Getty Images/iStockphoto (This content is subject to copyright.)
Blue Hawaiian Colada - with pineapple and cherry
real edible cocktail, no artificial ingredients used!
It may or may not be open now, but when it officially enters the busy stripe of flashing lights cutting across Cape Coral, Backyard Beer Garden (239-540-5454, bybgarden.com) is destined to stand out. The pergola-covered terrace with hanging lights and lounge seats on Cape Coral Parkway is just one small part of the appeal. More than 20 craft brews plus a craft cocktail list will join a fully functional restaurant promising on-trend bao buns, shishito peppers and fried oysters.
There already were two hot launches of the day-to-evening drinking variety over the summer in Fort Myers: a second location of The Boathouse Tiki Bar & Grill (239-332-2628, theboathouseusa.com) far up north on the Caloosahatchee, with a swimming pool and faux beach, as well as the thatched-roof Bimini Bait Shack (239-360-2248, biminibaitshack.com), barely a lazy river’s length away from the Sanibel Causeway. Both serve food and are on-par with Margaritaville for a 5-o’clock-somewhere ethos. Bimini, disguised by a party-hardy tiki vibe, belies excellent Floribbean numbers like lime-kissed conch ceviche, plantain nachos and Gulf shrimp po’boys.
Down in Naples, the Bone Hook expansion is what’s up. A low-key, Cheers-y Chatterbox II (239-434-9600) also opened on U.S. 41 south of The Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club, and everyone is on the edge of their varnished picnic tables for the debut of Ankrolab Brewing Company (facebook.com/ankrolab-brewing-co), the latest in a string of premium microbreweries. Early renderings imply Ankrolab is destined for beer-garden greatness with a glass-fronted warehouse spilling onto a scenic terrace near Naples Botanical Garden.