"I'm going to open a super high-end restaurant like I have in Monaco," Stefano Frittella told Gulfshore Business in October 2025, describing the project he's building at 472 Fifth Ave. S. Frittella already owns four restaurants on that same block: Bice, Caffè Milano, La Trattoria and Vergina. Avenue 31 would be his fifth restaurant there.
If you eat on Fifth Avenue South with any regularity, that distinction matters more than the headline. The project is one example of an established operator adding another restaurant downtown.
A New Restaurant From an Established Fifth Avenue Operator
The Naples Design Review Board voted unanimously on Oct. 22, 2025, to approve a three-story, mixed-use building at 472 Fifth Ave. S., replacing the single-story space that has housed La Pescheria since December 2018. The new building will sit between Del Mar and Osteria Tulia, two of the avenue's better-known dinner reservations, and will carry two floors of condominiums above the restaurant. It's designed by Naples-based MHK Architecture.
The project will replace the La Pescheria space with Avenue 31. He's been a fixture on Fifth Avenue South for years. Avenue 31 would add another restaurant from Frittella to a block where he already owns four restaurants.
For diners, the planned restaurant adds another option to Fifth Avenue South's dining mix.
More Casual Restaurants Are Joining the Avenue
At the same time Frittella is building upward, a different kind of restaurant has been landing on the same street at a lower price point. Barrio Taqueria opened in February 2026, serving esquites, empanadas and birria tacos from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. All Too Well Gourmet Sandwiches, a Chicago import from chef Mitchell Jamra, launched Feb. 12, 2026, on the corner of Fifth Avenue South and Eighth Street South. A block over on Park Street, a small Argentinian concept called Tiny Kitchen opened earlier this year, serving street food from a compact storefront.
These openings add more casual options alongside Bice and Vergina. Meg Stepanian, executive director of the Fifth Avenue South Business Improvement District, said in Gulfshore Business: "We're seeing the thoughtful evolution of Naples' iconic Fifth Avenue South, known for its elegance and world-class hospitality." The openings add casual dining options to the avenue alongside its more formal restaurants.
The street is seeing both a new restaurant from a long-tenured operator and newer casual dining options. Together, these openings add to the range of dining options in the downtown area.
Third Street South Is Growing a Different Way Entirely
In the adjacent historic district, Third Street South, the newest addition to the downtown dining rotation didn't come from a restaurant operator at all. It came from a hotel developer. The Olde Naples Hotel opened its first building on May 15, 2026, at 200 Broad Ave., between Third Street South and Gordon Drive, after more than a decade in development. Fifty of its planned 109 rooms opened that day, with the remaining rooms expected to open by the end of summer 2026.
The hotel's restaurant, Annie's Bistro, Bar & Bakery, seats 222 people and is open to the public, not just hotel guests. It shifts formats through the day, starting with espresso and pastries in the morning and moving into a full American menu by evening. General manager Laura Radler told Naples Press: "Old Naples has always had a strong sense of place." The murals inside, painted by local artist Janine Wesselmann, and the piano near the bar are meant to signal that this isn't a hotel restaurant treating locals as an afterthought.
The projects differ in their settings: Frittella's is a restaurant addition on Fifth Avenue South, while Annie's is part of a 109-room hotel. Annie's is adding real seats to downtown's dinner rotation this year.
The Same Pattern Showed Up a Few Miles North
The story of established operators adding new restaurant concepts isn't confined to one street. Papa Joe's Trattoria opened June 17, 2026, in the longtime home of Zen Asian BBQ in Naples Park, several miles north of downtown. The Brooklyn-style Italian concept came from Giuseppe "Papa Joe" Maffei, but the space itself is still controlled by Zen's original owner, Mike Cardascia, who partnered with Maffei for the restaurant.
"Our goal is to bring the flavors, hospitality and traditions of Brooklyn's Italian neighborhoods to Naples," Maffei told Gulfshore Business when the restaurant opened. The concept is new to the address, but the ownership behind it isn't new to the neighborhood. The arrangement, like Avenue 31, connects a new restaurant concept with an operator already associated with the location.
What This Actually Changes If You Already Live Here
None of this requires you to do anything differently tonight, but it does change what to expect from the next twelve months downtown.
- Avenue 31 hasn't broken ground as of this writing, so don't expect a table there this year. When it opens, expect Frittella's usual register: polished, not casual, priced like the other four restaurants he already runs on that block.
- Barrio Taqueria and All Too Well are built for the nights you don't want to make a reservation. Together, Barrio Taqueria and All Too Well offer casual alternatives to the avenue's more formal dinner spots.
- Annie's Bistro is worth trying because it is open to the public, not just hotel guests. A 222-seat restaurant with a bar and a piano, open to the public from breakfast through dinner, adds a dining option to Third Street South.
- Papa Joe's is a genuine detour if you're already in Naples Park, not a destination that requires planning a special trip. But if you've had dinner at Zen in the past, the space itself will be unrecognizable.
Downtown Naples is adding restaurants from both established operators and newer concepts. For diners, this fall brings a mix of established dining spots and newer casual options.
If you're weighing what it would mean to live closer to this corridor, or you're already here and thinking about what a move within Naples might look like, Amy Nease has spent years watching how neighborhoods like this one evolve block by block. Request a private consultation when you're ready to talk specifics.
