12 May 21-27, 2026 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Month XX–Month XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | shuttered in 2025 after 50 years, when its build- ing came down for luxury condos, and Shuckers in North Bay Village, nearly 40 years in, was re- placed by a hotel in 2024. Vitori is not framing this as a goodbye. “This is NOT an ending,” she wrote on Instagram. “This is a transition.” She’s promised “big news is coming, the kind that proves you cannot stop what we built” and that the next chapter “is going to be more Miami than ever.” No new location has been announced. Cheeseburger Baby. 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. at 1505 Washington Ave., Miami Beach; cheeseburgerb- aby.net. Closing June 27. OLEE FOWLER ▼ FORT LAUDERDALE NEW HORIZONS The family-owned hospitality group behind Mi- ami’s iconic Rusty Pelican is moving north. Spe- cialty Restaurants Corporation, which the Tallichet family has run since opening the be- loved waterfront restaurant on Key Biscayne in 1972, is building Sweetwaters in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Construction is now un- derway inside the newly renovated Huizenga Park, and a fall 2026 open- ing is on track. The company now runs 17 restau- rants nationally, most built around wa- terfront settings, but the Rusty Pelican has been its only South Florida loca- tion for more than five decades. It’s a Miami favorite, too, as it’s won count- less New Times “Reader’s Choice” awards over the past two decades. Sweetwaters is the first expansion in Florida beyond Key Biscayne. The restaurant will be located at the corner of Las Olas Boulevard and Andrews Avenue along the New River. According to reports, it will have seating for up to 291 guests across 6,140 square feet of indoor dining. Plus, guests can expect 3,500 square feet of riverfront terraces and patios overlooking the water. Sweetwaters will first debut with dinner ser- vice, offering coastal cuisine alongside a cocktail program and happy hour. Then it will serve lunch and eventually a café-style morning counter with coffee, juices, and grab-and-go options. JVB Architect is the architecture firm, with Icrave, a popular New York-based hospitality stu- dio, handling the interiors. They’re planning to use natural materials, warm tones, and clean lines in the space. RCC Associates, which has built Parker Playhouse and Cuba Libre in Broward County, is managing construction. Huizenga Park sits at 32 E. Las Olas Blvd., steps from the Riverwalk and a short walk from Fort Lauderdale’s Brightline sta- tion. (Therefore, it’s a quick, direct train ride from Miami.) The park finished a two-year renovation and reopened earlier this year, with Sweetwaters as its first major restaurant tenant. “The New River is one of the most beautiful backdrops in Fort Lauder- dale, and every decision we have made from the architecture to the menu to the energy of the space is designed to honor that,” said John Tallichet, President and CEO of Spe- cialty Restaurants Corporation. “Sweetwaters will be a place that becomes part of people’s lives here, not just a destination for special occasions.” Sweetwaters. 58 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale; sweetwatersrestaurant.com. Opening fall 2026. OLEE FOWLER Taste Test from p11 Sweetwaters photo New waterfront restaurant Sweetwaters will open in Fort Lauderdale this fall 2026 by the owners of Miami’s legendary Rusty Pelican.
