Teal O’Fee spent the better part of two decades welcoming guests to Sarasota-Manatee restaurant icon Euphemia Haye on Longboat Key.
Perhaps you remember her from the upstairs Haye Loft, where she worked as the head server and became one of the most familiar faces at the enchanting restaurant.
On Wednesday afternoon, April 23, the Bradenton resident received a call telling her not to come in for her shift.
“That was it. Boom. No job,” O’Fee told me by phone Friday, April 25.
Opened in 1975, Euphemia Haye has abruptly closed, leaving longtime employees stunned and uncertain about what comes next.
“It’s devastating,” O’Fee said. “None of us saw this coming.”
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Landmark Longboat Key restaurant Euphemia Haye has closed. Here’s what we know.
Ray and D’Arcy Arpke, right, with new owner Amy Whitt in 2022. Euphemia Haye, located at 5540 Gulf of Mexico Drive on the Manatee County side of Longboat Key, was one of the region’s longest-running restaurants before closing on April 23, 2025.
Amy Whitt relocated to Florida in her early 20s and landed a position as an administrative assistant at Euphemia Haye. She excelled at the restaurant and, after seven years, became the restaurant’s bookkeeper.
Whitt worked side-by-side with the owners — Chef Ray and wife D’Arcy Arpke — and the close-knit staff in that position for nearly a decade, eventually learning the various aspects of running a fine-dining destination. By 2022, Euphemia Haye was hers.
“Now, I’m the owner,” Whitt told me while at Euphemia Haye with the Arpkes.
Whitt could not be immediately reached by phone on Friday.
Longtime local residents Ray and D’Arcy Arpke told me Friday that when they sold Whitt the Euphemia Haye business, they kept ownership of the building and prime property at 5540 Gulf of Mexico Drive, which is registered to their company, Euphemia Haye Holdings Inc. They also own the land across the street used for offices and parking.
“I can only tell you this — that there’s probably a lot of people who are very interested in keeping that a wonderful restaurant,” Ray Arpke told me by phone while in the car with D’Arcy. “That’s all I want to say.”
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What’s next for Euphemia Haye?
Euphemia Haye, located at 5540 Gulf of Mexico Drive on the Manatee County side of Longboat Key, was one of the region’s longest-running restaurants before closing on April 23, 2025.
The Arpkes bought Euphemia Haye in 1980, and four decades later, Whitt seemed like the ideal person to take the reins as the couple settled into retirement. Age, in fact, was the top reason they gave for selling the restaurant.
“We’re both right about 70, and have been doing this 41 years, and quite frankly, I’m tired,” Ray Arpke said with a laugh in 2022.
D’Arcy Arpke explained that the transition began a year and a half before the sale in mid-December 2021, with the two planning to stay available to their protégé through 2022.
On Friday, I asked Ray Arpke when he last visited the restaurant, and he told me it was just a couple of days ago.
“I was just going in to check on my property, make sure everything’s still there,” he said.
Euphemia Haye was known for decades as a fine-dining destination
Euphemia Haye, located at 5540 Gulf of Mexico Drive on the Manatee County side of Longboat Key and known for its house-made desserts, was one of the region’s longest-running restaurants before closing on April 23, 2025.
Offering an eclectic mix of European and American cuisine with creative twists, signature dishes included the roasted duckling, Euphemia’s prime peppered steak, and the prepared-to-order classic Caesar salad.
And then there were the famed desserts.
All of the pies and pastries were made from scratch in-house and could be enjoyed downstairs after dinner or upstairs in the Haye Loft, the lounge the Arpkes added in 1990.
Employees say the tight-knit staff at Euphemia Haye felt like family
The upstairs Haye Loft at Euphemia Haye.
For longtime Euphemia Haye employees such as O’Fee, the sudden closure was more than just unexpected — it was personal. Many staff members had worked together for years, sharing holidays, milestones, and nightly service in one of the region’s most celebrated dining rooms.
It’s the kind of camaraderie only those who’ve spent years in the restaurant industry truly know and understand — and a closure like this can feel like losing a second home.
“We were like a family,” O’Fee said. “It wasn’t just a restaurant to us — we were all really close.”
Wade Tatangelo is Ticket Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and Florida Regional Dining and Entertainment Editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and X. He can be reached by email at wade.tatangelo@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: ‘Devastating’: Sarasota restaurant icon closes after 50 years
