The shop closes its doors after nine years at 911 Central Ave. in the Edge District on Sunday. Sponaugle told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that he decided not to renew the lease, opting to rebuild in one of downtown St. Pete’s new high rises.
“We’re very much looking forward to keeping St. Petersburg out home and evolving with the skyline,” Sponaugle said.
There was no issue with the landlord, he clarified. The lease has a few months left, but Sponaugle said he wanted to close during the summer slow season.
The revamped Buya will open by next summer with more of a focus on its izakaya-style small plates. But ramen fans will still be able to get their fix.
“When we opened in 2016, that term (izakaya) hadn’t become familiar with guests in our market, so we led with ramen,” Sponaugle said.
“Ramen will always be the star abut you’re going to see a more diverse menu that stays true to a lot of the Japanese cuisine we do with a lot more smaller plates to chose from.”
Buya won Creative Loafing’s Best of the Bay award for Best Ramen from 2020-2024.
Since opening in August 2016, Sponaugle has expanded to several national and international locations and launched an upscale sister restaurant, Ukiah, in Ashville and Ft. Lauderdale.
It is neither a diner, drive in or dive, but Buya was featured on the Food Network’s “Triple D.” Guy Fieri approved of the restaurant’s crispy duck ramen and blistered shishito peppers.
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This article appears in Aug 21-27, 2025.