The 20 big name SA and Adelaide venues that have closed so far in 2025
Last year was a tough one for Adelaide’s battling hospitality sector – and it hasn’t got any easier in 2025. Here are 20 of the top venues and businesses we have lost so far.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
After a tough 2024, the state’s hospitality crisis has only deepened this year, with a host of Adelaide businesses forced to close their doors.
From acclaimed restaurants, to much-loved cafes and an award-winning cheesemaker, SA has taken a battering with scores of top venues shutting their doors for good since January.
It comes as Adelaide businesses continue to struggle with skyrocketing operating expenses, including energy and food costs, rent and insurance premiums.
But for some veteran operators, it’s just time for a change or a good opportunity to revamp their sites to meet the changing needs of SA’s diners.
Here are 15 well-known businesses we’ve lost so far in 2025.
Hospitality king shuts down empire
The hospitality entrepreneur behind Brighton cafe CREAM and city restaurant Remy’s Deep Dish Pizza abruptly shut down his businesses in March.
Josh Rivers made the shock announcement on social media, revealing he was left with little choice but to close his quartet of venues, including bagel and oat bar Girl Next Door, and Diamond Burger, both at the same location on Jetty Road, Brighton.
“It is with a very heavy heart that I announce the end of my company including all restaurants... all four sites are closed effective immediately,” he wrote on social media.
“I would have love to have one last hurrah but unfortunately that’s now how these things go.”
Mr Rivers said his company wasn’t another casualty of the state’s hospitality crisis.
Mr Rivers, a 22-year veteran of the hospitality industry, said he was at peace with the decision and urged his followers not to “feel sorry for him”.“This is business, and business is full of risks,” he wrote.
Western suburbs cafe in voluntary liquidation
A popular western suburbs cafe was placed into voluntary liquidation with debts of over $700,000.
Karma and Crow, which had been operating out of Yellow Matter Brewing in Brooklyn Park, ceased trading in December and was sent into liquidation in February.
Director Janie Kammer confirmed the cafe has shut down, about seven months after moving away from their original Richmond Road home.
“It was a very tough decision and obviously, it’s absolutely heartbreaking for all the small businesses doing it really tough,” Ms Kammer told The Advertiser.
Located in a warehouse, Karma and Crow opened its doors in 2016, quickly becoming a beloved brunch spot among the local community.
Named Adelaide’s best western suburbs brunch in a 2021 Advertiser poll, the eatery relocated last May to its sister site, a microbrewery called Yellow Matter, on Marion Rd, which is also owned by Ms Kammer.
Italian Chinatown restaurant quietly closes down
The owners of Italian restaurant Aces Chinatown quietly shut its doors in March due to an “unforeseen event”.
The two-storey city venue, on the corner of Gouger and Moonta streets, closed earlier this year, less than 12 months after it was revived following three decades in the Central Market.
The high-profile eatery – formerly known as Italian diner Aces Pizza – was launched by Andrew Fantasia in March 2024, with FRP Capital the major shareholder.
Top Adelaide chef Tom Tilbury (Gather, Press) was at the helm as culinary director.
Sole director Mr Fantasia told The Advertiser: “Unfortunately the business closed due to an unforeseen event which I cannot comment on at this time.”
Aces served up stylish Italian dishes with a “nod to Chinatown”, including their Yum Ciao lunch menu, a European version of traditional yum cha.
Two suburban cafes shut within months
An Adelaide business owner has announced the closure of a second cafe in 2024 as he focuses on his new venture.
Entrepreneur Elliott Brown suddenly shut down his Henley Beach venue, Hey Zozo’s, in March, after pulling the pin on Hey MooMoo’s in Aberfoyle Park in January. That cafe had been open just five months.
Mr Brown said the tough economy and his growing wedding and events business called Mase Events made it difficult to maintain all his venues. He now retains only McLaren Vale’s Hey Juj which he opened in November 2023.
“Obviously the current economic climate is very tricky,” he told The Advertiser.
“And the event industry is crazy, it’s full on. I’m a solo business owner, it’s really hard to do everything on my own. Staffing is getting harder.”
Beloved Gouger St eatery closes its doors
The owners of modern Vietnamese eatery Little NNQ shut up shop for the last time on February 9.
“With a heavy heart, we announce the closing of Little NNQ. Thank you for your support, memories, and love,” they captioned a post on social media.
The restaurant, launched in 2014 by Jennifer Crawford and mother/chef Hung Ngo, was a city sibling to their flagship eatery, Nghi Ngan Quan (NNQ) in Ferryden Park, which later relocated to Woodville.
The family also has smaller NNQ Express venues in Grange, Cheltenham and Semaphore.
Rising fish prices forces closure of seafood restaurant
The skyrocketing price of fish has contributed to the closure of a popular seafood restaurant in Adelaide’s south.
Eighty Eight Seafood and Grill, on Victor Harbor Road, Old Noarlunga, shut its doors permanently in March, with owner Bill Moularas saying rising business costs and the ongoing impact of the pandemic left him with no other option.
“It’s heart-wrenching. Recovering from Covid was hard but the last three years has been harder and harder … costs have only gone up and profit margins are shrinking,” said Mr Moularas.
“This has been on the cards for a while … it’s just been mentally draining.”
Mr Moularas, 37, said the price of fish had risen by more than 60 per cent in some cases over the last five years.
Salmon now retailed for about $65/kg (up from $38.99kg), flathead was $70kg (up from $48.99kg) and kingfish was $80+/kg (up from $48.99kg), and more customers were choosing to buy fresh and cook it at home, Mr Moularas said.
“People have less money to spend now, and all business costs are rising, everything from insurance to wages, power, and rent,” he said.
Hills artisan cheesemaker to pull the pin
Rising costs and significantly reduced sales due to cost-of-living pressures have led to the closure of an acclaimed Adelaide Hills cheesemaker.
Kym Masters, owner of Woodside’s Section28 Artisan Cheeses, said they have stopped production of their award-winning alpine-style cheeses, and will wind up the business in September.
Mr Masters said it was a tough decision but one that had to be made.
“It’s always difficult – we put our heart and soul into it,” he said.
“I’ve given ten years of my life to building and operating this business. I was grateful every year we were in operation.”
A former investment banker, Mr Masters quit his job to launch Section28, alongside wife Joanne, about ten years ago.
Mr Masters said growing business costs had hurt, plus a “significant” drop-off in sales in high-end, dining venues interstate.
About 85 per cent of their sales were on the eastern seaboard, Mr Masters said, where the cost-of-living crisis has hit diners who have cut back on their spending – particularly at the end of dinner.
Iconic North Terrace restaurant says goodbye
Beloved North Terrace dining institution Parlamento closed its doors for the final time in April.
After almost four decades in the famed city location, the acclaimed Italian bistro has been sold by co-owners Raffaele Simeone, Danny Rattenni and Gabriele Bibbo to hotelier David Basheer.
Parlamento has been at the centre of some of the state’s biggest news events, and played host to countless big-name celebrities and tourists, both interstate and international, since opening in 1988.
Mr Simeone, 65, said there was a mixture of joy and sadness, but the time was right to try something new.
“We’re going to miss the place to death but nothing is forever,” he said.
“We just thought we’ve done everything we can do here at Parlamento and the time has come for us to go our separate ways.”
West End dining favourite “regrettably” closed
The owners of Stem, an up-market restaurant on Hindley St which only launched a new menu in November, revealed they would be “regrettably closing” on March 2.
“It has been a great pleasure over the last six years to have created a beautiful, hospitable restaurant and bar experience in the West End,” they wrote in a social media post.
“Sadly, it has been increasingly difficult to remain viable and we have had to make the difficult decision to gracefully retire and close the restaurant.”
The space has since been refreshed and relaunched in May as Canopy, a stylish bar with a heavy emphasis on wines, led by former Stem sommelier Henry Bampton.
“Hospo is doing it tough. It’s always difficult and sad when a venue closes but the pivot was a response to what people are wanting,” he told The Advertiser.
City eatery and outdoor bar to serve last drinks
In February, the owners of Midnight Spaghetti and Roxie’s, located in the same city block as iconic CBD pub the Crown & Anchor, announced the venues would be closing later this year.
Tom Skipper, who owns both businesses, said that while the beloved pub has been saved from the wrecking ball, the building will have to shut for up to two years for construction of student accommodation.
This means Midnight Spaghetti, located above the historic live music venue, will close its doors from mid-July until then, with “no immediate plan for a relocation – meaning this could be a long goodbye and hiatus”.
Mr Skipper said outdoor garden bar Roxie’s and adjoining event space Chateau Apollo, will close permanently from May 25.
“When Singaporean developer Wee Hur purchased our block, we knew change was coming,” he said.
“While the Cranker has been saved thanks to a landmark agreement, the reality of the development means that Roxie’s – along with Chateau Apollo – must make way for new student accommodation.
“Come raise a glass with us before the lights go out one last time.”
Cost-of-living crisis claims city restaurant
The cost-of-living crisis has been blamed for the closure of a landmark city restaurant – but there are plans to relaunch the venue with a new concept later this year.
Award-winning seafood eatery Fishbank Bar and Grill, in the heritage-listed building on the corner of King William St and North Tce, has quietly shut its doors.
Previously home to Jamie’s Italian, the acclaimed fine diner showcased arguably the widest range of seafood available on an SA menu.
But co-owner Joanna Chronis says Fishbank – opened in 2020 by Adelaide businessman Ed Peter and Singapore investor Richard Magides – started to struggle as the cost-of-living crisis gripped the state.
“Whilst we were awarded in our category, not having the large population of places like Melbourne and Sydney, a seafood-led restaurant (and) the sheer size of Fishbank made it difficult to sustain in an environment of high inflation and interest rates,” she said.
East End eatery to shut but new venue on the way
The powerhouse hospitality group behind CBD restaurant House of George has revealed why they are closing down the venue – and announced plans to relaunch the space in June.
Earlier in May, The Big Easy Group confirmed the city dining favourite was shutting its doors for good on June 9 after six years at the East Tce location.
But Oliver Brown, the company’s managing director, said they will re-open the venue a fortnight later, with an exciting new concept that will be unique to Adelaide.
“We’ve been planning this move for months, not to close a venue, but to bring a new idea to life,” he said.
Mr Brown described the refreshed eatery as their modern take on the “classic, white tablecloth” restaurant and would be a “fun yet refined” addition to their stable of businesses.
“We’re really pumped, we think it’s going to be a different and unique venue for Adelaide,” he said.
Historic Port Adelaide hotel shuttered by liquidators
Port Adelaide’s oldest licensed pub shut its doors in February.
The historic Commercial Hotel, on the corner of Commercial Road and Divett Street, was closed until further notice after an attempt to buy the business fell through.
The pub, established in 1841, fell into liquidation in May last year, and liquidators have since been running the pub under a management agreement.
But renewed efforts to purchase the business failed in February, and liquidators Alan Scott and Stuart Otway from SV Partners decided to close down the beloved venue.
The pub has since been successfully purchased and relaunched as Port & Vine in late April.
Adelaide dining institution left with “no other choice”
One of Adelaide’s most picturesque dining destinations has closed, effective immediately.
The historic River Cafe and Red Ochre Barrel + Grill, on the River Torrens, War Memorial Drive, shut its doors for good on Monday after its owner failed to secure a long-term lease with Adelaide City Council.
Executive chef and owner Ray Mauger made the announcement on social media late on Tuesday, saying he had “no other option”.
“It has been a long and fabulous ride, but our ability to negotiate a long-term lease with the Adelaide City Council has failed, and we have no other option but to close our doors,” he wrote.
“Thank you, thank you for your loyal patronage over so many years.
“The hospitality industry has been our passion for over forty years, and who knows where that passion may resurface?
“For the moment, we need a break to restore and rethink where we belong.”
More Coverage
Originally published as The 20 big name SA and Adelaide venues that have closed so far in 2025
Adelaide’s Australia Day events face massive funding cut
The Adelaide City Council’s plan to reduce funding for January 26th events has been met with significant opposition. Have your say.
Adelaide’s 85,000 new jobs bonanza
A jobs boom fuelled by the defence and advanced manufacturing sectors will lure Gen Z and millennial workers to Adelaide, according to a new report from KPMG.