Goody Goody closes this month in South Tampa

You’ll still be able to get the Goody stuff at Tampa International Airport and Columbia Cafe.

Goody Goody which closes in Tampa, Florida on Sept. 29, 2024. - Photo via goodyburgers/Facebook
Photo via goodyburgers/Facebook
Goody Goody which closes in Tampa, Florida on Sept. 29, 2024.
Just shy of the 100th anniversary of its initial opening, old school Tampa diner Goody Goody says it’ll close in South Tampa this month.

On social media, Richard Gonzmart, President and Caretaker of The 1905 Family of Restaurants said his company was evolving and adapting to “changing circumstances” as it looks for new ways to serve its community.

The last day of service at Goody Goody—located at 1601 W Swann Ave. in Tampa’s Hyde Park Village—is Sunday, Sept. 29. Starting this Tuesday, Sept. 24 the spot famously open early for breakfast will operate with a limited menu from 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m.

Tampa’s Goody Goody first opened as a barbecue stand in 1925 on what’s now known as Kennedy Boulevard. Its last location on Florida Avenue closed in 2005, but the brand was revived in 2014 when Gonzmart purchased it from the family of owner Mike Wheeler.
Gonzmart—a sucker for nostalgia who also displays statues from Tampa’s long-shuttered Fairyland at his Ulele restaurant in Tampa Heights—reopened in 2016 and honored Goody Goody’s classic dishes as “an homage to a simpler, yet profoundly rich time in Tampa’s food history.” As a kid, Gonzmart said his mom would pick up a bag of Goody Goody’s burgers with “P.O.X.”, aka pickles, onions and secret sauce.

He thanked customers and described running the concept over the last eight years as a “labor of love.”

The closure in South Tampa is not the end of Goody Goody in the Bay area though, since the restaurant will continue to operate at Tampa International Airport’s C terminal as well as at Tampa Bay History Center’s Columbia Café, which will start serving the P.O.X. burger, Hyde Park Burger and butterscotch pie starting Tuesday, Oct. 1.

Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.

Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter