Beverage Underground has your hook-up to win a Gift Certificate for Triple Lindy’s, Homewreckers, Funkmeisters, an Art Vandalay or anything that’s on the Moe’s Southwest Grill menu. Just register by clicking the green tab on the homepage at BeverageUnderground.com and you’ll be entered in the drawing for the free $50 gift card. Registration ends March 1st and no purchase is required.

Sure we hear things…count on Beverage Underground to have a buzz-on the comings and goings in Southwest Florida. Those that aren’t in Downtown Fort Myers may not realize that the nightclub Venu has closed and sold their rights to the property which will allow for the anticipated arrival of the Red Rock Saloon to Downtown Fort Myers. The Red Rock will be a restaurant as well as a saloon and we’ll have more on this in the coming days and weeks. Venu was owned and operated by Ryan Sherry a former promoter that always threw a great party at Venu and with his recent opportunity to move comes the announcement of Voda

One of Haiti’s abundant resources is the quality sugarcane that grows in the fields of the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac, and indirectly that sugarcane creates 20,000 jobs in the region. Since 1862, the rhums distilled by the company Societe du Rhum Barbancourt have been a source of great pride and revenue to many families. While the “damage to the distillery was very light,” Jim Nikola senior VP of Crillon Importers, says almost every one of the 250 distillery employees lost their homes in the quake. “They’ve lost everything, and they are doing all they can to support each other”, added Nikola. Everyone knows the sale of Haitian Rhums will help bring awareness and revenue back to the island

Why is it we feel compelled to eat our way through Super Bowl Sunday?

Was Thanksgiving and Christmas so long ago that we desperately need this? I mean it has been a whole five weeks since New Year’s… are we in such dire straits that we must gorge ourselves and we must do so now? Except for Thanksgiving, more food and drink is consumed in America on Super Sunday than any other day of the year. Considering how fat we are (as a nation), that’s a WOW!

Super Sunday is also where many dreams go to die.

Here’s the latest heard over the bar, down the grapevine and all around the underground…’Skinny Mixes’ are coming to Bistro 41, Minnesota Viking Head Coach Brad Childress has breakfast in Bonita… Groove Street is serving up a TunaFish Party on Tuesday Nights…and we’re raising a glass for an “In the Biz” wedding! All these stories are on the street and heard all around the Underground at the end of January in Twenty-ten.

Ft Myers

November 2008-January 2010

It was pretty brave taking on the 13,000 square foot monster formerly known as Dwyers, but Rob DeGennaro’s Icabod’s theme was a big hit and packed them in last season. Although the 364-seat restaurant that featured a giant menu, live music and a troll theme held its popularity, the rent loomed large and Icabod’s abruptly closed on January 23.

Over the next several years, a return to growing, harvesting and exporting Haitian Bleu the flagship product of Haiti’s coffee industry could help rebuild their economy.A renewed demand for Haitian Bleu Coffee will be a huge incentive for farmers to return to their fields to continue to produce this high quality Arabica coffee that may rival the world’s best in years to come. Help this effort by buying coffee or donating to providing seedlings directly to farmers at www.singingrooster.org

Word has been flying around the Underground that Rob De Gennaro has decided to close the doors on Ichabod’s. This was only the second season for the business that opened in the Irish Castle formerly built and operated by the Dwyers.

Looks like the home of the NFL Miami Dolphins, the ‘Stadium formerly known as Joe Robbie’ will get another new name change… just in time for the Super Bowl.

The deal they had with Land Shark Lager, the Anheuser-Busch beer licensed by Jimmy Buffet expired at the final whistle blow of the Orange Bowl. Canadian-based Sun Life Financial has

Almost 40 years ago, Randy Ullom turned a sabbatical ski trip to Chile into a Ohio State University degree in Viticulture and Enology. But as the new decade begins, Ullom is truly one of the giants in the business and since March of 1997, Randy Ullom has had one the wine industry’s most prestigious and respected position as Winemaster for Kendall-Jackson Winery. Randy Ullom and owner Jess Jackson

Popularity of Flavored Coffees, Exotic Teas and Vegetable Vodkas Create Endless Hot Elixir Options and Ideas

It’s cold everywhere…and bar sales of coffee, tea and even soup rise naturally as warmth equals comfort. On the homefronts, brandy and rum get poured into nogs and grogs and ciders get spiked with smokey scotches and hearty whiskeys this time of year. The medicinal benefits of the mix of alcohol and hot beverages

Hospitality Business pops in Bonita and Naples and lights up the New Year!

At least 7 restaurants have opened or are getting ready to re-open from Bonita Beach Road to Naples, and while the gloomy outlook of the local newspapers remind us how bad it is, hospitality employees are working, earning and spending to make dining out in Southwest Florida better.
In Naples just north of the Coastland Mall, Master Chef Richard Amador is