Restaurant closures have continued to ripple through the U.S. food business in 2026 as operators confront uneven foot traffic, rising costs and shifting neighborhood economics. In Columbus, that broader pressure is now visible in two June shutdowns that remove both a longtime downtown Italian restaurant and the last local outpost of an Ohio-born taco chain.
Due Amici and Barrio Tacos are the two confirmed June closures
Due Amici, the downtown Columbus Italian restaurant at 67 E. Gay St., closed on June 8, 2026, after more than 22 years, according to Columbus Underground and reporting carried by The Columbus Dispatch through AOL. Columbus Underground reported that a planned sale to the owners of nearby Tip Top fell through the same day, and that co-owners Don Ziliak and Jeff Glavan then decided to close the restaurant. The restaurant had operated since 2004 and had become a regular destination for business meals, celebrations and pre-theater dinners in the city center.
The second confirmed closure is Barrio Tacos’ High Street restaurant at 1870 N. High St., near Ohio State University. The Lantern reported on June 12 that the location was set to close Sunday, June 14, ending a run that began in September 2022. The closure also ends Barrio’s storefront presence in the Columbus market after the chain’s Grandview-area restaurant closed in 2025, according to The Lantern and 614NOW.
Together, the two closings involve two different business models and two different timelines. Due Amici was an independent downtown staple with more than two decades of operating history, while Barrio’s campus-area restaurant was part of a multi-state chain. What is verified is narrower: two Columbus restaurants are closing this June, and one of them marks Barrio’s final remaining Columbus storefront.
The confirmed Ohio impact is concentrated in Columbus
The Ohio impact confirmed in public reporting is centered on Columbus, not statewide. Due Amici’s closure removes a longtime Gay Street restaurant from downtown, while Barrio’s June 14 shutdown ends the brand’s remaining Columbus location near campus. Public reports identify no other June closings tied to these two restaurants elsewhere in Ohio.
For Barrio specifically, the closure is notable because the brand was founded in Cleveland and still operates in Ohio beyond Columbus. Barrio’s own locations page says the company has restaurants across seven states, but the public materials reviewed do not provide a current state-by-state count for Ohio locations. The company also had not publicly explained the Columbus exit in the reporting available at publication.
There is also an important limit to what is confirmed. Neither company released a broader Ohio closure plan in the source material reviewed, and there is no public comprehensive list showing additional affected cities for these June events. In practical terms, the verified losses are two named Columbus restaurants: one downtown on Gay Street and one on North High Street in the 15+High development area.
The reasons differ, but both closures reflect restaurant pressure in central Ohio
In Due Amici’s case, the most specific public explanation came from ownership. The NewsBreak summary, citing an announcement statement from Jeff Glavan, said the restaurant’s closure reflected “changing circumstances in Downtown,” and Columbus Underground separately reported that a planned sale to nearby operators collapsed before the business shut down. Those are the clearest named, attributed reasons now on the record.
Barrio’s closure is less clearly explained. The Lantern reported that the High Street location did not comment in time for publication, and the chain had not publicly stated why it was closing that restaurant. What is documented is that the Grandview-area location had already ceased operations in 2025, leaving the High Street outpost as the final Columbus storefront before this month’s exit.
For customers, the near-term meaning is straightforward. Downtown diners have already lost Due Amici as of June 8, although previously scheduled events were expected to continue through the month according to the reference reporting, while Barrio customers in Columbus saw service end with the June 14 closure of the North High Street restaurant. The result is a smaller restaurant map in Columbus this June, with one legacy independent gone from downtown and one Ohio-born chain no longer operating a Columbus storefront.