by Laura Layden | Naples Daly News
The first rooftop restaurant on Fifth Avenue South in downtown Naples is three steps closer to reality.
On Wednesday, City Council approved a conditional use for the establishment of Prime Social. Then signed off on the applicant’s petitions for parking and outdoor dining.
During the discussions, Council asked pointed questions of city planners and attorneys, and of the applicants and their team.
Ultimately, Council voted 6-1 in favor of granting a conditional use.
Restaurant has been years in the making
More than two years ago, City Council adopted an ordinance to allow for rooftop restaurants, which “exclusively occupy the second or third stories in existing buildings,” within the 800 block of Fifth Avenue South, with the approval of a conditional use. It did so at the applicant’s request, viewing it as a “pilot project.”
The plans have greatly evolved over time from a rather simple sports bar to a top-quality restaurant.
The restaurant’s outdoor dining will include 21 tables, with 94 seats.
The eatery will be one of the largest on Fifth Avenue – at roughly 7,800 square feet.
Read why the ‘Approved design is ‘far superior'” and all the details about the planning permissions. and check out the renderings of the restaurant.
Find a home convenient to the many excellent dining in southwest Florida. Contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.
Robyn George | Fort Myers News-Press
If all goes according to plan, Sanibel Island will be welcoming two new restaurants in November.
Brian and Elke Podlasek, owners of The Island Cow, and The Mad Hatter owners Max and Bridget Kolshak announced they are teaming up to open Wickie’s Lighthouse Restaurant and The Magic Bus Caffeine & Creamery.
Even before losing their restaurants, the couples were friends. They decided to become partners when an opportunity on the east end of the island came up.
“It’s been a tough year to say the least and this is a great comeback story of two business owners who lost everything coming together to bring the island some great new venues for amazing food and fun,” Brian Podlasek, whose Island Cow restaurant closed in August 2022 after severe fire damage, said in a news release.
The Magic Bus will mix new and old, offering modern coffees, drinks and bakery items with a vintage ice cream and candy store vibe, complete with Volkswagen-inspired décor.
“Both concepts are a nod to the past with an eye to the future,” Max Kolshak, whose Mad Hatter was destroyed by Hurricane Ian, said in the release. “Wickie’s honors the history of the island and its original lighthouse keepers, Dudley Richardson and Henry Shanahan, but with a modern, updated décor and a fresh, coastal dining experience. A few doors down, The Magic Bus serves up nostalgia with a modern twist.”
More about Wickie’s here.
Find a home in southwest Florida. Contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.
Dave Osborn | Naples Daily News
The one-liners and laughs ended for most of August at Off The Hook Comedy Club but not because the comedians weren’t funny.
Few acts were scheduled for the club because the inside of ROW Seafood by Capt. Brien & Crew restaurant underwent a $1 million renovation, said owner Brien Spina.
Whole new look
Work crews over 20 days in August made $1 million in renovations to Off The Hook Comedy Club, which is inside ROW Seafood by Capt. Brien & Crews along Vanderbilt Beach Road in North Naples, Florida.
Anyone who went to the Off The Hook website or called last month may have thought the comedy venue shut down to give club workers time away in the “off-season.”
Instead, construction crews over 20 days ripped out much of the restaurant and reconfigured it.
“We’re remodeling the front of the house top to bottom, all new furniture and fixtures,” Spina said in late August.
New rearranged seating will be “much more conducive to the show,” he said, pointing out there’s no increased seating but “we just have more spaced-out room with better sight to the stage now.”
Read more about Off the Hook changes on naplesnews.com.
Find a home near great dining and entertainment in southwest Florida. Contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.
Diana Biederman | Naples Daily News
As if Fifth Avenue South couldn’t get any more fun, it will with the newest outpost of Le Colonial.
As a (very minor and junior) member of the PR firm that helped open the original restaurant in 1993 on East 57th Street in Manhattan, my first impression was that of a glamourous movie set from a bygone era.
The space was exotic and seductive, with banana trees and lush potted palms evoking laid-back elegance.
The concept: Fine-dining French-Vietnamese cuisine nestled in a lush setting evoking the romance and soft architecture of Saigon in the 1920s. The restaurant quickly developed a loyal clientele that remained devoted until its 2019 closing.
It was among the first restaurants anywhere to make lounge dining a haute trend with comfortable, luxe furnishings paired with elegant and delicious small-plate options.
But don’t just take my word for it.
Read more about Le Colonial in Naples on naplesnews.com.
More dining news:
Find a home convenient to excellent dining in southwest Florida. Contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.
J. Kyle Foster | Naples Daily News
A three-story boutique hotel and Naples’ Aqua restaurant will replace the Liki Tiki BBQ and Pastrami Dan’s Restaurant building at 590 Ninth Street N. in Naples. Preliminary design plans garnered unanimous approval from the Naples Design Review Board Wednesday.
Under the proposed plan, the existing single-story building will be knocked down and replaced with a high-end boutique hotel called Aquarius with Aqua on the ground floor.
The Stojkoski family, who is the petitioner, owns the 1963 building on the corner of Sixth Avenue North and 41/Ninth Street North; Liki Tiki in both Naples and Fort Myers Beach; and Aqua, which opened on Fifth Avenue in 2011. Aqua will move from its current location to the Ninth Avenue location, MHK Architecture’s Mark McLean told the board.
Read the full story on naplesnews.com for some of Naples history and more.
How many rooms and how big will they be?
MHK’s design for a hotel with 18 transient lodging units with a pool/amenity deck, outdoor bar amenity and the restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating was approved with 11 conditions, including requirements for site plan, outdoor dining and transient lodging approvals by City Council prior to final design review.
The hotel will have one-room suites aimed at people visiting nearby NCH’s Downtown Baker Hospital. The suites range in size from 760 to 1,463 square feet. The hotel will have two VIP suites that can be combined into one 2,500 square foot three-bedroom, two-bath suite that would have a separate entrance, McLean said.
Photos and more on naplesnews.com
Find a home in Southwest Florida. Contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.
Great Wolf Lodge has set date to open in Southwest Florida, bookings start now
Phil Fernandez | Naples Daily News
Many of you told me you would make reservations as soon as the first new Great Wolf Lodge in Florida began accepting them.
Now here’s your chance.
Great Wolf leaders announced the iconic retreat would make its debut in Southwest Florida on Oct. 1, 2024 but don’t be surprised if it opens even sooner.
The announcement came as Great Wolf Lodge South Florida in Naples reached a key milestone Wednesday in completing vertical construction of the family-focused indoor water park complex. Read the 14 things you need to know on naplesnews.com
Find a home in Southwest Florida. Contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.
