08/09/2024
OUR STATUS
We have enjoyed being able to serve our community but running our vegan restaurant today has some major issues and I want to go over some of that. Our location being next to Busch Gardens is a great idea, however... We would love to serve alcohol, but the building isn't zoned for it. We would love to serve a wide range of vegan sushi but the area doesn't support that clientele. We would love to attract people who walk in off the street but there is little to no foot traffic. We would love to have live music, there isn't enough space. We would love to do events of all kinds, but there isn't enough parking.
OUR VISION
Voodu Vegan is meant to be downtown, near high rise apartment buildings and businesses. It's meant to have an interior that matches our quality, and it's meant to be open for early lunch to dinner. We are meant to have live music with a stage. We are meant to have walls covered in beautiful culture filled art. We are meant to be unforgettable.
OUR QUALITY
Voodu stands on a quality standard that makes us expensive internally on food quality. 90% of our business operating costs support local businesses. From local sourced produce to using only coconut oil for our fryers, WE STAND ON QUALITY. We never claimed to be the best, but the community voted us the Best Vegetarian/Vegan restaurant in Best of Florida 2023. We never promoted or even knew we were a candidate but we won.
OUR ISSUE
Our issue is the location is unsuitable for building large crowds, maintaining easy access to our product, and building a profitable yet affordable business.
OUR CLOSURE
Last November, we mentioned closing Voodu Vegan for the long sleep. The community spoke out and pushed us to continue. We came back with new items, adjusted our business and continued. Through the 2 years we have been in this location, we have now come to the conclusion this location cannot serve our best interests for our product and is long term unsustainable. This is a legitimate and difficult choice but it has to take place now while the business is in good standing and not in debt. The economy is absolutely trash at the moment and people are going out less and less. Further distances traveled, like our location, are not ideal for restaurants in a strong niche like vegan food. Vegan interested individuals typically frequent environments that aid their healthy choices and the current location we have isn't nearby any of those lifestyle businesses.
OUR FUTURE
We have had many people wanting to open franchises of Voodu over the years and we are confident a financially capable individual or group will arise to partner with our business to bring this business into a better location. Opening a new Voodu in a better location is going to require investment and a team of people passionate about quality. A new Voodu wont be starting from scratch as our entire ratings history and reviews will come with the business. In 2 years we have amassed 502 Google reviews and have a 4.9 star rating on Google. We are still one of the highest rated vegan restaurants on Google in the Tampa bay area along with the amazing Flourish pizza and banger ventures like Seasoned Green. I believe we can do better in a better location and the reputation will continue.
Anyone who is open to speaking with us about that future, we are open to speaking with.
OUR FINALE
Our final date of business in this location will likely be August 17th 2024. We are less sad knowing a better future is possible. Please visit us before we leave. We will be bringing back the Heart & Seoul Roll for the final week.
To all of you who have supported us, thank you. For all of you who have loved us, We love you too!
