Glenwood South’s Tasca Brava closes after 16 years

After 16 years and three locations, Spanish restaurant Tasca Brava has closed on Glenwood South.

Chef and owner Juan Samper announced the closing Tuesday on the restaurant’s Facebook page: “With great sorrow, after sixteen years, Tasca Brava lost.”

Samper opened Tasca Brava in Cary in 2001 and then moved to North Raleigh. It moved to its current location on Glenwood Avenue in 2008. Tasca Brava’s menu focused on Spanish tapas and larger classic dishes like paella.

Samper said business has been down for the past year.

“It’s been really hard since June of last year,” Samper said Wednesday. “I had no other option but to close. It’s very sad. It was really a nice little house that really fit my themes.”

Samper said he believes the restaurant became out of step with the bar scene that has continued to grow on Glenwood Avenue and suffered as a result.

“The area changed,” he said. “It went to completely drinking bars. And a lot of people, I think, hesitated to come because of that. The parking issues and the drinking.”

Samper said he is considering opening up elsewhere, potentially back in North Raleigh.

This story was originally published August 2, 2017 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Glenwood South’s Tasca Brava closes after 16 years."