After opening in South St. Petersburg’s historic Manhattan Casino in April, 22 South Food Hall has permanently closed.
When former Tampa Bay Buccaneer and businessman Vincent Jackson died this spring, many wondered what would come of the Manhattan Casino. Callaloo Group partner Mario Farias told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that the group planned to forge ahead with the reopening in an effort to keep Jackson’s memory alive.
According to a Facebook post on Wednesday, Jackson’s sudden death and “the lack of desire by his Trust to continue” is what ultimately led to 22 South’s closure. The food hall plans to work with chefs and staff on finding new jobs elsewhere.
“We’d like to thank our loyal customers and supporters who saw our vision in creating opportunities in our community and embraced it,” 22 South wrote. “We all learned through this how fragile life is and how much effect we have on each other.”
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This article appears in Jul 22-28, 2021.