.
Theformer IHOP franchisees that converted the restaurant into a Chicken 'N the Egg told the News Journal in 2020 that they made the switch in the name of using original recipes.
Pensacola Boulevard building currently sits vacant, awaiting its next adventure.
Primal Nosh
Primal Nosh announced in November that it would be sending out its last delivery on Nov. 27. The healthy meal prep company was one of the first in Pensacola, establishing itself in 2014 and paving the way for many more like it.
Originally named Primal Pre-Made Nutrition, the company was known for delivering specialized meals that would fit into any healthy lifestyle, whether paleo, vegan, Whole30 or anything else.
Primal Nosh wrote a note to its customers, “There were several factors that led to the final decision to close, but ultimately, it was time. When Primal was founded in 2014, we had no idea what it would turn into. A way to make an income while figuring out the rest of life turned into serving thousands of customers and hundreds of thousands of meals across Northwest Florida. We are incredibly grateful to all of our customers and partners who supported us throughout the years and made Primal Nosh possible. We could not thank everyone enough!”
The team signed off by providing five meal prep companies they recommend to their customers, including Factor75, EatClean, Trifecta, Freshology and Freshly.
TaiPei Asian Cuisine
Nippon Sushi’s sister restaurant, TaiPei Asian Cuisine, announced on social media that it was closing its doors 18 months after opening on North Davis Highway.
Owner Chuck Nippon opened Taipei as a way of providing Pensacola residents a “really nice, clean and classic Asian restaurant for local people.”
The restaurant incorporated a fusion element that combined Chinese and Japanese food.
The restaurant made the announcement on Nov. 29, stating that it was difficult to properly staff the restaurant and provide fine service its patrons were accustomed to.
Nippon Sushi in Cordova Mall will remain open.
Chasing Cars
Chasing Cars Pizza and Grill has closed its doors indefinitely after about two months in business on 6014 N. Ninth Ave.
The building originally went up for lease after JAKS Bar and Grill closed unexpectedly in July after opening in late 2021. Prior to Chasing Cars' and JAKS's openings, the space had housed long-time tenants Italy’s Finest Pizzeria and Kooter Brown’s, which both served as popular neighborhood hangouts.
“Right now, we have closed it down, haven’t decided what we are going to do long-term. We have a couple other projects we are working on. We are trying to decide what we want to do with it,” said Panhandle Restaurant Group CEO/Founder Chris McMIllan. “Either open it back up, or possibly relocate it.”
McMillan said Chasing Cars’ last day of business, to his knowledge, was Dec. 15.
He did not give a specific reason for the closing, simply noting, "I understand it’s where the times are. Some other outside issues, nothing major.”
