On September 1, Leroy's Fish Shack opened its doors at 1200 W. Retta Esplanade, more than two years after it was supposed to. Stacy Jones, a Punta Gorda regular who was among the first diners served, put it simply: "You could taste the freshness, and that's coming from someone who fishes all the time."
That single opening closes out something bigger than one new seafood counter. It's the last piece of a four-restaurant, roughly 400-job overhaul of the entire Fishermen's Village wharf, and it happened while the property itself sat mid-sale under a court-appointed receiver with no confirmed buyer. The restaurants finished rebuilding before the building found a new owner.
A Wharf That Had to Start Over Twice
The story starts in July 2024, when Fishermen's Village first went up for sale. Weeks later, Hurricanes Helene and Milton hit Charlotte Harbor, and the sale process stalled along with a good chunk of the property. The old Village Fish Market space, which restaurateur Lee Richardson had already signed on to take over and reopen as Leroy's Fish Shack that September, took on floodwater and needed mold remediation before anyone could touch a menu.
Down the wharf, two of the longest-running tenants were headed for the exit on a separate track. Harpoon Harry's and The Captain's Table closed in May 2025 after what SVN Commercial Partners' Corrie Gates described as an extended period of exclusive negotiations that never reached a long-term lease. Locals took the closures hard. Both restaurants had hosted fireworks nights and New Year's Eve parties for decades, and the backlash on social media was immediate.
So by mid-2025, Fishermen's Village had three vacant restaurant spaces, a fourth one still drying out from storm damage, and a sale that had been paused by hurricanes it never saw coming.
What Actually Held Up the Timeline
Local restaurateur Kelly Evans Draper, formerly of Smugglers Enterprises, stepped into the Harpoon Harry's and Captain's Table spaces with two new concepts, Castaways and Latitude 26°, under her own venture with Tidewater Hospitality Group. When the plans were announced in August 2025, both were targeted for "early 2026."
Only one restaurant actually hit that window. The Islands Kitchen & Cocktail House, a Caribbean-inspired concept with a sushi program and a menu built around a 32-ounce dry-aged Wagyu tomahawk, opened February 5, 2026, in the space once occupied by The Pier. It's owned locally by Amber and Dan DeCarlo, who also run Village Outfitters and Harborwalk Resort Wear elsewhere in the Village, with Executive Chef Partner David McCleery running the kitchen. Lines formed out the door on opening weekend, and the restaurant brought on more than 100 employees.
Latitude 26° and Castaways slipped past "early 2026" and into spring, with hiring pushes timed for April and May. Castaways landed as a 400-seat, dockside, open-air bar and grill with the bar moved to the center of the room so every seat gets a water view, a layout change from the old Harpoon Harry's setup. Latitude 26° took the upstairs Captain's Table space with a rebuilt deck, about 100 outdoor seats and 220 indoors, and a more polished, harbor-facing dining room.
Leroy's Fish Shack took the longest. What was supposed to be a September 2024 opening got pushed by Milton's flooding, then mold remediation, then a prolonged back-and-forth between the property's receiver and its insurance company before construction could even resume. Co-owner Lee Richardson, who also runs Leroy's Southern Kitchen & Bar downtown with partner Mike Wright, held a dry run for family and friends on August 29 before opening to the public three days later. It landed almost exactly two years after its original target date.
None of these delays trace back to four kitchens being unusually hard to build. They trace back to one underlying condition: every lease on that wharf was being signed inside a property that was itself in limbo. Gates put it this way when the sale relaunched earlier this year: "With the restaurants and retail space now 100% leased, the marina officially submitting to all governing agencies for approval of reconstruction and insurance premiums beginning to show favorable decreases, we are excited about the continued progress."
What's Actually Open Now
| Restaurant | Former Space | Opened | Built For |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Islands Kitchen & Cocktail House | The Pier | Feb. 5, 2026 | Caribbean-inspired seafood, sushi, sunset dinners |
| Latitude 26° | The Captain's Table | Spring 2026 | Upstairs seafood and steaks, harbor-view dining |
| Castaways | Harpoon Harry's | Spring 2026 | Dockside bar and grill, 400 seats, casual hangout |
| Leroy's Fish Shack | Village Fish Market | Sept. 1, 2026 | Dock-to-table seafood, family casual |
Leroy's leans hardest into its own backstory. The interior is lined with historic fishing photos and nets, and the restaurant's commercial fishing partners, including captains identified on the restaurant's Facebook page as McLaughlin and Caleb, deliver catch straight to the dock several times a week. The catch of the day gets posted on the door before it ever hits a menu, which means what you order on a Tuesday may not exist on Thursday.
Castaways kept a small nod to its predecessor too. The old Harpoon Harry's game nook survived the renovation, tucked into a room now built around cold drinks, coastal platters, and a bar you can see the harbor from no matter where you're sitting.
The Retail Followed the Same Pattern
The restaurants weren't the only businesses to fill in behind the storm and the stalled sale. Bee & Co., a cosmetics shop, opened across from The Islands, and ästhetik spa and skincare opened a second location inside Fishermen's Village while keeping its original downtown Punta Gorda salon running. Between the four restaurants and the new retail, the wharf's commercial space is now fully leased, according to Gates, even though the underlying sale of the property itself is still working through the offer process that reopened earlier this year.
That's the part worth sitting with if you live nearby. The tenants didn't wait for a new owner to show up before rebuilding. They rebuilt around a receiver, two hurricanes, and an insurance settlement, and finished before anyone signed a deed.
What This Means If You Live Nearby This Fall
For residents, the practical takeaway is that Fishermen's Village now has four kitchens competing for the same dock-front tables at sunset, which means reservations at Leroy's and Latitude 26° are worth making ahead on weekends, especially with tourist season ramping up. Castaways and The Islands lean more walk-in friendly, but expect a wait once the weather cools enough to make the patio the whole point of going.
The wharf's fall calendar also lands on top of a dining lineup that's finally whole for the first time. The Fall Arts Festival is tentatively set for October 17, Throwback to the '50s follows on October 24, and the Lighting of the Village is tentatively scheduled for November 14, ahead of the nightly Festival of Lights running November 15 through December 31. Every one of those events now happens with four working kitchens behind it instead of three empty storefronts and one under construction.
Whoever eventually closes on Fishermen's Village inherits a fully leased, freshly rebuilt destination rather than a distressed one. For everyone who already lives here, that reboot is simply the new normal for a Saturday night on the harbor.
If you're watching Punta Gorda's waterfront for reasons beyond dinner plans, from a second home near Charlotte Harbor to a move that puts you closer to it, Gina Guarino Group knows this stretch of the coast block by block. Let our team, be your team.
