Lobstahs: fine dining, funky fun
Louise bolger | sun
Owner John Rocco and Chef Fabiola are r
eady to serve you at Paparazzi's.
People are complicated. Sometimes we want to kick back in our T-shirts and flip flops and grab a beer and burger, and sometimes we want to put on the Tommy Bahama silk shirt and order a martini. Either way, there’s a restaurant in Holmes Beach where you can be as complicated as you like.
Lobstahs in Holmes Beach has been opened for a year and during that year, owner Jeff Levey has spent a lot of time listening to his customers. What Levey’s patrons were telling him is that they wanted another fine dining choice on the Island as well as a very casual fun place. It didn’t take Levey long to bring Lobstahs to a whole new level of dining by revamping the restaurant’s menu, creating two distinctly different eating establishments.
If you want the casual, bring- the-kids-and-grandkids kind of a place, try Lobstahs’ Tiki Hut menu where lunch starts at $7. In the Tiki Hut you can order appetizers, jumbo hot dogs, pizza, hamburgers, sandwiches, fish and chips and of course lobster rolls. Dinner is served till 10 p.m., but there are early bird specials and happy hour cocktails starting at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights the Tiki Hut is jumping with entertainment and dancing.
The Island fine dining room menu is defined as gourmet with a full selection of lobster dishes and appetizers like lobster escargot and seared tuna. Entrees include easy lobster, veal Oscar, grouper in a bag, ravioli with truffles and a large selection of Italian specialty dishes. Cold water lobsters are shipped in from Maine and stay fresh in the only lobster tank on the Island.
There are nightly specials, and on Friday and Saturday nights, prime rib is on the menu. And don’t worry, if you decide you would rather eat in the Tiki Hut. Daily specials and prime rib dinners are also available there. Lobstahs has two full bars, one in the main dining room and one in the Tiki Hut, both with an extensive wine list, beer on tap and speciality cocktails, and for $2 you can try to win a live lobster. Lobstahs is able to seat large parties and frequently hosts rehearsal dinners, birthdays and after wedding parties.
Jeff Levey says he has taken his first year in business to grow and establish the professional team he now has in place. The addition of Chef Patrick at the end of last year has finally given him the flexibility to split the restaurant’s menu, enabling him to offer both fine dining and casual dining under one roof.
Make a night of it at Lobstahs by having a gourmet meal in the fine dining room and then walking over to the Tiki Hut for after dinner drinks and dancing. And don’t forget to say hello to Jeff Levey and his wife Bert who are frequently guests in their own restaurant.
Just because we humans are complicated doesn’t mean our dining choices have to be. Lobstahs can accommodate whatever mood you’re in and whichever shirt you want to wear. The choice is easy and it’s all under one roof.
LOBSTAHS
5337 Gulf Drive,
Holmes Beach
941-779-1000
All major credit cards
accepted
Open dvery day
Tiki Hut - noon to 10 p.m.
Island fine dining room
5 p.m. to 10 p.m.