Cantina in former movie theater closes after less than a year of business

WESTERVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) -- A central Ohio Mexican restaurant that opened less than a year ago inside a former movie theater has closed.

Cantina Blue Santa at 8 North State State in Westerville's 97-year-old former State Theatre shuttered late last month. The Mexican restaurant had opened in September 2023, replacing a Barrel & Boar location that had called the theater home for six years.

State Theatre is quickly pivoting to a new tenant as another Mexican eatery named Los Altos has already taken ownership of the restaurant space, according to a report in The Westerville News. Los Altos is set to open on Sept. 15 featuring an original menu and after reviving the theater with a new point job.

The 97-year-old theater shut down in the 1970s before housing a clothing store, and then an Amish Originals location. When the furniture store moved to different spot, in 2013, 8 State Bistro moved into the space and turned it into a restaurant for the first time.

The cantina's closure marks the second time this year in central Ohio a shuttered Mexican restaurant is being replaced by another Mexican restaurant. Local Cantina closed their Short North location earlier this summer, with El Vaquero set to take over the restaurant in the near future, according to a sign posted outside of the building.

Meanwhile, other taco joints are also shuttering, like Yabo's Tacos who closed its Powell eatery last year and moved that location’s operations to the chain’s Lewis Center restaurant. Earlier this summer, a central Ohio chef took over Yabo’s former Powell space to launch his own restaurant boasted as the “perfect destination for family meals and everyday celebrations.”