Not every restaurant remodeling project in Lee County has to be because of Hurricane Ian. That’s what Franco Russo concluded earlier this year, when his desire to redo and expand the bar at Two Meatballs in the Kitchen evolved into overhauling the entire restaurant.
The original Two Meatballs in the Kitchen, 8880 Salrose Lane, off Daniels Parkway and west of Interstate 75, celebrated its grand reopening Dec. 19 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, who is of Italian heritage, cut the ribbon with General Manager Sergio Serrano and apologized for not eating there as much as he wanted to. He applauded Russo for creating a “mom and pop” feel, going against the grain of restaurant chains.
Russo bought the business, established in 2008, from founder Sal Basile in October 2018. Russo went on to open a second Two Meatballs in the Kitchen location, 1403 Cape Coral Parkway E. in Cape Coral, in July 2020. He opened Stone’s Throw restaurant, just next door in Cape Coral, in May.
Hurricane Ian forced Russo to relocate his two Fort Myers Beach restaurants, Junkanoo Below Deck and Fresh Catch Bistro, to 4761 Estero Blvd., former home of Bayfront Bistro.
But Russo didn’t want to ignore his flagship location, either. During the summer, he decided to make some upgrades.
“The restaurants around us have elevated,” Russo said, noting the recent openings of Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant and Casa Blanca Modern Mexican Tequila Bar along the Daniels Parkway corridor, with a new Capital Grille also under construction. “I think it’s important to do something every three to five years. When we first took over five years ago, we added a few little things here and there just to make it our own.”
The Two Meatballs overhaul, Russo said, cost about $700,000. There was more than just the financial risk of spending money on the upgrades. He had to shut down the south Fort Myers restaurant for what ended up being three months to do the project. He chose the slower, fall months to do the remodeling, but it still wasn’t easy.
“That’s the hardest part,” Russo said of the temporary, three-month closure. Some of his employees left for other restaurant jobs. Others temporarily relocated to the Cape Coral Two Meatballs. “The customers were like, ‘Oh no, why?’ It was hard to close for that long. We thought it was going to be a little bit of a shorter timeframe. We expected it to be difficult. In the end, I just think it was worth it.”
Serrano has been the Fort Myers location’s general manager for four years and is thrilled with the end result.
“They love it,” Serrano said of his customers. “They like the bigger bar. They like how it feels homey and welcoming.”
