Gator’s Dockside in Tampa, located at 5840 E. Fowler Ave., announced yesterday in a Facebook post that they have closed “due to COVID-19 complications.”
“After 17 years with you, we are sad to say goodbye,” reads the post. “We will miss you all.”
Originally founded in Florida by two brothers and friend, the chain was based out of Jacksonville. In 2001, Heathrow-based Ultimate Franchise Systems bought a significant stake of the company in a partnership to try to take it national, according to Orlando Business Journal.
According to their website, the other 25 locations of the statewide franchise remain open for takeout and delivery, with one restaurant in Port Canaveral listed as “temporarily closed.”
No Orlando locations are currently listed as closed and, among others in Central Florida, the Baldwin Park location is offering lunch specials for pickups.
This story originally appeared in our sister paper Creative Loafing Tampa Bay._
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