South Tampa institution closing after 40 years
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Dec 9, 2016

A South Tampa restaurant that's been open for more than 40 years said Friday that it will close its doors.

Hugo's Spanish Restaurant, at 931 S. Howard Ave., told those gathered at Cafe Con Tampa that Friday would be the establishment's last day. Cafe Con Tampa is a weekly public forum hosted by Tampa public relations firm Tucker/Hall.

Bill Carlson, a principal with Tucker/Hall, said the group was told that Hugo's "will reopen in another form."

"Hugo's told us they are closing temporarily due to a transfer of ownership," Carlson said. "They will announce the new plans next week, but it will still be Hugo's."

Cafe Con Tampa has been held at Hugo's for eight years and will move to Oxford Exchange next week, Carlson said.

"When the current owners told us they were closing, we called Oxford right away," he said. "It works for us because the owners are community oriented, it gives us more space and they are closer to leaders from neighborhoods across the city who joins us every Friday."

Don Johnston, general manager of Hugo's, declined comment.

Hugo's sits in a mixed-use building - second-story apartments and ground-floor retail - on South Howard Avenue, in the middle of one of the most urban, walkable areas of Tampa. The property is owned by a limited liability corporation controlled by the restaurant's founders, Angela and Hugo Sanchez.

The property has been listed for sale for more than a year, said Jeff Gigante, partner in Ciccio Restaurant Group. Gigante said CRG made an offer on the property, but "felt that there was a big disparity between value and asking."

CRG's Green Lemon and its parking lot sits just north of Hugo's. Across the street, a Jeff Vinik-backed investment group is under construction on a mixed-use building that will include restaurants on the ground floor and apartments above.

Ashley Gurbal Kritzer is senior reporter for the Tampa Bay Business Journal.