TV Restaurants

What Happened to Leon's at Lake Ella After Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives?

Closed verified

As of September 2026, Leon's at Lake Ella has closed — confirmed via wtxl.com, December 2025.

Primary source
wtxl.com ·
Secondary source
Yelp ·

Last verified

What the source shows: WTXL reported in December 2025 that owner Leon Brunson announced the likely end of the restaurant due to financial strain, and Yelp's August 2026 listing marks the business closed, while the restaurant's own site still describes it as temporarily closed.

  • Season / episode Season 40, Episode 15
  • Original air date
  • Address 1611 N Monroe St, Tallahassee, FL 32303

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What happened after Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives?

On "World Tour of Flavor" (aired 2025-02-14), Guy Fieri visited Leon's at Lake Ella, a dessert-focused restaurant run by Chef Leon Brunson in Tallahassee's Midtown neighborhood, near Lake Ella at 1611 N Monroe St. According to WTXL, in December 2025 Brunson posted on Facebook that, after financial strain from startup costs, equipment failures, and plumbing issues, that weekend would likely be his last operating the restaurant. Yelp's listing for the business, updated August 2026, marks it closed. The restaurant's website, leonstallahassee.com, still displays a banner stating the restaurant is "temporarily closed" and will "reopen soon," and the located website (leoncbrunson.com) now promotes Brunson's separate private-chef and catering business rather than continuing to operate the original dessert-focused restaurant concept at that Lake Ella address.

Featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

Season / episode
Season 40, Episode 15
Original air date
Episode title
World Tour of Flavor
What was featured
dessert menu at a Midtown Tallahassee restaurant near Lake Ella
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Leon's at Lake Ella

Frequently asked questions

Is Leon's at Lake Ella still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, Leon's at Lake Ella has closed — confirmed via wtxl.com, December 2025.

What happened to Leon's at Lake Ella after Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives?

On "World Tour of Flavor" (aired 2025-02-14), Guy Fieri visited Leon's at Lake Ella, a dessert-focused restaurant run by Chef Leon Brunson in Tallahassee's Midtown neighborhood, near Lake Ella at 1611 N Monroe St. As of September 2026, Leon's at Lake Ella has closed — confirmed via wtxl.com, December 2025.

Is Leon's at Lake Ella permanently closed?

As of September 2026, Leon's at Lake Ella has closed — confirmed via wtxl.com, December 2025. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.

Where is Leon's at Lake Ella located?

1611 N Monroe St, Tallahassee, FL 32303. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives featured Leon's at Lake Ella?

Season 40, Episode 15 of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, first aired February 14, 2025. The episode is titled “World Tour of Flavor”.

Every status on this site carries a confidence label and a date, and names the source it rests on. Read the Editorial & Corrections Policy for what each label means and how quickly we act on corrections. The questions above are generated from this record's own published fields — we never publish a question we cannot answer from the data.

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Visit info

Address
1611 N Monroe St, Tallahassee, FL 32303
Venue type
bakery
Official website
leoncbrunson.com

Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources

  • wtxl.com — https://www.wtxl.com/midtown%20staple%20could%20close%20this%20weekend%20following%20years%20in%20tallahassee
  • Yelp — https://www.yelp.com/biz/leons-at-lake-ella-tallahassee
  • leoncbrunson.com — http://leoncbrunson.com/

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Record ddd-1519 · last verified .