Beeline is counting on thirsty folks making a beeline to its new upscale cocktail bar at Mercato in North Naples. The new venture’s grand opening is 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. May 2 in the mixed-use center at U.S. 41 and Vanderbilt Beach Road.
Cincinnati-based Four Entertainment Group, or 4EG, will open its third location and its first in Florida for Beeline, which features a signature blend of craft concoctions, ales and spirits.
Saying that Beeline is bar-centric is an understatement.
“We do not serve food. We’re a drinks-only establishment,” said Saijal Andreadis Ryan, marketing director for 4EG. “We saw an opportunity because there’s not much like it in Naples or Southwest Florida. We thought we would fit in really well with this market.”
The 3,989-square-foot end unit at 9115 Strada Place, Suite 5155, is across the street from Bravo Italian Kitchen in the longtime former location of Bobby Chan clothing store. The space also has been a SUNS outdoor furniture store, an Original Selfie Museum and most recently East West Fine Art, which relocated to another unit in Mercato. Expect something different there from Beeline.
“By design, while we have locations that have the same name and branding and some similar cocktails, we want the vibe and feel of each location to be unique. That way it’s not cookie-cutter. It’s exclusive to each market,” Ryan said. “In fact, we have a replica of a banyan tree inside the bar surrounded by banquette seating that is inspired by the 80-year-old banyan tree right outside of our front door at Mercato.”
The trendy new venue has a capacity for 200 guests. Its large, curved radius bar snakes across the space with two big bump-outs. There are about 45 seats at the bar with some adjacent tables.
“We’ve got a good mix of high-top tables, low-top tables and banquette seating, but the bar is really, really big, so we’ll be able to fit a lot of people at the bar,” Ryan said.
The new space also features a water-embossed gold ceiling with undulating pendant lights, custom Spanish light fixtures and ornate Christian Lacroix feathered wallpaper with a cursive neon sign mounted on it that spells out “Oh Honey Honey,” accentuating the bar’s buzzy bee theme.
“The ‘Oh Honey Honey’ neon is something we have at our other locations so you will see a couple of bar details you may see at another location but, for the most part, the overall design is unique to each location,” Ryan said.
Euro-Wall doors on the sides of the business open the space to the outdoors.
“So, there is that indoor-outdoor experience,” Ryan said. “In the future, we do plan to expand our patio out with a permanent pergola system that will increase our footprint, as well as our capacity, giving more outdoor seating. So, we’re really excited about that. That should, hopefully, be installed by the end of the year.”
In February, the Collier County hearing examiner followed county staff’s recommendation in approving a land development code waiver to permit Beeline’s separation distance of less than 500 feet from other Mercato establishments — Cavo, Burn and Blue Martini — that sell alcohol for on-site consumption and derive less than 51% of their sales from food items.
“I think we have a product that isn’t currently seen in Mercato or Naples,” Ryan said. “We are not trying to be a nightclub. We want to be a comfortable, casual, yet upscale environment where anyone can come in, bring their friends and are guaranteed to have a great experience.”
Beeline hopes to find its niche with its elevated cocktail menu.
“We want to be that happy hour spot, the before-dinner spot, the after-dinner spot,” Ryan said. “So, while you’re shopping around Mercato, getting dinner with your family or friends or whoever it may be, we want to be a stop along the way. I think that’s where we differ compared to some of the other establishments. We’re a little bit different. We’re a more laid-back, yet upscale environment.”
The beverage menu at each Beeline is slightly different but the concept shares a tried-and-true common base with its other locations in Columbus, Ohio, and in northern Kentucky on the outskirts of Cincinnati. Inspired by a bumblebee’s straight path, Beeline was named for a 19th century train route that connected Cincinnati and Columbus, so the bar’s cocktail names are influenced by both locomotives and bees.
“The Hot Shot is made with vodka, lavender and this delicious blueberry-rosemary syrup. That’s one of our most popular. We also have a nonalcoholic beverage inspired by it because it sells so well,” Ryan said. “The Sober Berry mocktail features Seedlip NA Spirit, lemon, aquafaba, blueberry-rosemary syrup and a dehydrated lemon. We also anticipate our tequila drinks will be very popular here in this market. One of my favorites is the Smokestack. It’s a little bit of a smokier tequila drink with blood orange and agave; it has a black sea salt rim and it’s garnished with a dehydrated lime. For our bourbon lovers, you’ll see another staple, our Night Train, which has Old Forester, Luxardo, Montenegro and some bitters.”
Beeline also is introducing some seasonal cocktails that are exclusive to Mercato, Ryan said.
“There’s a really, really fun take on a lemon-coconut expresso martini,” she said. “We’ll also have an exclusive menu of four spritzers for Mercato, as well. Those are unique to this specific location. So, we’ve got a good mix of popular drinks that sell at other locations, as well as new things that would fit in this market.”
Beeline also has five nonalcoholic mocktail options, including two inspired by its signature cocktails.
“The Straighten the Rails is made with honey, lemon, peach, club soda and edible flowers. It’s a beautiful-looking drink,” Ryan said. “We also have The Caboose made with that blueberry-rosemary syrup, lime juice and ginger beer.”
Beeline’s NA program includes Heineken 0.0 nonalcoholic beer, Brewdog Elvis AF beer, Liquid Death canned water, sodas, a few Red Bull varieties, and a THC lemonade with a cannabis kick. Beeline’s regular cocktail menu also has frozen cocktails, house shots and seltzers; craft, domestic and imported beers; and many bourbon, ryes, tequila and whiskey options.
“We’re going to have a great happy hour Monday through Friday from 2 to 6 p.m., when we have half-price happy hour. Almost everything will be half price,” Ryan said.
For its opening day May 2, Beeline will be open 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. After that, the bar will be open 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily.
“Right off the bat, Thursday through Sunday, we’ll have deejays in the evening, and then very soon we’re going to launch live acoustic sets kind of throughout the happy hour timeframe,” Ryan said. “Weekends, you can definitely expect deejays and then we’ll be adding live entertainment shortly.”
More at Mercato
At least three more hospitality concepts are planned this year at Mercato.
Pure Green, a cold-pressed juice and smoothie chain, is targeted to open a location this summer at 9100 Strada Place, Suite 2115, the former space of Le Macaron French pastries. Shake Shack and Pura Vida Miami are coming to Mercato before the end of the year, said Lauren Ness, manager of public relations and communication for Jamestown LP, the real estate investment manager that serves as Mercato’s leasing and marketing agent.
Shake Shack, a burger chain with a fanatical base, is building out part of the former Charming Charlie clothing store at 9105 Strada Place, Suite 3135. Pura Vida is bringing its health-conscious menu to the 3,800-square-foot space that formerly hosted a series of pizzerias — Zza Baby, Naples Flatbread and Piola – in the last 15 years at 9118 Strada Place, Suite 8170.
Summie permanent jewelry also is slated to debut this summer near Rocco’s Tacos & Tequila Bar, Ness said.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming these brands to Naples and providing new food and beverage offerings for our guests. Each tenant brings something fresh to our culinary landscape and complements our vision of evolving Mercato’s merchandising mix to best serve the community,” said Adam Schwegman, director and head of retail leasing at Jamestown.
Plans to expand the common public area of Mercato’s Piazza are still going to occur, too, but the project has been temporarily delayed.
“With five new tenant openings since last summer and another five slated to debut in the coming months, including Beeline, we decided to pause the Piazza redevelopment through the opening period. We should have more information to share soon,” Ness said.
Announced last year, the project will renovate the central hardscape area in front of Bravo, Taverna Burntwood, Waxin’s and Narrative Coffee Roasters to extend the existing turf, move the royal palms and create a permanent performance stage and overhead lighting. Nine parking spaces on Strada Place will be converted into common outdoor seating and paver areas not associated with particular restaurants, plans show.
