A few local restaurateurs are hooked on a space in Cape Coral that has been home to brewpubs for the last eight years.
Hooked Island Grill is targeted to open this winter in the former home of Big Storm Brewing Co.’s restaurant and taproom, which closed in September on the corner of Southeast 47th Terrace and Southeast 10th Place.
“The goal is to be open to catch some of this tourist season. Although it’s a little premature, we are kind of hoping we can turn this location around in 60 days,” said longtime local restaurateur Erik Lebsack, a Fort Myers resident who co-owns Hooked with Kyle Sherman of Cape Coral. The pair met years ago when Sherman was a bartender at Lebsack’s former Cadillac Jack’s in south Fort Myers.
The building is in good shape, so the Hooked team is hoping for a quick turnaround. It just needs a little polish and shine and some of their touches on it, Lebsack said.
“It’s built out kind of in our style so it’s not that far off,” he said.
The business partners opened Hooked Island Grill a year ago in the former Famous Dave’s space at Gulf Coast Town Center shortly after the original location in Matlacha was destroyed by Hurricane Ian. For their Cape Coral location, they are joined by a minority partner, Franco Russo from Two Meatballs in the Kitchen. Sherman worked for Russo as general manager of Two Meatballs in Cape Coral.
The team found out the week before Christmas that they got the Cape Coral space at 4721 SE 10th Place. They faced competition from about 60 proposals, Lebsack said. Although the ink is barely dry on the deal, a Hooked “coming soon” banner is up already.
“It’s a really cool spot so we are excited about the potential,” Lebsack said.
Before Big Storm’s three-year run, Big Blue Brewing operated there for about four years before closing in 2020. The site also previously was Cape Coral Bingo. The building is owned by JoAnn Elardo, who also owns Wicked Dolphin Rum Distillery and formerly owned Big Blue.
In addition to Hooked Island Grill, an additional concept will occupy the former brewery space on the back side of the nearly 9,000-square-foot defunct bingo hall. The front will be Hooked Island Grill, while the back will be a pizza place with a separate name and entrance that will be open regular hours to provide late-night slices for the bar district crowd, Lebsack said.
The new space is larger than Hooked at Gulf Coast Town Center, doubling the outdoor space. An overhead door opens the interior to an elevated covered patio. “It’s just massive. We figure we’ll have 18 tables outside plus seats at the bar,” Lebsack said.
Although Hooked features a menu of elevated craft cocktails, it’s a restaurant first.
“Our specialty is food,” Lebsack said. “People come for the food and realize we have some unique drinks and menu items.”
For the new year, the seafood-centric restaurant is rolling out a fresh menu with additional items, such as lobster tails, snow crab legs, a shrimp boil and lobster meatballs. “We’re doing that with gnocchi and vodka sauce,” Lebsack said.
Pineapple bowls remain a signature item for Hooked. “That’s a big thing because it feels like Florida,” Lebsack said. “We try to be unique and a little bit edgy with our stuff but not to the point that it has ingredients you wouldn’t eat. Wild enough but not too wild.”
Popular menu items include Mahi Oscar, unicorn fish coated in coconut and almond, and the Sushi Dog—a spicy crab roll that is battered and fried and filled with an ahi tuna “hot dog.”
“Anything grouper is a big seller. We do a blackened tripletail that sells very well,” Lebsack said.
The local business plans to have a job fair in a month or so to hire the nearly 100 employees needed at the new location. The eventual goal is also to get Hooked back on the Matlacha waterfront. Although they have met a half-dozen times with the landlord of the storm-damaged property, no progress has been made, Lebsack said. “At this point, I don’t know,” he said.
