This popular Lincoln Road al fresco restaurant just closed. Take a guess why.

In 1999, a sprawling outdoor cafe known as Nexxt debuted to big crowds, with its massive Cheesecake Factory-esque menu (which caused pesky trademark issues for a bit), and prime location on bustling stretch of Miami Beach’s beloved pedestrian mall.

Fast forward to 2019, and Nexxt announced its demise the way most businesses do these days, with a post on Facebook:

With most businesses that met their fate on Lincoln, the common thread was, “it had been increasingly difficult to operate.” What this translates to is costs were oppressive. Sushisamba was another recent victim.

As for Nexxt, the common sentiment under the Facebook post was that it was “a sad day.”

A note on the restaurant’s door read, “Thank you to the many loyal customers who have supported us over the past twenty years. We’ve had an incredibly successful and personally rewarding run since we opened our doors for the first time in 1999.”

“We are in the early planning stages of a new fast, casual concept, not a new location of Nexxt Cafe,” owner Cem Onur told Miami.com. “Of course, that doesn’t mean that a Nexxt Cafe revival might not happen in the more distant future. The new concept will be on Miami Beach, possibly back on Lincoln Road, which was a great location for us for a long time and we believe is still viable for the type of restaurant that we are planning.”

But it’s not all doomsday on Lincoln, with seven new retailers and restaurants slated to open soonish through 2020, including BoneFly, Yoyoso, Moonlighter Makerspace, Lobster Shack, Olé Olé Steakhouse and Gelato Go.

This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 5:50 PM.