LOVE22, a new-age bodega and tapas lounge, will open in the Deuces corridor of St. Petersburg on Juneteenth.

Restaurateur Melissa “Melly” Gardner’s latest concept will replace Lorene’s Fish House at 927 22nd St. S., following Lorene’s retirement in May after 32 years of business.

LOVE22 will feature a downstairs takeout counter, upstairs speakeasy and outdoor patio seating. On weekdays at the counter, customers can choose from fresh sandwiches, salads and juices, and comfort food, with a free cup of coffee. On Sundays, it’s soul food all day.

Providing customers with a choice between lighter and heavier meals was important to Gardner. She noted that there’s a health disparity between the Deuces and Pinellas County, according to 2024 data from the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg.

“I want to keep the legacy going, but we’re having a challenge of getting fresh things in the community,” Gardner said.

Lorene’s Fish House patrons have been asking Gardner on Facebook for staples from Lorene’s on the LOVE22 menu, especially the peanuts. Gardner will have a few items similar to Lorene’s, but she’s intent on changing it up.

“You’ll be able to get a shrimp basket or a chicken wing basket, but you could have a coleslaw with it, right? We’ve got to balance it out,” Gardner said.

LOVE22’s sandwich menu stands out, given that there’s no sandwich shop in the neighborhood corridor, which is south of downtown St. Petersburg along 22nd Street. The chicken Caesar wrap is a bite worth looking forward to, Gardner said. With anchovies and in-house brioche croutons and Caesar dressing, customers can choose between grilled or fried chicken, topped with shaved Parmesan. The Cuban will be another star — LOVE22 plans to smoke pork daily for the sandwich.

Customers craving a heartier meal can opt for a steak-and-cheese bomb. Salads include a Caesar from Coasis and cold seafood antipasto salads.

On the Sunday soul food menu, customers should anticipate pancakes with homemade maple butter and breakfast sandwiches on fresh croissants. People can eat indoors by the takeout counter or in the gated patio, which features a bar.

In the speakeasy lounge, they’ll servecocktails along with tapas. If you want a margarita with fresh lime juice, the bar will have it. The menu will pack “big punches with smaller portions” in a DJ-focused, swanky space. The color scheme is red and black — think plush couches, red curtains and red uplighting.

“When you walk in, you feel love, you feel sexy, you feel good about yourself,” Gardner said. “I feel like we need that.”

The name LOVE22 combines the 22nd Street corridor and love.

“I feel like the south side could use some love, peace, a space of belonging,” Gardner said. “I want people to come in this space and it feels like home.”

Gardner, who describes herself as a serial entrepreneur, started the well-known Three Generations food truck in St. Petersburg and Coasis in Tampa. Though she was born in Miami, St. Petersburg is Gardner’s hometown, and she promised herself her next endeavor would act as a return to her roots.

Gardner has never been nervous about serving upfood before, but she is this time. Though the St. Petersburg community knows Gardner well, the loss of Lorene’s Fish House is monumental and, for many, bittersweet.

Gardner wants to honor Lorene’s legacy by aiming for decades of business — and ownership of the space, which Lorene Office didn’t have. Gardner bought LOVE22’s lounge from the Brayboys, a Black couple in their 70s who own most of the businesses on 22nd Street, a few years ago. One day, she hopes to own the whole place.

In Gardner’s vision, the Deuces becomes a center of thriving black-owned businesses witha variety of food, cultures and communities, replacing the food deserts she’s observedin the area. The Brayboys, who Gardner calls her mentors, imagine the future Deuces as a place with bars, coffee shops, cocktails and eateries.

The Brayboys think she’s the one to bring that to the block, Gardner said. Lorene told her so, too: “You’re the one,” Gardner recalled.

LOVE22’s takeout counter will open June 19 at 11 a.m., and serve customers every day from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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