While a new year is kicking off, we can’t help but linger on some of Orlando’s hardest goodbyes of 2025. Financial struggles, city regulations and overall drops in business have led to the loss of some greats: The Hammered Lamb, Soco Restaurant, Nick’s Family Diner, Little Saigon, Shōgun Japanese Steakhouse and Chez Vincent are no more.
Here are the 2025 closures we’ll miss the most.
629 E. Central Blvd., Orlando
After 11 years of serving its contemporary brand of Southern fare, Soco closed permanently in late May this year. The concept by real estate developer Craig Ustler and chef Greg Richie matched the lifespan of the space’s predecessor, Hue. In food and dining critic Faiyaz Kara’s 2015 review, he said the restaurant’s “imaginative, sometimes fanciful, takes on classic Southern staples are of the sort one would see on East Bay Street in Charleston, South Carolina, not East Central Boulevard in Orlando.” Credit: Photo via Soco Restaurant/Instagram
957 W. Fairbanks Ave., Winter Park
Bar Kada, a Top Table of 2024 and winner of Best Windowless Restaurant honors, has closed. Chef-owner Michael Collantes, whose Michelin-starred tasting menu concept, Soseki, and recently opened pie house, Perla’s Pizza, straddle the venue, said it was a struggle for Bar Kada to catch on from the get-go. Credit: Matt Keller Lehman
1235 N. Orange Ave., Orlando
After one last tumultuous year of business struggles, Ivanhoe Village’s popular eatery and catering company Hammered Lamb announced in January it would close its doors for good. The closure came after the eatery pleaded for community support amid financial hardship months earlier. The beloved spot known for its loaded brunch dishes, drink deals and regular drag brunch shows opened its doors in Ivanhoe Park in 2013. Credit: Photo via Hammered Lamb/Facebook
862 Orlando Ave., Winter Park
Hummus House in Winter Park closed its doors after nearly a decade of serving its brand of fast-casual Mediterranean fare along Orlando Avenue. Credit: Photo via Google Maps
2401 Curry Ford Road, Orlando
Vegan eatery Leguminati has shuttered inside the Hourglass Market after 10 years. The spot served up decadent vegan fare, including wraps — with the glittering crown jewel being their much-healthier-than-Taco-Bell take on the iconic crunchwrap — burgers, sandwiches, bagels and beer to wash it all down. It closed in late August. Credit: Photo via Leguminati Vegan Eatery/Facebook
3335 Curry Ford Road, Orlando
Daybreak Diner abruptly closed its doors in late June, marking a jarring end to 27 years in business. This left a big void in both locals’ stomachs and the Dover Shores Shopping Center — which is expected to be filled by the upcoming Johnny’s Diner. Credit: Photo via Curry Ford West/Facebook
818 S. Orlando Ave., Winter Park
Chicken Guy!, the fried chicken chain restaurant from celebrity chef and Food Network star Guy Fieri and Planet Hollywood CEO and restaurateur Robert Earl, officially closed its Winter Park location. Last year, the franchise faced eviction over unpaid rent of more than $38,000. A three-day notice was issued twice before the eviction notice was filed in Orange County court in March. The 818 S. Orlando Ave. location first opened in 2021, following the chain’s first Central Florida location opening at Walt Disney World’s Disney Springs in 2018. Credit: Photo via Google Maps
2304 Edgewater Drive, Orlando
College Park Diner — one of the oldest eateries in Orlando at the time of shuttering — permanently closed in June. The diner was ordered to close temporarily due to health code violations, according to state inspection records, and they ultimately decided to close permanently, as reported by Bungalower. Credit: Photo via College Park Café/Facebook
1688 E. Silver Star Road, Ocoee
Mr. J Hand-Pulled Noodle has served its last bowl in Ocoee. It opened back in 2023 and was the subject of a favorable and flavorful OW restaurant review. Credit: Photo by Rob Bartlett
6327 International Drive, Orlando
Orlando’s oldest teppanyaki restaurant, Shōgun Japanese Steakhouse, closed in August inside the Rosen Inn on I-Drive. Credit: Google Maps
646 S. Orlando Ave., Winter Park
Soho Juice Co., on the corner of Fairbanks and South Orlando avenues, has closed after serving Winter Park for eight years. Credit: Google Maps
8255 International Drive, Orlando
Hanamizuki Japanese Restaurant, known for its strict adherence to Japanese cooking techniques, closed this spring after nearly 30 years of serving the community an abundance of sushi and ramen, grilled entrees, onigiri and more. Credit: Image via Google Maps
1235 N. Orange Ave., Orlando
Orange Blossom Trail breakfast spot Nick’s Family Diner closed its doors after its 15-year run in Orlando. It had long been known for its cozy, casual environment, all-day breakfast and years of serving the community. Credit: Image via Google Maps
8255 International Drive, Orlando
The Alice in Wonderland-themed cocktail bar HighT opened downtown in spring 2024, and its owners announced it would be closing permanently in early April due to “overwhelming financial strain” from recent restrictions placed on nightlife in downtown.
558 W. New England Ave., Winter Park
Park Avenue Tavern, the Winter Park outpost of the NYC original, shuttered two years after opening in the old Dexter’s space. It’s set to be replaced by the Charleston-based firm Oak Steakhouse. Credit: Faiyaz Kara
1280 Oviedo Mall Boulevard, Oviedo
The popular brewery located in the Oviedo mall announced early this year that after five years in business, the location would close for good. The announcement explained that lasting economic impacts from the pandemic and rising costs have made it difficult for the brewery to continue business. Oviedo Brewing Co. described the effort to push through these challenges as “mentally draining.” Credit: Photo via Oviedo Brewing Company/Facebook
2610 S. Ferncreek Ave., Orlando
Restaurant, bar and bottle shop The Aardvark closed in January. On social media, the owners blamed their lawyers for the closure. Credit: Photo by Rob Bartlett
1012 W. Church St., Orlando
Broken Strings Brewery, formerly located in Parramore, announced its closure in January. Owner Charles Frizzell said that changes to the downtown Orlando business landscape have turned the area into a “ghost town.” The business saw no way it could remain open throughout the new year, he said. Frizzell also attributed the closure to other factors like business cost increases and declines in craft beer enthusiasts. Credit: Photo via Broken Strings Brewery/Facebook
310 S. Park Ave., Winter Park
After 26 years, 310 Park South closed its doors in Winter Park, and the space is now making way for thin-crust, coal-fired pizza joint Oak & Stone. Credit: Image via Google Maps
7600 Dr. Phillips Boulevard, Orlando
After 23 years, Dr. Phillips culinary institution Nagoya Sushi, shut its doors. It was a longtime award-winning sushi bar and Japanese dining destination. Credit: Photo via Nagoya/Facebook
533 W. New England Ave., Winter Park
After 28 years of serving Hannibal Square, Chez Vincent closed Dec. 21. Owners Vincent and Teri Gagliano, who also run Hannibal’s Lounge, are retiring and have sold both businesses to a “respected local chef and restaurateur.” Credit: Image via Google Maps
5282 W. Colonial Drive, Orlando
The owners of Z Asian Vietnamese Kitchen opened their appropriately named chicken pho concept, Pho Ga Hien Vuong, Sept. 9 at 5282 W. Colonial Drive. In addition to the eponymous Vietnamese chicken soup, com ga hai nam (Hainanese-style chicken and rice), goi ga (chicken salad) and other chicken dishes are offered. Credit: Screengrab via Google Maps
1106 E. Colonial Drive, Orlando
the venerable Vietnamese restaurant will serve its final bowl of soup Dec. 27. Siblings Vu Nguyen and Mai Huynh are hanging up their aprons after nearly 40 years of serving the Mills 50 community, a community they’re ever so grateful for. The restaurant has seen Mills 50 flourish into a culinary, cultural and historical hub for food lovers, a rise spawned by Vietnamese refugees who turned the neighborhood into the destination it is today. In fact, Hung Kim, widely considered to be Orlando’s first Vietnamese restaurant, occupied the Little Saigon space in 1983 before Nguyen and Huynh moved in a few years later in 1987. Credit: courtesy image
2305 Edgewater Drive, Orlando
It’s been a mainstay on Edgewater Drive since opening back in April of 2016, but Armando’s in College Park is now closed. A note posted on the door of the Italian restaurant announced the Nov. 3 closure after 10 years of serving the strip engorged with Italian restaurants.
Credit: image via Armando’s/Facebook
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Chloe Greenberg
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