Popular downtown Cape Coral restaurant and bar to close after one last bash
One of the most beloved restaurants/bars in downtown Cape Coral is closing.
In a social media post on Tuesday, Dec. 12, Nevermind Awesome Bar & Eatery and The Hop announced “it will be closing their doors on December 30.”
“It’s not over yet …!!!” the post continued. “December 30th — block party. Let’s give this place the goodbye it deserves.”And it deserves all the accolades it gets.
When Nevermind — reportedly closing after its current lease wasn't renewed — opened along Cape Coral Parkway in 2012, it helped change the landscape of the South Cape dining scene. With chef/restaurateur Shannon Yates creating in the open kitchen and mixologist Brittany Bowman crafting cocktails behind the bar, it was a huge culinary step forward for the city.
From day one, it was one of the coolest hangouts around and continues to be even after Yates died in August 2021 at the age of 49 after being hospitalized with COVID-19.
Shannon Yates worked his way up
Yates, a Cape Coral High School graduate, got his start working in resorts, including Sanibel Harbour and The Ritz-Carlton and waited tables at the original Bistro 41 at Bell Tower Shops in south Fort Myers. He opened Bacchus, a wine and tapas bar, in those same shops in 1999. A second location in downtown Fort Myers came in August 2001.
By 2004, investors tapped Yates to open Cru at Bell Tower. Leaving there, he had a hand in Mad Takeout and Lush, and even catered events for the Boston Red Sox during spring training.
Then in 2012, he returned to open the trendsetting Nevermind with Bowman and a portrait of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain hung by the entrance. The rest is Cape Coral restaurant history.
Customers will have the next 2? weeks to drop by, grab their favorite cocktail, a pressed cheeseburger or maybe an order or two of signature volcano spring rolls.
Then head back on Dec. 30 to give that location one last goodbye.
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But even that may not be the last of Nevermind.
“We hope to open at a new location soon after (Dec. 30),” the restaurant’s post read.
We hope so too.
Nevermind Awesome Bar & Eatery, 927 Cape Coral Parkway E, Cape Coral, (239) 471-0295; follow on Facebook for more information and updates.
Robyn George is a food and dining writer for The Fort Myers News-Press. Send news to [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Nevermind Awesome Bar & Eatery to close in downtown Cape Coral
