Rusty Pelican Owners Bring Waterfront Spot to Fort Lauderdale

The family-owned hospitality group behind Miami’s iconic Rusty Pelican is moving north. Specialty Restaurants Corporation, which the Tallichet family has run since opening the beloved waterfront restaurant on Key Biscayne in 1972, is building Sweetwaters in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Construction is now underway inside the newly renovated Huizenga Park, and a fall 2026 opening is on track.

The company now runs 17 restaurants nationally, most built around waterfront settings, but the Rusty Pelican has been its only South Florida location for more than five decades. It’s a Miami favorite, too, as it’s won countless New Times “Reader’s Choice” awards over the past two decades. Sweetwaters is the first expansion in Florida beyond Key Biscayne.

Dinner First, Then All Day

The restaurant will be located at the corner of Las Olas Boulevard and Andrews Avenue along the New River. According to reports, it will have seating for up to 291 guests across 6,140 square feet of indoor dining. Plus, guests can expect 3,500 square feet of riverfront terraces and patios overlooking the water.

Sweetwaters will first debut with dinner service, offering coastal cuisine alongside a cocktail program and happy hour. Then it will serve lunch and eventually a café-style morning counter with coffee, juices, and grab-and-go options.

JVB Architect is the architecture firm, with ICRAVE, a popular New York-based hospitality studio, which is doing its interiors. They’re planning to use natural materials, warm tones, and clean lines in the space. RCC Associates, which has built Parker Playhouse and Cuba Libre in Broward County, is managing construction.

Huizenga Park sits at 32 E. Las Olas Blvd., steps from the Riverwalk and a short walk from Fort Lauderdale’s Brightline station. (Therefore, it’s a quick, direct train ride from Miami.) The park finished a two-year renovation and reopened earlier this year, with Sweetwaters as its first major restaurant tenant.

“The New River is one of the most beautiful backdrops in Fort Lauderdale, and every decision we have made from the architecture to the menu to the energy of the space is designed to honor that,” said John Tallichet, President and CEO of Specialty Restaurants Corporation. “Sweetwaters will be a place that becomes part of people’s lives here, not just a destination for special occasions.”

Sweetwaters. 32 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale; sweetwatersrestaurant.com. Opening fall 2026.