It’s late, you’re out on the town with friends and you’ve had an early dinner. Then it hits you, you’re starving! The void in your stomach is beginning an audible assault on the people around you. It’s time to satisfy the hunger within and give it some much deserved sustenance. Luckily for you, and the people around you, Naples has some great places to tame that late night hunger beast.

Kona Grill
Kona Grill is located in the Coastland Center mall and offers patrons an upscale casual atmosphere with large aquariums, an indoor/outdoor bar, and a tremendous selection of late night eats at a great price. They have reverse happy hour Monday through Saturday, 9pm to close which includes $3 Ladies Margaritas, $4 Happy Margaritas, $3 Bud Light drafts, $6.50 Saki Bombers, $3.50 House Wines and half-price appetizers. I’ve been to Kona many times to enjoy this late night smorgasbord of half-price appetizers and, let me tell you, it will satisfy your hunger and tantalize your taste buds. Here is Kona’s late night eats menu, try not to drool:

Onion Rings, Avocado Egg Rolls, Kona Calamari, Chicken Satay, Tacos, Kona Bites, Pot Stickers, Sweet and Spicy Shrimp, 5 Spice BBQ Chicken Pizza, Kona Pizza, Margarita Pizza, Garlic Shrimp Pizza, Pepperoni Pizza, Shiitake Goat Cheese Pizza, Hawaiian Pizza, and a variety of Sushi rolls (Crab, Spicy Tuna, California, Atlantic).

Miller’s Ale House
The Ale House has become a Naples hot spot that gives its customers a wide variety of ways to enjoy themselves. You can hang out at the indoor or outdoor bars, grab a stick and shoot some 8 ball, watch the game on one of the large flat screen TVs or just enjoy a great meal at an affordable price with the family. The Ale House
has numerous specials that they offer “late night”. They are open from 11am until 2am seven days a week and serve the full menu right up until close. Appetizers range from $4.95 to $9.95 and consist of delicious items like Buffalo Shrimp, Spinach Dip, Quesadillas, and their ever famous Chicken Nachos. Their signature wings start at only $6.99 and you can get those ever so awesome mini burgers for only $5.95.

The real late night deal is their many drink specials. The Ale House thinks their guests deserve to drink their favorite specials any time, so they offer “All Day Every Day” drink specials that are offered from open to close. A few include $1.95 pints of Miller Lite, Ice House and MGD, $2.95 or $5 doubles Captain Morgan and Parrot Bay (with any mixer), $3.95 Cabo Silver Margaritas and $5.95 Cabo Resposado Margaritas, $2.95 Skyy Vodka plus flavors and any mixer or $5 doubles. Guests also take advantage of beer specials like $3.50 pints of Heineken, Amstel Light and Dos Equis. Finally, $3.95 Jager shots and $4.95 Jager bombs made with Monster will keep you partying until last call.

Café Lurcat
You will experience serious food and a chic décor at this 5th Avenue hot spot. Café Lurcat offers its well dressed customers a late night bar menu that is sure to not only put those hunger pains to bed, but also give your palate an experience it won’t soon forget. Their late night menu dishes out tasty morsels like Grilled Pork Belly Sliders, Srirachi Mayonnaise, Pickled Cucumbers, Tuna Pizza with Ginger Aioli, Cuban Sandwich, Crab Fritters with Papaya Remoulade, Chicken Samosas with Cilantro-Lime Dipping Sauce, Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich, Lurcat Burgers, Shrimp Cocktail, Fried Calamari with Sweet and Spicy Dipping Sauce, Sea Bass Marinated in Miso, Artisan Cheese Plate and Warm Cinnamon-Sugar Doughnuts.

The Clock Restaurant
When you’re talking about late night eats, you can’t forget about The Clock. This Naples diner is as classic as The Pier. If you want dinner for breakfast or breakfast for dinner, no worries… a full menu is served 24-7. Your main problem will be deciding what to order. Will you have the Classic Turkey club with fries or the French Toast Combo? Nothing cures a hangover like a strong coffee and their Two Egg Breakfast completed by hash browns with cheese. The three egg omelets are also in a class of their own and will start (or end) any day off right. The Clock has a relaxed atmosphere that has yet to be duplicated at any other late night option.

Other Notable Late Night Options
Jack’s Bait Shack on the north side of town, not only entertains its guests with great live bands, but serves its delicious appetizers until 1:45am (half price on Mondays!).

Nooshi Lounge inside Noodles Cafe offers a late night menu you can enjoy while listening to some of the hottest DJs in the area. Items include: Caesar Salad, Chicken Tenders, Mozzarella Sticks, Cheese, Pepperoni and Margarita Pizza and New York Strip Dinner.

Boston Beer Garden takes care of their guests right up until the end serving a full dinner menu until 11pm and a bar menu until close. The late night menu consists of wings, fries and all that delicious greasy stuff that we love more than ever after a few drinks.

South Street City Oven & Grill serves their amazing Philadelphia style pizza until 2am.

Paddy Murphy’s Irish Pub on 5th Ave serves its menu all the way till midnight for its late night crowd.

Next time you’re out till the early morning hours and feeling famished, be sure to visit one of these restaurants. They will feed you some mouth watering grub that will send you home full and happy. For more detailed menu info, pricing and other restaurant reviews, please visit www.MenuVenueSWFL.com.

Bon Appetit!
-MenuGuy

Bellini on Fifth is only open for dinner right now for the summer season.

Their new Summer hours are:
Open Dinner Only - 7 Nights a week from 5pm - 10pm and 10:30pm on weekends.

They will resume their regular schedule and menus for Lunch and Dinner on October 1, 2008.

Click Here for more information on Beliini on Fifth and their new summer menu.

Another downtown Fort Myers restaurant is closing.

Patio 33’s owners sent out a press release Friday morning announcing that the restaurant in the Patio De Leon will close permanently after lunch service Wednesday, July 2.

“After a valiant try, we’ve found it impossible to keep the doors open,” owner Roger Mercado said in a statement. “Unfortunately the downturn in the economy, upsurge in the number of restaurants and construction in the downtown area proved too much to overcome.”

Mercado owns the restaurant with Stacey Trippe, chef Denis Meurgue and his wife, Lisa.

“We are still supportive of the River District’s redevelopment effort,” Mercado said in his statement. “But I’m afraid we were a bit ahead of our time.”

Patio 33 opened in October 2006 in the space formerly occupied by Varian’s.

Another downtown restaurant, Harold’s on Bay, closed last month. The downtown nightclub EnVie Lounge announced its closing this week.

By Mark Marymont

When Teri Layton opened Teri’s Summer Breeze Café in 2003 she knew exactly what to do and what to expect. Her partner and mother, the late Barbara Hunter, had owned more than a dozen restaurants.

“This was our first restaurant together, but she had lot of others in the Naples area, where my family is from,” Layton says. “We always had basically the same menu - good American lunch food with a few ethnic specials. We cater to the blue-collar worker and locals and try and offer food at reasonable prices.”

Although Layton is in charge, the day-to-operation is overseen by her daughter, Jessica, and Diana Payne, who helps manage things.

“Our cheeseburgers do really well, and we have awesome salads, really large, and everything is fresh,” says Jessica, who began working in the family restaurants as a youngster.

Along with burgers and salads, popular features include daily specials such as Monday’s beef stroganoff over egg noodles.

“A lot of people come in for those daily specials and some know what they want when they walk in the door,” says Teri Layton. “They like us to be consistent and know what to expect. It helps us with our inventory and controlling food costs.”

They have a big breakfast crowd and busy lunch session. Then they call it a day.

“We’ve thought about being open for dinner and do a Friday fish fry during season,” says Teri. “But we are a family-oriented place, and if we tried to do dinners it would put a strain on everybody and we’d have to hire more people.”

As for the name, Layton says it was inspired by the concept she inherited.

“This was a pizza place, and that’s why there are Mediterranean-type murals,” she says. “They’re really colorful and so we decided to keep them. And, since they had a kind of tropical feel we came up with Summer Breeze.”

By CHARLES RUNNELLS

Connie Martin has eaten all kinds of things: bison, ostrich, sea urchin, even a beetle or two in China.

“I don’t think there’s anything I wouldn’t try,” says the 40-something Jupiter Heights resident.

That’s why she jumped at the chance to try kangaroo steak last week while visiting her son, Harrison Dunham, in Fort Myers.

That’s right, kangaroo: The same cutie-pies that hop all over Australia and entertain visitors at Naples Zoo.

Turns out, they taste pretty good, too.

“It was amazing,” Martin says about her meal at Char Grillhouse in Fort Myers. “If you want something that melts in your mouth, try the kangaroo.”

These days, many Southwest Florida residents seem to be more like Martin - except, perhaps, for the beetle thing. They want something new and different to eat.

Tim Robinson, owner of Dixie Moon Cafe in Bonita Springs, credits that partly to TV shows such as The Travel Channel’s “Bizarre Foods” and “No Reservations,” where the hosts eat everything from warthog to lambs’ eyeballs.

After those gut-churning foods, Dixie Moon’s alligator bites and seasoned chicken gizzards seem positively tame.

And the local explosion of Latino restaurants has introduced more people to a whole new world of dining choices: Everything from tripe to ox heart to cow tongue.

“People are a lot more willing to try new things,” Robinson says. “They’re getting more adventurous.”

In fact, frog legs - a traditional Southwest Florida dish that goes back to the area’s pioneer days - is one of the most popular items at Porky’s Last Stand in Naples.

“We couldn’t take them off the menu here,” says owner Ernie McCormick. “They’d hang us high.”

Of course, one diner’s weird food might be another’s comfort food. It just depends on your background and your sense of culinary adventure.

But if you’re feeling adventurous, now’s the time to take the plunge. Bizarre foods are practically trendy.

Here’s a starter list for launching your own food adventure. We’ve included some less out-there items for variety - and also because not everyone’s ready for kangaroo or sea urchin.

So go ahead and try something new.

You just might like it.

• Kangaroo: Char Grillhouse serves its gray kangaroo rubbed in Australian pepperberry seasoning. Head chef Robbie Garvin recommends it cooked medium to medium-rare. Otherwise, it gets gamey.

Garvin compares kangaroo meat to beef, only leaner. “If I was to tell you it was beef, you probably wouldn’t even think twice,” he says.

The kangaroo are caught wild in Australia, butchered and shipped to the United States. In Australia, kangaroo are as common as deer in the United States, and they’re a regular menu item there.

• Beef tongue: Many local Latino restaurants offer this delicacy, where it’s usually called the Spanish “lengua.”

Literally, it’s the tongue of a cow. Beef tongue is very high in fat and calories, but fans like its soft, tender texture.

The meat is often boiled and seasoned with onion and spices.

• Uni (Sea urchin caviar): Even many devout sushi eaters won’t touch this salty, rubbery food, says Larry Genta Jr., a spokesman for Blu Sushi in Fort Myers. He’s one of them.

“I’ve had it once,” Genta says matter-of-factly. “It’s not my thing.”

While referred to as roe (or fish eggs), uni is actually the spiny fish’s gonads.

The caviar-like, yellow substance has an off-putting texture, Genta says. “It kinda looks like baby poop.”

Still, it’s a hot seller among Asian customers at Blu Sushi. They account for about 75 percent of all sea urchin sales, Genta says.

• Gator: You can order this meat at many Southwest Florida restaurants, including Alli-Gators in east Fort Myers and Dixie Moon Cafe in Bonita Springs.

Dixie Moon serves its alligator as breaded-and-fried “Gator Bites” with tartar sauce and lemon.

Gator is a little chewier than beef and chicken - more like veal, actually - but its flavor surprises people who’ve never tried it before, says Dixie Moon owner Robinson.

“It doesn’t taste like mud or swamp or anything like that,” he says.

•Root-beer cheesecake: OK, this one isn’t that odd, but we wanted to include something here for dessert.

Pete & Berry’s Plantation Bakery in Fort Myers sells root-beer cheesecake alongside other unusual cheesecake flavors, including grape, tutti frutti and cinnamon raisin.

The recipe relies on root-beer extract for its subtle soda flavor.

• Lutefisk: You’ll have to wait until January to try this Scandinavian dish. The air-dried, lye-cured codfish is the centerpiece of the annual lutefisk dinner at Cape Coral’s Christ Lutheran Church.

The pungent fish takes on a gelatinous quality after being cured in lye.

“It sounds terrible, but they do it,” says Cape resident Gary Hallen, who has cooked at the annual dinner for eight years. “That’s the way they used to do it in the Old Country.”

The cod can be baked or boiled, and it’s usually served in butter or white cream sauce.

Hallen is hard-pressed to describe the taste of the fish, though. “I don’t know,” he says and laughs. “It tastes like chicken. That’s what they always say, right?”

• Egg pizza: This is more of an odd combination than anything else. At Estero’s Za Za Serious Pizza, the Eggs in Purgatory pizza features eggs poached in spicy marinara sauce with parsley and Parmesan cheese.

“Ninety-nine percent of the people who try it, it’s their new favorite,” says sous chef Lewis Louck.

• Frog legs: Chefs at Porky’s Last Stand season the legs in flour, garlic, black pepper and salt, then either fry them or sautee them.

Owner Ernie McCormick describes the texture as “somewhere between fish and chicken.”

• Chicken gizzards: Dixie Moon parboils this soul-food classic with mir poix (a mix of carrots, celery, onion and spices).

“People, they just love ’em,” Robinson says. “I’ve had people tell me they’re the best gizzards they’ve ever had.”

The digestive organ has an earthy flavor and chewy texture, he says. “It’s one of those things: You either love ’em or hate ’em.”

By DREW STERWALD

Kristina San Filippo trimmed fat and gristle from a chunk of pork shoulder and sliced the remaining meat into bite-size pieces for her Indian pork vindaloo.

“You can use the trimmings to make pork stock,” she told her class at the Robb & Stucky KitchenAid Culinary Center in Bonita Springs.

In the meantime, she pulled out bowl of pork chunks that had been marinating in cider vinegar and spices. San Filippo sauteed the meat, added onions and then poured coconut milk and sake into the pan. The aroma of cumin, cinnamon and cloves tickled the noses of those who paid $40 for the two-hour class, “Meals on a Budget.”

Mouths watered. Stomachs growled.

Served over brown rice, San Filippo’s Indian pork vindaloo cost $6.44 for four servings, or $1.61 per person.

“That’s pretty efficient,” she told the class. “This (class) is about using different ingredients and being cost efficient. Very good food can be presented to guests and family that is not going to break the bank.”

San Filippo, executive chef at the culinary center, priced out every ingredient in three dishes she cooked for the class: $4.19 for pork shoulder (Boston butt) at $2.79 a pound; 2 cents worth of garlic, which costs 16 cents an ounce; 90 cents worth of brown rice.

Her entree of tofu seasoned with chipotle chilies in adobo sauce served with French green lentils cost $2.56 per portion. At the high end of the price range, mahi mahi with fresh tomato sauce and rotini pasta rang up at $6.05 a portion -but substituting cheaper American farm-raised tilapia for the wild-caught dolphin cuts the price to $3.80.

Ed and Connie Lizak of Fort Myers were among those eating up San Filippo’s words — as well as her cooking. Regulars at the culinary center classes, they usually take home a few recipes they can re-create on their own.

“We try to buy quality products,” Ed Lizak said. “We’re not so concerned if it costs a few cents more, but we do like to be efficient about using it.”

They might not worry so much about the cost of ingredients, but Connie Lizak does freeze produce trimmings and other scraps for future use. What’s more, the couple has become more selective about spending money in restaurants.

They are not alone.

Sixty-nine percent of Floridians said in an April survey that they’re more concerned about their families’ food budgets than they were a year ago. Just 19 percent said their concern was about the same in the study conducted by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Florida Farm Bureau.

The U.S. consumer price index rose 3.9 percent for the year ended in April — and it’s expected to continue upward.

Hence, “Meals on a Budget.”

San Filippo offered her students tips and strategies for coping with food’s rising prices:

• Buy local, sustainable products whenever possible. Local farmers’ and seafood markets are good sources. The fewer miles food travels from its source to the plate, the better quality it is and the less fuel it requires for transportation.

• Choose less expensive cuts of meat, such as pork shoulder instead of tenderloin and chicken legs or thighs instead of breasts. “Flank steak is one of the most underrated cuts of beef,” San Filippo said. “It’s marbled and has a lot of flavor.”

• Maximize flavor with fresh herbs, spices and with marinades, which tenderize as well as add flavor.

• When grocery shopping, buy only what you need. If you don’t need a whole can of corn, for instance, opt for a single ear of fresh corn.

• Purchasing by volume doesn’t always pay off. Olive oil, for example, can go rancid at room temperature in about six months. “Don’t buy olive oil in gallon containers,” San Filippo said. “Buy as much as you’d use in a month.”

• Organic products, which usually cost more than nonorganic, sometimes are unnecessary. It’s worth paying extra for organic tomatoes because you’ll eat it skin and all — not so a banana, which is protected by its peel and grows in a tree far off the ground. “Think about how close it is to the ground (when grown), how exposed the exterior of the plant is and how much of it you’re going to eat,” San Filippo said.
Mahi Mahi with Rotini Pasta in Fresh Tomato Porcini Sauce with Goat Cheese

Total cost (with mahi mahi): $24.21
Cost per portion (four servings): $6.05
Total cost (with tilapia): $15.19
Cost per portion (four servings): $3.80

• 4 4-ounce mahi-mahi fillets (or tilapia for a more cost-efficient choice)
• 1 lb. rotini pasta (or other pasta that you may like to use)
• 1/2 cup sweet onion, minced
• 4 anchovy fillets
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more to taste)
• 1 1/2 cup fresh tomato puree (from about 3 large tomatoes or substitute canned)
• extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoon Kalamata or green olives, sliced
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, julienne
• 3 oz goat cheese, crumbled

Season the fish with sea salt and fresh black pepper; set aside until ready to sear.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente (tender but firm to the bite in the center). Drain the pasta and toss with a little extra virgin olive oil.

Heat a wide sauté pan over medium heat; when hot add enough olive oil to coat the pan. Add the onion and anchovy and sauté until anchovy dissolves and onions are tender. Add the garlic and cayenne and sauté until fragrant. Add the tomato puree and bring liquid to a simmer. Cook sauce for about five minutes to reduce and meld the flavors. Season the sauce with sea salt.

Heat a wide sauté pan over medium-high heat; when hot, add enough olive oil to coat the pan. Sear the fish, seasoned side down, until golden, about four minutes. Turn fish over and cook another two to three minutes until just barely cooked through.

Divide pasta between serving bowls; ladle a generous portion of the sauce over the pasta; scatter some of the olives, basil and goat cheese over each dish. Top each dish with a piece of fish. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil if you like.

By CHARLES RUNNELLS

Here’s a novel concept: Taste of the Beach - on the beach.

How perfect is that? This year’s annual foodfest forsakes pavement for sand, sidewalks for surfside.

Bathing suits aren’t just optional here. They’re encouraged.

And washing up afterwards? Easy. Skip the bathroom sink and take a dip in the Gulf of Mexico.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” says Janet McDaniel of Channel Mark Waterfront Restaurant, one of about 15 restaurants taking part in this year’s Taste of the Beach.

The event usually takes place on San Carlos Boulevard and the Dockside Sports Pub parking lot. But since Dockside is being rebuilt this year, organizers had to find a new location.

Hence, the beach.

Now Taste has moved to two empty, sandy lots at 1091 and 1100 Estero Blvd. (near Days Inn).

“This is the first time we’ve been in the sand,” says Georgia Reinmuth, vice president of the Greater Fort Myers Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. “People will be able to walk right off the beach and have something to eat. So we’re hoping even more people attend.”

The 13th-annual festival draws about 8,000 people every year, she says.

This isn’t a highbrow food event, of course. Selections lean - obviously - toward beach food: Peel-and-eat shrimp, pizza, black-bean cakes, quesadillas, calamari, crab cakes and more. Handheld and portable is the rule.

Channel Mark plans to serve crunchy fish fingers, pulled-pork sandwiches and its “Channel Chowder” (a mixture of clam and conch chowder).

McDaniel, marketing director for the restaurant, says the sand presents its share of challenges this year.

They’ll have to cut down on decorations, for example, since the gulf breeze might blow them all down. And they’ll probably set their tables and fryers on plywood boards to keep everything from sinking into the sand.

But other than that, they’re looking forward to the new view. “We’re just going to go with the flow,” McDaniel says.

Ice-cream shop Emack & Bolio’s makes its Taste debut this year. The Naples shop opened just 2 1/2 months ago, so this is kind of its coming-out party for Southwest Florida. It’s part of a chain that specializes in unusual flavors.

Owner Mark Flood plans to wheel in the store’s ice-cream cart, loaded with flavors such as Deep Purple Cow (raspberry ice cream with blueberries and dark- and white-chocolate chips) and Grasshopper Pie (made with real créme de menthe).

“It’s really good stuff,” Flood says.

The food festival also features music by local bands (including jazz singer Sarasota Slim), kids games and a waiter/waitress contest.

Click here for menu and more information on Fox’s Pizza Den in Cape Coral

By MARY HAWK

Fox’s Pizza Den has expanded to Cape Coral to offer customers a full menu including unique wedgie sandwiches and 21-slice Big Daddy pizzas.

The new pizzeria is owned by Thomas Durichen and Scott Volkers and is in Coral Commons, 103 Del Prado Blvd. N., between Hancock Bridge Parkway and Pine Island Road. The pizza shop opened in March and is the fifth in Florida and one of around 300 locations nationwide.

“We were looking to open some type of restaurant,” Durichen said. “Scott went to Pennsylvania and at a Fox’s Pizza Den and liked the food so much that he looked into what it would take to open a franchise.”

The chain is the dream of Jim Fox, who opened his first pizza shop in 1971 in Pitcairn, Pa. He then opened a second and third and incorporated Fox’s Pizza Den in 1974.

Durichen works at the Cape Coral restaurant most every day, while Volkers resides in Virginia. Before opening the eatery, Durichen worked as a computer engineer, waiter, cashier and restaurant manager.

Durichen has 13 employees and the pizzeria has seating for 10 to 12 people. Customers can also choose to pick up their food or have it delivered for $1 within a four- to five-mile radius.

The menu includes pizza, strombolis, chicken wings, hoagies, salads, fries, bread sticks, wedgies and desserts.

A wedgie is like a salad in a sandwich served on a 9-inch pizza crust. Customers can choose from steak, Italian, Pizzaroni, club, beef, bacon and cheddar, turkey, BLT, taco, roast beef, chicken, ham and cheese and veggie.

Pizza are available in 9, 12, 14 and 16 inch round or rectangular 24 inch by 12 inch Big Daddy.

“All of our products are prepared with the finest ingredients available and are baked with tender loving care,” Durichen said.

The dough is hand tossed and pizzas are topped with award-winning pizza sauce and a special blend of 100 percent real cheese.

“If you are satisfied tell your friends,” Durichen said. “If you’re not, please let us know. We’ll do our best to make it right. Our goal is to serve you only the very best from our den to yours.”

Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday.

To order, call 242-0369 (FOX). Online ordering will be available next month at www.capefoxpizza.com.

The people behind the successful homegrown chain Pinchers Crab Shack are branching out with a new neighborhood tavern concept they hope to expand on.

North Fort Tavern should be open by the end of this week at 13101 N. Cleveland Ave., North Fort Myers -the former location of Haney’s Smokehouse (and Foxfire and Woody’s).

Loaded with 16 50-inch screen TVs and offering bar favorites such as sliders, cheesesteaks, salads and barbecue, the tavern concept is “everything Pinchers is not,” said Grant Phelan, director of operations for Pinchers.

“There will be no seafood,” Phelan said. “We’ll have a little bit of barbecue because we already have the pit.”

The tavern aims to appeal to lunch-seekers, happy-hour revelers, the dinner crowd and night owls, Phelan said.

The most expensive item on the tavern menu is a $11.99 barbecue combo platter, whereas Pinchers’ entrees average $15-$20. Tavern sandwiches range from $5.99 to $7.99. Signature items include smoked chicken wings, the “Big as Your Head” burger and freshly made potato chips. A menu of $4 items will be served 3 to 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. to close daily.

The Pinchers chain, which began in Bonita Springs, has grown to six restaurants from Naples to Sarasota. The North Fort Myers Pinchers is just a hop, skip and a jump from the new tavern, and the company may eventually pair taverns with all of its restaurants, Phelan said.

Despite the economy, Pinchers is still doing “gangbusters,” he said, projecting $20 million in sales this year. Same-store sales are up 3 percent this year, Phelan said.

“We thought it was time to develop a second concept,” he said. “We’ve kind of reached the saturation point (with Pinchers). There are not a lot of taverns in Southwest Florida.”

The company decided to launch the new venture in North Fort Myers because the area appeared underserved, U.S. 41 traffic is heavy and the building was available and required very little renovation -less than $100,000, Phelan said.

Booths were removed to create a more open space; seating capacity is 165. Screens were installed for sports programming, including Direct-TV offerings such as Major League Baseball’s “Extra Innings,” the National Football League’s “Sunday Ticket” and the Big 10 Network.

Hours will be 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday-Wednesday and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday-Saturday. Call 652-0900.

Ichiban also expanding its reach north

Just up the road a few miles from the North Fort Tavern, a second Ichiban Japanese & Chinese Cuisine is scheduled to open by the end of the month.

Ichiban II at 14681 U.S. 41 N. Cleveland Ave. will serve the same menu of sushi, sashimi, teriyaki, lo mein and other Asian dishes as the original Ichiban, which has been in downtown Fort Myers about five years. The new location has a full liquor license, unlike the downtown one.

Owners Sing and Ming Chong have a little family restaurant dynasty going in Lee County. Their sister owns Tim’s Magic Wok in south Fort Myers.

“Things are going good downtown,” Sing Chong said. “We wanted to stretch our muscles. There’s a lot of business here on 41.”

The location most recently was Keeler’s Restaurant & Lounge, but it had an earlier life as another Chinese restaurant, Double Dragon.

Ichiban II will serve lunch and dinner.

Chuck E. Cheese’s opens in July

Speaking of openings, the only Chuck E. Cheese’s in Southwest Florida is scheduled to bow the first week in July in Fort Myers. (An earlier press release from the company said it would open June 3).

Are those squeals of delight we hear in the background?

Famous for its pizza and its lively entertainment and kids’ birthday parties, the restaurant is in Page Field Center (the former Blocker Furniture site), which is just north of Boy Scout Drive, across from Page Field Commons.

The restaurant includes indoor rides such as a hovering helicopter and Mad Motion Theater.

Parent company CEC Entertainment Inc. operates 491 Chuck E. Cheese’s in 48 states and five countries. Previously, the closest location was in Bradenton.

Balink focuses on H2 as Harold’s closes

Many factors went into chef-owner Harold Balink’s decision not to look for a new place for Harold’s on Bay.

He decided to close the fine-dining establishment, The News-Press reported May 7, after learning its building on Bay Street in downtown Fort Myers is being sold.

He had been put on a month-to-month lease last fall, after surviving a city construction project that closed Bay Street for months.

“Certainly the economy is affecting everyone, but it’s really a lot of other things,” Balink said. “Did the streetscape project hurt? Sure, but there’s a million factors. Everything has a life span. A lot of other good things are happening. It’s not worth it anymore.”

Balink worked in the space since it opened as Tetley’s Downtown in 2002. In 2004, he renamed the fine-dining establishment Harold’s. About two years later, he opened the more casual H2 across the alley, which will remain open.

Balink said he loves downtown Fort Myers, despite all the challenges it has presented.

“H2 is doing fantastic,” he said. “We’re not going anywhere. I’ll be in the kitchen full time. I’m very excited.”

Plans for a second Harold’s in south Fort Myers also have been nixed because builders have postponed construction of the commercial center, Balink said.

Your last chance to eat at Harold’s on Bay is Saturday.

Tots are hot at San Carlos’ iBar

Those Tater Tots just won’t go away.

After a recent Taste cover story on the Tot phenomenon and the “Rock the Tot 2008″ eating contest at local Bar Louies, we learned of a San Carlos Park bar that boasts a 10-item menu celebrating the spud nugget.

Tots Benedict, anyone?

That’s just the tip of tot cornucopia at iBar. Tots with white sausage gravy, Tots tossed with Buffalo wing sauce, Tots covered with pulled pork and Cheddar cheese and tots smothered with roast beef, onions and gravy are some of the other options sold in single ($4.95) or double ($7.95) portions.

Owner Rich Boye, who thinks the concept could be franchise-worthy, says he and his staff have 40 other recipe ideas.

“It’s been a tremendous success,” he said. “We had Tots on the menu as a side dish and noticed everybody was eating them. So we came up with the idea of making different things with Tots.”

Boye said he’s looking for investors to the expand the concept.

In the meantime, if you’d like to sample Tots covered with ham, topped with a fried egg and draped in Hollandaise sauce, iBar is at 18011 S. Tamiami Trail just south of Alico Road in a plaza anchored by Northern Tool.

And if you aren’t hot on Tots, iBar offers plenty of salads, sandwiches and dinner specials that don’t contain spud nuggets.

By MARK S. KRZOS

Stir Crazy, another franchise specializing in Asian cuisine, will open its first restaurant in Southwest Florida in late July.
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The restaurant, headquartered in Chicago, follows P.F. Chang’s and The Elephant Bar in the suddenly competitive Southwest Florida Asian eatery market.

Stir Crazy, which has two other locations in Florida - one in Boca Raton and one in Pembroke Pines, will open its third at Coconut Point.

Unlike P.F. Chang’s and The Elephant Bar - which feature mostly Chinese dishes - Stir Crazy has a healthy mix of Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese dishes.

Some of those dishes include dim sum, green curry mussels, Bangkok noodles, Pho, Thai curry bowl, Pad Thai, Singapore Shrimp, Mongolian beef and Vietnamese Lemongrass pork tenderloin.

Founded in 1996, Stir Crazy currently has 12 restaurants in nine states.

“We’re a full-service Asian casual dining restaurant,” said Peter Nolan, the restaurant’s vice president of marketing. “We’re very family friendly and we feature incredible Asian food.”

One of the things that makes Stir Crazy stand out, Nolan said, is that everything is made fresh.

“We roll our own pot stickers by hand and our sauces are all made fresh daily,” he said. “We also have an open kitchen that sort of bends into the dining room. It makes for a very interactive experience.”

Nolan said the restaurant, which is under construction, will be located east of Coconut Point’s southernmost Starbucks Coffee and should be open on July 30.

“We think Coconut Point is an incredible project,” Nolan added. “They have great retail and the housing is right there. I think we’ll fit in nicely.”