Stone Soup Company in Ybor closes doors
After more than 13 years, the Stone Soup Company in Ybor City announced on Monday that it is closing its doors “effective immediately.”
The brick-lined location, which is not connected with the similarly named St. Petersburg Stone Soup Cafe, is located right on Ybor’s Seventh Avenue. It served up sandwiches, salads and a variety of soups since it opened in 2009.
On its Facebook page, the company announced, “Effective immediately, The Stone Soup Company will cease operations. We would like to thank all the current and past employees, the Ybor and Tampa community, and our guests who have supported us over the last 13 years. We appreciated the opportunity to serve you all!”
The closure comes at a time that Ybor City, once a haven of nightclubs, cigar bars and tattoo shops, is undergoing a visible transformation. In the past few months, a spate of bars, including Florida Cane Distillery and White Lie, have closed. Zydeco Brew Werks closed its Ybor location in January, and now have a new location at the Museum of Science and Industry near the University of South Florida.
Fans of the old scene fear gentrification is on the way as developer Darryl Shaw plans to bring 5,000 residences to the area. Shaw has said that the district needs more of a balance of residences, restaurants and other businesses.
