Eddie V’s restaurant launching June 7 at Waterside Shops in Naples

The first Southwest Florida location of Eddie V’s Prime Seafood launches June 7 at Waterside Shops in Naples.

The freestanding dinner restaurant and lounge at 765 Seagate Drive will be the sixth location in Florida for Eddie V’s, a luxury dining destination known for internationally sourced seafood, as well as premium steaks hand-carved by an in-house butcher. 

While both Eddie V’s and the Capital Grille are upscale brands of Orlando-based Darden Restaurants known for their quality steaks, wine and service, each dining concept has a slightly different focus. The Capital Grille, which has had a North Naples location since 2008, has the feel of a stately private club open to the public as a classic chophouse featuring dry-aged steaks for intimate dining. Eddie V’s, on the other hand, is a vibrant, more contemporary seafood-forward restaurant featuring live jazz and a high-energy lounge scene, Darden notes.

“What excites me most about bringing Eddie V’s to Naples is the opportunity to introduce the community to a truly indulgent dining experience,” said Bob Bacastow, managing partner of the Naples restaurant. “At Eddie V’s, we treat everyone who dines with us like a guest of honor. From exceptional cuisine made from the finest ingredients to cocktails with a touch of theater and live music in our V Lounge, every element is designed to create a night to remember.”

The restaurant’s culinary style features classic American dishes with a touch of modern Asian. Signature items include Chilean Sea Bass steamed Hong Kong-style, Parmesan Sole and Crab Fried Rice.

“For me, personally, the crab cake is just delicious,” Bacastow said. “That’s an appetizer, but it’s filling. It’s delicious.”

The Eddie V’s signature item is prepared with jumbo lump crab meat and a golden panko crust and finished with a creamy house-made remoulade sauce. The appetizer menu includes Maine lobster tacos, Wagyu dumplings, yellowtail sashimi and tableside steak tartare. Diners may wish to splurge with The Big Eddie, an iconic over-the-top shellfish tower with wild-caught shrimp, Blue Point oysters, colossal crab and Maine lobster on ice accompanied by apple chile mignonette, atomic horseradish and house-made stone mustard sauce.

Prime seafood dishes include North Atlantic scallops, Norwegian salmon, crab-stuffed shrimp, and South African lobster. Premium hand-cut steaks and chops include a 10-ounce center-cut filet mignon, an 18-ounce USDA Prime bone-in New York strip, a 22-ounce USDA Prime bone-in ribeye and morel-crusted lamb chops.

In the restaurant’s V Lounge, guests can enjoy classic and signature cocktails and appetizers with an ambiance created with mood lighting and live musicians on stage nightly. The Cocktails With Attitude menu features eye-catching creations dramatically poured and presented. The cocktails are featured in four categories: Fortitude, balanced and spirit-forward; Idealism, worldly and modern; Decadence, romantic and indulgent; and Virtuous, sans spirit, not style. Fortitude’s Smoked Old Fashioned with basil Hayden Bourbon is torched tableside on a wooden plank and the smoke captured in a glass. Idealism’s Golden Hour provides a liquid passport with Diplomatico Planas, coconut rum, guava, fresh lime and pineapple juice. Decadence’s Hope Diamond morphs from deep blue to magenta with Grey Goose vodka, grapefruit liqueur, butterfly pea flower tea and a diamond ice cube. The Virtuous Rita Del Sol offers non-alcoholic sweet heat with Seedlip Notas de Agave, mango, fresh lime and hot honey beneath a Tajin rim.

The lounge offers chef-crafted sushi rolls such as The Icon, “for those who lead, not follow,” with Snake River Farms Gold Wagyu, lobster, cream cheese, cucumber, orange tobiko, miso aioli, sriracha aioli, wasabi tobiko and eel sauce; and The Rebel, “bold and never afraid to turn up the heat,” with ahi tuna, asparagus, orange tobiko, sriracha aioli, wasabi aioli and wasabi tobiko.

Possible pour pairings include the Lychee Saketini with TYKU Junmai Ginjo Sake, Ketel One Vodka, lemon and lychee gummy candy; and Sake Smash with TYKU Junmai Ginjo Sake, Hendrick’s Gin, lemon, thyme and cucumber.

An expansive glass walk-through wine tower showcases the restaurant’s more than 300 acclaimed labels of wine and champagne selections. A perfect pour system allows guests to experience wines by the glass rated 95 points-plus using the Coravin preservation system.

To create Eddie V’s in Naples, Darden demolished all but the steel frame of the Bank of America Private Bank, formerly U.S. Trust, on the southwest corner of Waterside Shops.

The expansive 9,896-square-foot restaurant includes patio dining and three private rooms for events.

Eddie V’s will serve dinner 4-9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 4-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Reservations are recommended but not required. Valet service will be available.

Happy hour in the V Lounge will be 4-6:30 p.m. daily and live music trios will perform nightly: 6-9 p.m. Sunday, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 6:30-10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Also coming soon to Waterside Shops are two other major restaurants: Buck & Rider, building out the former restaurant space of Brio Italian Grille; and a fine-dining spot will be at the center of the new Restoration Hardware gallery under construction on the previous site of Nordstrom department store at the upscale open-air mall.