‘Difficult decisions’: Central Florida restaurants shut down amid rising costs

Several notable Central Florida restaurants have closed their doors in recent months, saying “the cost of everything” made it too expensive to stay open.

The shuttered businesses included a popular lunch stop, a pioneering vegan restaurant and a brunch place on Winter Park’s Park Avenue. In just the last week, a brewery in downtown Sanford and a restaurant in Orlando’s trendy Thornton Park neighborhood announced they were shutting, too.

The rising costs of rent, food, supplies and wages have all created a financial strain for restaurants, experts say.

Pom Pom’s Teahouse and Sandwicheria, a staple in Orlando’s Milk District neighborhood for nearly 20 years, closed earlier this month.

“One of the reasons I closed the Pom Pom’s concept down was not only that I wanted to do other things, but it was too expensive,” said owner Pom Moongauklang. “It was just a lot of work to do sandwiches, and it was just too much. With the cost of everything going up, I’ve had to rethink this whole restaurant model.”

Ethos Vegan Kitchen and Farm & Haus, both in Winter Park, closed in September as did Alex’s Fresh Kitchen in Casselberry.

Graffiti Junktion, a burger bar chain based in Orlando, in July closed its Thornton Park restaurant, after closing its College Park location a year earlier.

Kappy’s Subs, a fixture in Maitland for more than 50 years, announced last month that it was closing because it had been priced out of its long-time location. A last-minute deal with a new landlord allowed it to remain open.

Hector Sandoval, director of the economic analysis program at the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research, said the recent $1-per-hour increase in Florida’s minimum wage, higher prices and high interest rates on loans all have made the market difficult for restaurant owners.

“Although rates are now coming down, the high rates may have already strained the restaurants financially,” Sandoval wrote. “Another reason is the surge in prices over the last couple of years might have finally impacted their profits.”

Nearly all restaurant owners said higher food and labor costs were issues for their business, according to the National Restaurant Association’s 2024 State of the Restaurant Industry report. Thirty eight percent said their restaurants were not profitable last year.

The rising cost of labor is one of the several reasons Chris Esser, co-owner of Sanford Brewing Company, said the brewery closed last weekend. The brewery also sold wings, sandwiches and appetizers.

“Food costs went up and liquor costs went up, which means prices had to go up,” he said. “The minimum wage went up, which I’m for, but it’s a little tougher to manage when everyone gets a raise every year.”

The Thornton Park restaurant Jack & Honey’s, which advertised “diner classics and brunch all day,” announced Monday that it has closed, effective immediately, on the one year anniversary of its opening.

“We have made some difficult decisions over the past few months to try to save our restaurant, but unfortunately, circumstances did not work out in our favor,” the restaurant posted on its Facebook page.

Johnny’s Diner closed its Winter Park location in 2022 when the plaza it was located within was sold, eventually reopening in a shopping center in east Orange County.

Margarita Krasniqi, who helps run the diner, said restaurants that have closed in recent months probably dealt with the same price pressures hers did.

“A lot of those businesses that closed, their rent probably went from like $3,000 to like $7,000 or $8,000 easily,” she said. “Or their landlord sold the property, because you get big bucks for real estate now, and they had no choice but to move out.”

And even if the rent is manageable, restaurants face other challenges, Krasniqi said.

“The staff that we do have will come here and work, but then they’ll go to another job because it’s hard to pay the bills, and so they’ll go work two or three different jobs,” she said. “And then for some of them, they really just don’t have the experience, and they’re not going to be able to catch up and learn everything how we do it.”

The restaurant business has never been easy, she said, but the current climate has made it even tougher.

“Restaurants take a lot of work, a lot of energy, a lot of money and a lot of everything,” Margarita Krasniqi said. “You’ve got to have patience and you’ve got to have the love for it. Because if you don’t? Forget about it, don’t even bother.”

Moongauklang agreed. She is planning a new food venture now that Pom Pom’s is closed, but said the restaurant was no longer sustainable.

“It was very stressful for my staff, for me, and it was really hard to make any money,” she said. “My days would start at 7 a.m. and I wouldn’t go to sleep until the restaurant closed at 10 p.m, so it was just a hamster wheel. I realized I can’t do this anymore and it’s not fun for me anymore.”