For seven years, the locally owned restaurant, Lucilla, has been one of the brightest stars in Tallahassee’s culinary world.
Owners Joseph Richardson and partner Lara Hooper, filled with dreams and passion about launching their own place, signed the lease for Lucilla on December 2017. They opened for business in January 2018. The restaurant survived slow seasons and COVID, but sadly Joe and Lara’s dreams and labor of love closed its doors this August.
“We’ve been pretty much losing money every year since the pandemic,” Joe, also executive chef, told Tallahassee Table. “Summers are brutal and we couldn’t do it anymore.”
Slow spiral in slow season
A brisk fall and spring business generally helped the restaurant endure the summer doldrums, but business wasn’t as good in fall ‘24 and spring ‘25 as it was in previous years. He said economic uncertainty hasn’t helped.
“We didn’t have a chance to build things up before this horrible summer,” Joe said. “There wasn’t enough in the tank left. We couldn’t get through the summer with a fully staffed restaurant. I didn’t have any fight left in me any more after eight years.”
Joe and Lara met when they both worked at Andrew’s 228, where Joe was the chef and Lara was the head server. Their relationship blossomed, and so did their mutual desire to open a restaurant. The name, Lucilla, comes from Lara’s middle name (also the name of both Hooper’s mother and grandmother.)
Joe has called his cuisine upscale American comfort food with Creole and Southern accents. He’s a native of Tallahassee, though he started his career working in restaurants in New Orleans. Lara is from a small North Carolina town called Hudson.
They were inspired by the small, coveted neighborhood restaurants of the Big Easy.
“In New Orleans, you can open a nice restaurant in any location and still do well,” Joe said. He noted that while he loved Indianhead Acres and Myers Park areas, which he said were underserved, the location may not have been optimal.
“It’s hard for me to believe I was so naive,” Joe said. “I believed that there was no way that a place with passion and excellence would fail when so many restaurants aren’t excellent or passionate.”
The food was indeed exemplary, prepared with dedication and love. We were hooked on Lucilla’s creative menu from the start. My Southern-born husband said Lucilla made the best fried oysters he ever had and everyone raved about the pimento fritters. We loved Snapper St. Charles, sautéed chicken, crab cakes, butterscotch pots de crème and so many other Lucilla items, aside from the delicious specials.
The setting was cozy and intimate, a charming transformation from former settings such as Sahara Greek & Lebanese Cafe and Pizza Hut. Service was attentive and friendly.
We stopped by Lucilla’s often, especially when relatives visited or we had a special occasion. In hindsight, it wasn’t enough. Joe said the restaurant was packed on weekends and special occasions such as graduation or Valentine’s Day, but slow on weekdays.
Restaurants struggle in tough reality
Lucilla’s is a reminder of a tough reality. Make the effort to dine at your favorite restaurants, especially the local ones, especially during summer, or they may be gone.
We’ve lost several restaurants in Tallahassee in 2025, including Goodie’s Eatery, H-Tea-O and Rae’s Restaurant.Lucilla had posted signs of a week off for summer vacation in early July but the weeks stretched on. Speculation and worry spread.
“We were really trying to work things out, but nothing worked out,” Joe said.
Keith Baxter, owner of Kool Beanz Cafe in Midtown for nearly 30 years, understands those challenges.
“Local restaurants are struggling today,” Keith said. “Margins are so thin it’s hard to make money or even just survive in this market. We all need more local support.”
Joe and Lara “are good people who have worked very hard,” he said. “I hate seeing local restaurants close.”
Industry observers note that economic uncertainty, rising costs (including food, labor, and rent) and changing customer expectations have added to challenges.
Lucilla’s devoted customers are heartbroken.
“The loss of Lucilla is a big one for the Tallahassee community,” said longtime patron and nearby resident Jonathan Webber. “From extravagant wine dinners to birthdays to casual weeknight pop-ins, it was always a high-quality, welcoming spot for me, for my family, and for the nearby neighborhoods of Indianhead Acres and Myers Park. Nothing quite compared to their unique take on modern North Florida cuisine or the warmth of their cozy, familial setting. Lucilla will be deeply missed.”
Lucilla’s owners were there to lend a hand to the community as well. On one Thanksgiving a few years ago, when I asked if any Tallahassee readers could help an elderly woman who said she and her husband had no money or food for the holiday and hadn’t been able to get help, Joe and Lara stepped up, anonymously. They didn’t want any credit but they delivered this couple a whole Thanksgiving dinner for free. Once again, I want to thank them wholeheartedly.
Next chapter?
What’s the next step?
“We want to take a little break,” Joe said. “There’s a good chance we’ll leave town, The wound is so fresh – and it’s financially devastating.
“We’re not in a position to open a restaurant any time soon,” he said. “But it’s hard to go back to working for someone else when the dining public has been our only boss for eight years. We’re up in the air. Right now, I’m spending time with my dog and learning to bake bread.”
Joe and Lara said they are grateful for their staff and the many wonderful customers who dined at Lucilla over the years.
“We have worked with wonderful people,” Joe said, the tinge of sadness unmistakable. “We were blessed with a wonderful clientele but it just wasn’t big enough.”
Dining memories
Here are a couple more messages indicative of the sense of loss Lucilla fans are experiencing:
In a comment to Tallahassee Table, Randy Blass, a chef for Organic Pond Organics wrote:
“I’m not sure why, but this closing hits harder than most. For me, it was the most approachable and reasonably priced fine dining experience in Tallahassee,” said Randy, who has more than 20 years experience in the hospitality business. “The service was consistently excellent, and the atmosphere was warm and welcoming,” Blass said.
“I was devastated to hear of the closing of Lucilla,” fan Alix Kalfin said. “You felt like you were going “home” for dinner. I’m going to miss the staff, the sweet little dining room, and the pimento cheese balls/ filet mignon/lemon creme brulee I ordered every time. Thank you Lucilla for all the memories and many nights with a happy belly. You will be missed but never forgotten.”“The food was superb,” Lucilla customer Gail Brayman said. “The service was great and the atmosphere was nice and calming. Every time my husband and I decided on a place for a special occasion, our choice was always Lucilla. We were never disappointed. I want to thank them for making such a perfect restaurant.”
Rochelle Koff writes about food and dining at TallahasseeTable.com, on Facebook@TheTallahasseeTable and Twitter @tallytable. Reach her at TallahasseeTable@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: ‘Summers are brutal’: Restaurant closing sparks memories, call for ‘local support’
Reporting by Rochelle Koff / Tallahassee Democrat
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