Cape Coral's New Restaurants Moved Into Rooms Someone Else Just Left

"This is much better," Chef Luigi Vasconez told The News-Press about his new dining room on Chiquita Boulevard. "It's smaller. The last was 2,500 square feet, 128 seats."

His new place seats 80. In September Vasconez went from a closed restaurant to an open one, and he didn't build anything to do it. He moved into a room that another restaurant had left a few weeks earlier. Most of Cape Coral's summer dining news followed the same pattern. Several of the openings in recent months landed in spaces that had just held another business. The empty spaces are mostly on Del Prado Boulevard, and as of the latest reporting, none of them has a named successor.

One address on Chiquita, four restaurants

The building at 3816 Chiquita Boulevard has changed hands several times. Bernadette and Madlen Koenig-Halbritter opened Gulyas-Factory there on Valentine's Day in 2022, taking over the space that Stanijas European Restaurant and Duke of Germany had used before them. The first version was half Art Café. "We would sell more wine than coffee," Bernadette said, so the café became Amy's Winehouse, named after the owners' dog. Its list leaned on France, Chile, Germany, Italy, Argentina, California, Austria and Hungary. The goulash and schnitzel had a following, and the owners pointed to a 4.9 rating on Google. Saturday, Aug. 29 was the last day.

Meanwhile, Vasconez's lease on Del Prado Boulevard ended in August after five years. "We finished our agreement after five years," he told The News-Press. "So I am here." Luigi Ristorante Italiano reopened at 3816 Chiquita Blvd. S. on Sept. 18, less than three weeks after Gulyas-Factory's final service.

Regulars from Del Prado will find the same menu. There are two appetizer specials and four main-dish specials every day, plus fettuccine Alfredo, gnocchi al porcini, scampi limoncello, a caprese-style veal chop, and chicken done as parmigiana, marsala or Francese. Beer and wine are served. The old restaurant was half wine bar. The new one is all dining room. "I have a lot of customers," Vasconez said. "I need the room." He strongly prefers reservations.

Cutting from 128 seats to 80 and dropping the wine bar means the busy nights will fill up faster. That's the reason a reservation matters more on Chiquita than it did on Del Prado.

Second tenants on the Parkway and Pine Island Road

The same thing happened on other corridors.

Una Bella opened quietly in Lehne Burger's old space at 1232 Cape Coral Parkway. It makes hand-stretched New York-style pizza, wings and subs, and serves beer and wine. Its owners already run restaurants elsewhere in the region. Kimberly Pace Arquilla owns Neapolitan Gourmet in Naples and turned her Bonita Springs location into an Una Bella on Aug. 1. Her partner, Bruce Pleeter, owns South Street in Naples. Wings have been the early best-seller, served baked, fried or boneless. Pace Arquilla recommends the honey garlic version and the specialty roll, a deep-fried pizza burrito that's finished in the oven. "We already have customers coming in three times a week," she told IndyStar, and the place is still in soft opening.

Philly Pretzel Factory is in RadioShack's former space in the Fountain Shoppes plaza at 814 SW Pine Island Road, the plaza anchored by Stevie Tomato's. It's the chain's first Southwest Florida location. The day after its Sept. 11 opening, it sold 93 orders of pretzel poppers and 104 pretzel dogs, and less than two weeks later it hired four more bakers. Owner Rich Emmett said the pork roll, egg and cheese sandwich sold out early on, and the shop opens at 7 a.m.

Not every opening took over someone else's room. Mobz Eatery started as a food truck and opened its first storefront on Sept. 5 at 1625 Cape Coral Parkway, Suite 103. It's in the same plaza as Metro Diner, just west of Ford's Garage. Chef Harold Shipley owns it with his brother Scott Bass and partner Sandra Roberts, both veterans. The menu includes oxtail, birria fried rice and jerk chicken. Every table gets a free order of jerk chicken queso, and Shipley's mother still bakes the sweet potato pie.

Una Bella and Mobz are both in the South Cape, a short drive apart on the Parkway. Two of the five openings in The News-Press's late-September roundup are on that stretch.

Earlier openings rounded out the summer. Tacos & Tequila Cantina, a restaurant and bar, opened June 29 in Cape Coral Commons, at the northwest corner of Pine Island Road and Del Prado Boulevard. Ice Sssscreamin' opened its second Cape Coral shop July 18 at 290 Nicholas Parkway. Empire Bagel Factory was described as "just opened" in late August, on Chiquita Boulevard just north of Pine Island Road.

Where the empty rooms are

Most of the summer's closures were on Del Prado Boulevard, and none of those spaces has an announced replacement yet.

Moe's Southwestern Grill had been in the Publix-anchored Coral Pointe shopping center since late 2010. Its franchisee, Quality Fresca I LLC, filed for Chapter 11 on Aug. 4 and closed more than a dozen Florida locations, including Cape Coral's on Aug. 18. Florida Boy Burger closed its Del Prado location Aug. 15. Owner Roger Lolly says he plans to reopen in a smaller spot soon, and the original restaurant on Fowler Street in Fort Myers is still open. Luigi's former Del Prado space adds a third empty room on the same road.

There are two more closures elsewhere. Le Petit Pastry & Tea, which The News-Press called Cape Coral's only tea room, served its last scones Aug. 28 at Coralwood Mall. Owner Adriana DeLeon opened it in January 2024 and cited the end of her lease. On Santa Barbara Boulevard, just south of Veterans Parkway, July 11 was the last day for Gino's Pizza. For years the shop had been South Cape Mona Lisa Pizzeria, and it changed owners several times after becoming Gino's in October 2023.

Del Prado isn't standing still, though. The newest additions there are small, family-oriented shops. Luna Creamery & Sweets opened Sept. 3 in Chandelle Square at 1127 Del Prado Blvd. Owners Ali Roberts and Ken Jackson grew up going to the Jersey Shore and kept prices low on purpose. The most expensive item is a $6.49 four-scoop waffle bowl. There are more than 30 flavors, including sea salt caramel pretzel and Italian raspberry cheesecake. Just up the road, My Village Play Cafe lists its address as 1109 Del Prado Blvd S, Unit 2. Its website says "Coming October 2026!" but doesn't give a day.

What's on the October calendar

With today being Oct. 6, these dates are close:

1. Through Oct. 15: Luna Creamery & Sweets has three scoops for $3.
2. Oct. 17: Una Bella holds its grand opening at 1232 Cape Coral Parkway.
3. Oct. 21: The Cape Coral Chamber of Commerce lists a ribbon-cutting for Burrito Shak at 1200 Solaris Dr.
4. Sometime in October: My Village Play Cafe expects to open on Del Prado, with no exact date announced.

The News-Press's food coverage by Robyn George, along with the Sept. 4 roundup of summer closures and the Sept. 30 piece on Luigi's reopening, is the most reliable place to see when the empty Del Prado spaces get new tenants.

Curious what a turnover like Luigi's tells you about the commercial strips near your own street? Albert Baeza follows which Cape Coral storefronts fill and which stay empty, and he's happy to talk through the corridors you care about. Talk to Albert Now!