Downtown St. Petersburg’s longtime Tex-Mex spot Red Mesa Cantina announced its immediate closure this morning, just one day after its parent company filed for bankruptcy protection.
“It is with heavy hearts that we announce that, effective immediately, Red Mesa Cantina will be closing after 16 unforgettable years in downtown St. Petersburg,” posted the restaurant on social media, “along with the Red Mesa Event Spaces located above the restaurant, which became home to so many celebrations, milestones, and memories over the years.”
The restaurant’s Google page now says “permanently closed” and the redmesacantina.com only shows today’s closure announcement.
The concept, located at 128 3rd St. S, is owned by Veytia Ventures LLC, which just yesterday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Middle District of Florida. The filing did not mention any reason for the closure. But the filing did list assets of $100,001 to $500,000, and liabilities of $1,000,001 to $10 million.
The company did not include the bankruptcy filing in today’s social media announcement.
Companies typically file Chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize debts and restructure while staying in business, but Veytia Ventures did not go into detail regarding the decision.
Owned by Peter Veytia Jr., Veytia Ventures LLC only operates Red Mesa Cantina and Red Mesa Events.
Veytia Jr.’s other concept’s, Red Mesa Restaurant, Red Mesa Mercado and Red Mesa Mercado West, are under separate legal entities and are not impacted by the bankruptcy, said a spokesperson for the company to Creative Loafing in an email.
In an internal email obtained by Creative Loafing, Red Mesa Cantina warned employees of the closure and invited them to reapply at Veytia Jr.’s other concepts.
“We have made the difficult decision to permanently close Red Mesa Cantina and the event space above it, effective immediately,” read the email, which was sent at sent at 11:16 p.m., on June 1. “We understand the significant impact this news has on every member of our team and do not take this decision lightly. First and foremost, thank you for the hard work, dedication, and passion you have brought to the restaurant. We are extremely grateful for everything this team has contributed over the years. Our focus now is supporting employees through this transition. At this time, there are opportunities available at other Red Mesa Group locations for interested team members.”
The last few years have been up and down for Veytia Jr. Last fall, two years after the concept was announced, Red Mesa’s ‘Mercado West’ opened in St. Pete.
In 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor investigated and recovered over $190,000 in back wages for 89 employees, after both the Red Mesa Restaurant and Red Mesa Cantina locations were found liable for multiple Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violations.
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This article appears in May 28 – June 03, 2026.
