One of our favorite seafood spots downtown is about to have a new home. Oyster Bar St. Pete, a longtime staple on the Jannus Block of Central Avenue, announced that its last day of operation at its current location will be August 20, after which it will be moving to an undisclosed space “not too far from its current home.”

Currently located at 249 Central Avenue, Oyster Bar has been a downtown staple for nearly 25 years. In a release today, ownership said the beloved space on Central Avenue will still be home to good times, as it will soon host “a spectacular and unique” pop-up bar experience designed by Frank Clemente.

As for Oyster Bar itself, ownership said that “as the second Central block has evolved, the vision for the brand’s future is in relocating the restaurant to better suit its concept and clientele.”

“Our goal is to relocate the Oyster Bar to better serve our diners, but the pop-up concept will be a lot of fun in that space,” said Josh Cameron, proprietor of The Oyster Bar. “We’ve loved every minute of our tenure on the block. We really appreciate all the love over the years.”

While we await news on the new location for Oyster Bar, the pop-up bars will begin on September 1, when Clemente says the first theme will bring “end-of-summer” vibes to the Jannus Block.

The release said the concept for the space is to create “immersive, holiday-inspired pop-up destinations,” that will rotate monthly through the rest of 2023.

“This has been a huge dream of mine since high school,” Clemente said. “I have always wanted to have a restaurant where I can redesign the space to create a new experience for guests each time they visit. I am excited to work in a space where I can consistently blow people away and showcase the many sides of Frank!”