Construction has begun on the next location of Lake Park Diner, expected to open in early 2024 in the Founders Square mixed-use development on the southeast corner of Immokalee Road and Collier Boulevard.
The building permit was issued July 11 for the new restaurant with an outdoor patio on the vacant commercial site at 8856 Founders St. A blue construction fence shrouds the outparcel spot between the new 7-Eleven location and The Pointe at Founders Square development.
The restaurant will be the third location of Lake Park Diner, a casual dining concept that started in 2019 in the Lake Park neighborhood of Naples. Co-owners Paul Fleming Restaurant Group and Smith Organics, both based in Naples, are completing the local brand’s second location in Bonita Springs. That new restaurant is targeted to open this fall on the south side of Bonita Beach Road less than a half mile west of U.S. 41.
Naples-based DeAngelis Diamond has been selected to build Lake Park Diner’s newest location from the ground up at Founders Square. The new project will be managed by DeAngelis Diamond’s special projects division, which launched in 2020 to specialize in additions, interior renovations, buildouts and tenant improvements for projects valued at less than $10 million. The diner joins a DeAngelis Diamond division portfolio that includes the Warren American Whiskey Kitchen, which is under construction to anchor The Collective in downtown Naples.
The 6,484-square-foot freestanding diner in Founders Square is being built in collaboration with Zebra Architecture from an innovative design that will be the prototype for future Lake Park Diner locations planned across Florida. After Lake Park Diner Founders Square launches in the first quarter of the new year, the opening of Lake Park Diner Lakewood Ranch is expected to follow in northern Sarasota County.
The restaurant’s new locations will nearly double the size of the original with more parking, outdoor seating and indoor space, as well as a dedicated takeout area and an outdoor covered bar. The diner serves chef-created, sustainable, organic food, as well as beer, wine, cocktails and over-the-top milkshakes.
Lake Park Diner’s menu includes small plates, salads, sandwiches, grass-fed burgers and favorites, such as fish and chips, miso salmon and rotisserie chicken. The diner bans genetically modified food and products created with antibiotics, hormones and steroids.
