New fine-dining steak, seafood restaurant coming to Bell Tower in Fort Myers in 2024

Add The Capital Grille to the growing list of dining options at Bell Tower in south Fort Myers. But you’ll have to wait a bit.

It was recently announced the fine-dining restaurant will open in late summer of 2024 near Jared The Galleria of Jewelry along Daniels Parkway. That’s the site of the now-demolished Mimi’s Café which closed in February 2021.

“The addition of a coveted restaurant like The Capital Grille is yet another way in which Bell Tower is becoming one of Fort Myers’ top day-to-night destinations,” Jim Brennan, general manager for the shopping center, said in a news release.

The Capital Grille is known for its steaks — dry-aged for 18 to 24 days and hand-carved in the restaurant — and for its fresh seafood and extensive wine list, offering more than 350 selections. Wine Spectator has honored the restaurant with an Award of Excellence for the breadth and depth of that wine list.

Two restaurants have debuted in Bell Tower in recent months. After La Ola in Times Square on Fort Myers Beach was destroyed by Hurricane Ian, owner Tom Houghton opened a second location next to Blue Pointe and Grimaldi’s in June.

“There’s a lot of opportunity here,” Houghton, who has reopened the beach location with a creative use of shipping containers and decks, said at the time. “Like being in the center of the courtyard again. And I love the fact there are so many other restaurants. There’s a lot of momentum going on here.”

In August, Meagan and Tom McGregor launched McGregor’s Public House in the former World of Beer space.

“When the leasing agent said they were trying to find a tenant for the WOB space, our eyes lit up,” Meagan said.

The couple also plan on expanding into the unit behind McGregor’s which once housed Cache.

“We will have the entire breezeway area,” Meagan said. “The grand, grand opening will be when we have one complete space.”

Other Bell Tower dining options include Burntwood Tavern, Cantina Laredo, DaRuMa, Dave & Busters and Ice Spot.

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“Over the past couple of years, Bell Tower has been completely re-imagined,” Brennan said in the release. “Today, it is a place where area residents and visitors come to rediscover the art of shopping and the delight of dining. The addition of The Capital Grille further embodies these changes and will be a welcome addition to the center’s inviting offering of dining options.”

The Capital Grille has 10 locations in Florida, including one at The Mercato in North Naples since 2008.

Robyn George is a food and dining writer for The Fort Myers News-Press. Send news to rhgeorge@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Capital Grille is under construction at Bell Tower in south Fort Myers