Michael Rechter may be at the brink of creating downtown Vero’s largest food and beverage destination at the old Diesel plant. But his plaza on U.S. 1 that includes K-Mart is becoming a go-to destination for fast-casual dining.
Though no signage is up yet, construction is well underway on an outparcel that will include Moe’s Southwest Grill, a Tex-Mex chain that’s been around since 2000 but is just now making it to Vero Beach. Based in Atlanta, Moe’s has 600 locations, including Port St. Lucie and Palm Bay.
“We’ve been looking around Vero for several years,” says Billy Moss, a broker who specializes in restaurants with Lambert Commercial Real Estate. Moe’s says it looks for locations that, within a two miles radius, has a minimum population of 30,000 earning on average $50,000.
The plaza is already home to Hurricane Grill and Wings, a 75-restaurant national chain that got its start in Fort Pierce in 1995, when then 22-year-old Chris Russo opened Chris’ Hurricane Grill on Seaway Drive.
Now Hurricane is about to get a mom-and-pop neighbor: Vittorio’s Pizza, which has locations in Sebastian and on Oslo Road in Vero. It is relocating its third location from the Publix Plaza at 12th St. and U.S. 1.
In downtown Vero, a longtime former nightclub space on 14th Avenue bought a few months ago by David and Sheila Schweitzer is on its way to becoming an Irish pub. Roger Lenzi, who moved his Italian restaurant Avanzare to the space next door, is partnering with the couple to develop and manage the pub.
“We’re trying to be more of a restaurant, with typical Irish pub food like bangers and mash and shepherd’s pie,” Lenzi says. The pub will seat 150. It’s expected to open in June or July.
Lenzi has high hopes for the location; since moving Avanzare a few blocks north, he has doubled his business, he says.
As for Avanzare’s former location, that building has been leased by Angie and Nick Novak, the owners of Filthy’s, the popular late-night, live music bar on 16th Street. For this new venture, as yet unnamed, the couple has brought in a partner, John Scharr, a 13-year employee of Riverside Café and one of Nick Novak’s best friends.
Nick Novak is the former general manager of Mulligan’s on the beach, and before that managed the Black Pearl restaurant.
Angie Novak says they have completely gutted the interior, including removing the dropped ceiling and the white floor tiles.
“You’re not going to know where you are,” she says. “We’re still several months out, there’s so much construction going on. But I’m really excited.” And secretive. They still haven’t announced the restaurant’s theme, though they anticipate a mid- to late-summer opening.
Once Lenzi has the Irish pub up and running, he has a plan to head across the bridge to open the island’s first sushi and ramen restaurant. He’s currently shopping for a location.
“I’ve got the principals all lined up and we’re starting to play around with stuff,” he says. That play involves adding Italian components to the sushi and ramen menu. He cites the style of the famed Masaharu Morimoto of TV’s “Iron Chef,” who frequently adds Italian ingredients to his cooking.
“I’m really excited about that,” says Lenzi. “A lot of Italian products work really well with sushi, like capers and arugula and mozzarella.”
Lenzi says he has looked into the just-vacated Boardwalk ice cream shop that scooped its last cone this past Sunday, after seven years at Ocean Drive and Conn Way. The property and the site just west of it are owned by developer Scott Parker, who owns Three Avenues plaza.
Lenzi says he was told only a short-term lease was available on the space, backing up speculation that Parker may have plans of his own for the prime location. He could not be reached for comment by press time.
