Here’s when South Tampa restaurant Datz will officially close

Goodbyes are in order for Datz and Dough. Both restaurants on S MacDill Avenue are closing after being sold to a Tampa-based development group.

Datz’s South Tampa location will close on Aug. 27, while Dough closed on July 20 — the day the sale between owners Suzanne and Roger Perry and the development group was finalized. On Thursday, the owners released a statement acknowledging the restaurants’ closure on Datz’s Facebook page.

“This is our first child,” Suzanne Perry said of Datz’s flagship location. She told the Tampa Bay Times the decision to sell the restaurants along with other areas surrounding them (where Datz Restaurant Group’s warehouse and offices were located) came down to timing. With a real estate market boom in South Tampa, the owners were made an offer they couldn’t refuse. The properties were sold for $6.2 million, according to Hillsborough County records.

Both locations will be renovated, with Datz to become a new restaurant and Dough to be converted into a commercial recreational space, according to a report from the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

Suzanne Perry said she doesn’t know which hospitality group will operate the new restaurant but is confident that it will fit into the area seamlessly. There are no current plans to close Datz’s St. Petersburg or Riverview locations, she said.

In 2009, the Perrys opened Datz in South Tampa before expanding to St. Petersburg in 2019 and Riverview the following year. The restaurant quickly became known and loved for its unique spins on comfort food classics — think shrimp and grits with Indian Makhani sauce, Nashville hot chicken between doughnuts and meatloaf stuffed with bacon-jalapeno mac and cheese.

The spot went viral for items like a whopping “Wonder Woman”-themed burger and has been featured on the Food Network and “Good Morning America.”

Its accompanying bakery Dough opened in 2013 and maintained that signature playful spirit. Sitting against pink-striped walls, patrons enjoyed sweet treats from specialty doughnuts to milkshakes.

Over the course of 14 years, Suzanne Perry said she’s seen the restaurants grow alongside the people who worked at or frequented them. That’s what she’ll miss the most.

About 100 staff members worked at both locations, she said. Many will be transferred to the Riverview or St. Pete locations or given resources to help them find new employment. A goodbye send-off for the restaurant’s close partners and staff is being planned on its final day.

“This is bittersweet. It’s not like we’re going away like off into the horizon. We’re still here, we still have other stores, but this one was a little special,” she said.