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. The filing did list assets of $100,001 to $500,000, and liabilities of $1,000,001 to $10 million.
Veytia Ventures also operates Red Mesa Restaurant, Red Mesa Mercado and Red Mesa Mercado West. The company did not include the bankruptcy filing in today’s announcement, or detail how it may or may not impact the other concepts.
Calls to the company from Creative Loafing Tampa Bay were not immediately answered, but companies typically file Chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize debts and restructure while staying in business.
In an internal email sent June 1, and obtained by Creative Loafing, Veytia Ventures warned employees of the closure and invited them to reapply at the company’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. “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 Ventures. 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.
