In mid-June, Fishermen's Village was quiet. The Charlotte Sun described a golf cart driver making rounds along the marina side looking for riders, and the bagpipers who pipe the sun down each week were at half their seasonal strength. At the end of the pier, the spaces that had held Harpoon Harry's and Captain's Table were still under construction.
Four months later, every restaurant space in the Village is filled again. All four new arrivals face the harbor, and one has a dock you can tie up to. The part of the Village that hasn't come back yet is the marina, and the new owners have put it at the top of their list.
How the empty end of the pier filled back up
The gap lasted longer than most people expected. Harpoon Harry's and Captain's Table closed after lease negotiations fell through, and the Sun counted Hurricane Charley's as a third waterfront hangout the town had lost. Here's the order things came back in:
- New Year's Day 2026 was the reopening target set by the first ownership team for the two flagship spaces. That date came and went.
- February 5 is when The Islands Kitchen & Cocktail House fully reopened. Its New Year's Eve launch had been held up by permitting.
- January through June, Tidewater Hospitality Group rebuilt the former Harpoon Harry's and Captain's Table spaces.
- The Fourth of July is when Latitude 26° opened upstairs.
- Football season is when Castaways opened downstairs, behind schedule.
- September 1 is when Leroy's Fish Shack opened at 11 a.m., after more than two years of anticipation.
The rebuild went much deeper than new paint. Tidewater is a partnership of Lew Bennett and Michael Landsberg of Punta Gorda's Landsberg Bennett Private Wealth Management, with Dave Beers as COO. According to the Sun's June report, the old restaurants were gutted to the studs. The cut glass, portholes and captain's chairs came out, the baby grand was rolled away, and the buildings got all-new kitchens, restrooms, plumbing, HVAC and electrical systems. Beers told the paper construction didn't start until January because of the problems the architects and engineers found. "Once we started rebuilding, we got here in about six months," he said.
Castaways ran into one more problem. The Sun reported that its ceiling, which supports Latitude 26° upstairs, couldn't carry as much weight as hoped. It had to be reinforced with steel cross-beams before the downstairs could open, so the planned two-week gap after Latitude stretched into late summer.
Four kitchens, all facing the harbor
By February, the Sun had confirmed the four additions as The Islands, Latitude 26°, Castaways and Leroy's Fish Shack, and reported that the Village had reached full retail and restaurant occupancy. All four are now open.
| Restaurant | Where in the Village | What it is | Opened |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Islands Kitchen & Cocktail House | In the restaurant lineup | Kitchen and cocktail house | Fully reopened Feb. 5 |
| Latitude 26° | Upstairs, former Captain's Table/Harpoon Harry's building | Elevated-casual seafood and steaks, craft cocktails, harbor views | By the Fourth of July |
| Castaways | Downstairs, same building | Dockside open-air bar and grill, 430 seats | Late summer |
| Leroy's Fish Shack | Units J33–35, former Village Fish Market | "Boats to table" local fish | Sept. 1 |
Castaways was designed around the water. The Sun's description lists 25 TVs, live music, a 40-seat wraparound bar pouring 10 draft beers, and frozen drink tanks for quick margaritas and rum punch. A new bar now sits where the original deck bar was. The bigger change is the 200-foot dock, where boaters can pull up to order food or tie up and come inside. Multilevel seating gives every table a 180-degree view of the water and the sunset, and the Village's sand beach stays open for sunset hour and cornhole. Beers summed it up for the Sun.
"It's all about the water."
Castaways' own site lists hours of 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The restaurant's phone number is 941-844-1720, and the address is the Village's, 1200 W. Retta Esplanade.
Upstairs, Latitude 26° offers the quieter version of the same view. It serves steaks, chops, seafood and craft cocktails, and lunch runs until 4 p.m. Before opening, the restaurant gave the Sun its expected hours, but no current listing confirms them, so check before you plan a late dinner there.
Leroy's Fish Shack has the most direct tie to the water. Owners Lee and Jamie Richardson and Mike and Keeley Wright built it around locally caught fish, Gulfshore Business reported. The menu leans heavily on seafood, with catch of the day, grouper, paella and fried baskets, plus a few dishes for people who don't eat fish. The Sun's opening coverage described the restaurant as a tribute to Punta Gorda fishermen past and present, its owners among them. Lee Richardson caught a 46-inch, 65-pound grouper off Boca Grande. On the plate, catch of the day might be red grouper, lightly breaded and fried in tallow, served with redskin potatoes, house tartar sauce and peppery slaw. It opens at 11 a.m. Published closing times differ between sources, so call ahead on a weeknight.
The new owners say the marina comes first
The restaurants reopened over the same months the Village itself was being sold. On July 22, 2026, Harborview Capital Group and Torose Equities bought Fishermen's Village for $43 million, according to Gulfshore Business. The announcement followed on July 23. The Sun reported that the purchase went through a court-supervised receivership process. Harborview's co-founders have long local ties. Anthony Dubbaneh has lived in his Punta Gorda home since 1990, and Ankur Patel is a Punta Gorda native.
The buyers' announcement described a property with fully leased retail space and a substantially damaged marina that needs to be rebuilt. The first item on the owners' list of immediate priorities was restoring the marina to full operation. Improving hotel operations and guest amenities, supporting existing merchants and marina tenants, and preserving the waterfront character followed. WINK News also reported that rebuilding the marina was the new owners' first big priority, and that more improvements and events were expected.
The Sun noted that hurricanes in 2022 and 2024 badly damaged parts of the property. The docks around the restaurants have been restored, which is how Castaways can offer dock-up dining. The full marina is a separate, larger project. As of this month, there's no public construction schedule for it. Nothing from September or early October has updated the timeline, so for now the restaurants' water views look out on a marina that still needs rebuilding.
The holiday season is the next big test
The Village's 2026 events calendar is the first holiday season the full restaurant lineup and the new owners will work through together. Coming up:
- November 14: Holiday Lighting of the Village
- November 15 through December 31: Holiday Festival of Lights
- December 1 through 31: Lighted Canal Cruises
- December 20: Christian Holiday Concert
- December 31: New Year's Eve celebration and fireworks
The calendar is a live page, so check the date you want before you go. If you'd rather watch the fireworks from a deck than from the sand, Castaways' dock and Latitude 26°'s upstairs view are new options this year.
If the new owners' plans for the marina have you thinking about Punta Gorda's waterfront, from canal homes with dock access to condos near the harbor, I'm happy to talk it through without any pressure. Jill Baldwin works with neighbors and newcomers across Punta Gorda and can share what's happening along the harbor as the marina work moves forward. Let's Connect.
