TV Restaurants

What Happened to Sparky's Roadside Barbeque After Food Paradise?

Closed verified

As of September 2026, Sparky's Roadside Barbeque has closed — confirmed via miaminewtimes.com, September 14, 2021.

Primary source
miaminewtimes.com ·

Last verified

What the source shows: The Miami New Times reported the restaurant's closure on 2021-09-14, and Google Places separately marks the business as permanently closed.

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What happened after Food Paradise?

The 'Hog Wild' episode (S18E7) featured Sparky's Roadside Barbeque for its Guava Habanero Wet Baby Back Ribs and Tyler's Vegetarian Pressed Sandwich, according to Wikipedia's Food Paradise season 18 episode guide. The barbecue restaurant operated in downtown Miami at 204 NE 1st Street for more than a decade. According to the Miami New Times (2021-09-14), the restaurant closed after owner Hans Seitz said the business was 'operating at a loss' during the pandemic; co-owner Kevin Kehoe had died earlier that year, per the same source. A Google Places listing also marks the business as permanently closed. The restaurant had been named Best Restaurant in Downtown Miami in 2011, according to the Miami New Times. No successor business at the NE 1st Street address was identified in the evidence reviewed for this record.

Featured on Food Paradise

Season / episode
Season 18, Episode 7
Original air date
Not confirmed
Episode title
Hog Wild
What was featured
Guava habanero baby back ribs for 'Hog Wild'
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Sparky's Roadside Barbeque

Frequently asked questions

Is Sparky's Roadside Barbeque still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, Sparky's Roadside Barbeque has closed — confirmed via miaminewtimes.com, September 14, 2021.

What happened to Sparky's Roadside Barbeque after Food Paradise?

The 'Hog Wild' episode (S18E7) featured Sparky's Roadside Barbeque for its Guava Habanero Wet Baby Back Ribs and Tyler's Vegetarian Pressed Sandwich, according to Wikipedia's Food Paradise season 18 episode guide. As of September 2026, Sparky's Roadside Barbeque has closed — confirmed via miaminewtimes.com, September 14, 2021.

Is Sparky's Roadside Barbeque permanently closed?

As of September 2026, Sparky's Roadside Barbeque has closed — confirmed via miaminewtimes.com, September 14, 2021. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.

Where is Sparky's Roadside Barbeque located?

204 NE 1st St, Miami, FL 33132. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Food Paradise featured Sparky's Roadside Barbeque?

Season 18, Episode 7 of Food Paradise. The episode is titled “Hog Wild”.

What do reviews say since Food Paradise?

No successor business at the NE 1st Street address was identified in the evidence reviewed for this record. We summarise what dated sources report; we do not publish our own rating.

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
204 NE 1st St, Miami, FL 33132
Venue type
restaurant
Official website
None found

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

  • miaminewtimes.com — https://www.miaminewtimes.com/restaurants/sparkys-roadside-barbecue-in-downtown-miami-has-closed-12915788
  • Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_Paradise_season_18

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