Franklin Andrade never would have established two Mexican restaurants in Southwest Florida had he not attended a friend\u2019s birthday party last year in Tallahassee.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A restaurant lease deal in Savannah, Georgia, had just fallen through for Andrade, who was looking to start his own restaurant after being a minority partner for 15 years with A\u00f1ejo Cocina Mexicana, a chain of 11 locations in the Jacksonville area.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Andrade had also been considering Hilton Head, South Carolina, as a possible location. But while visiting Tallahassee, he noticed he was across the street from Florida\u2019s Department of Economic Opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He decided to walk inside and ask where they would recommend opening a restaurant in the state. The answer: the Cape Coral\u2013Fort Myers area.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Clase Azul owner Franklin Andrade stands behind the bar of the new Fort Myers restaurant, which features handcrafted decor from Mexico.<\/p>\n
David Dorsey<\/p>\n
In January, Andrade finally had a place to call his own, when Clase Azul Modern Mexican Cuisine opened at 3922 Del Prado Blvd. S. in Cape Coral, with 35 employees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Oct. 7, the second and more expansive Clase Azul, with 7,200 square feet of space and 32 employees, opened at Gulf Coast Town Center in south Fort Myers, near Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods and in front of a fountain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Artwork from Guadalajara, Mexico, adorns the walls of Clase Azul Modern Mexican Cuisine in south Fort Myers.<\/p>\n
David Dorsey<\/p>\n
Cantina 109 previously occupied the space, often hosting college party nights because of its proximity to Florida Gulf Coast University. Andrade aims to transform it into a more upscale dining destination. He invested about $700,000 in renovations, adding new upholstery to the booths, new tops for the tables and bar, fresh paint, and authentic Mexican artwork from the Guadalajara region. The light fixtures were also handmade in Mexico.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The buildout took about four months, from June 1 until opening day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted more energy and for it to be more inviting,\u201d Andrade said of the bright colors replacing the dark ones. \u201cWe wanted to do something really nice here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Clase Azul\u2019s vibrant interior includes hand-painted art, new furnishings and lighting imported from Mexico.<\/p>\n
Clase Azul Modern Mexican Cuisine<\/p>\n
The son of a chef from Honduras and teacher from Mexico, Andrade was born in California and raised in each of his parents\u2019 native countries before he gravitated to the restaurant business and moved to Jacksonville.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very close,\u201d Andrade said of signing lease agreements in Savannah and Hilton Head.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In arriving to Cape Coral, Andrade had to convince his first new landlord of his capabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGive me one chance,\u201d Andrade told him. \u201cYou will see it. My concept\u2019s different.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The response: \u201cYou know what? Let\u2019s do it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The new Clase Azul Modern Mexican Cuisine offers a fine-dining menu of elevated Mexican dishes and cocktails crafted with fresh ingredients.<\/p>\n
Clase Azule Modern Mexican Cuisine<\/p>\n
Clase Azul, named for the top shelf brand of tequila, has an expansive menu, with enchiladas in the $18.50 range, to quesadillas ($17.50 to $22), steaks ($49.99 for a ribeye, $120 for a Tomahawk), seafood ($18.50 to $30.50), tacos and street tacos ($7.25 to $18.50) and Fajitas ($19.50 to $32.50).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Platos Fuertes, or main plates, range from $18.50 to $43. The higher-priced option, Mar y Tierra, features Angus steak, lobster tail and Yucatan shrimp, served with onion rings, queso, tomatillo salsa and cilantro rice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The new Clase Azul Modern Mexican Cuisine offers a fine-dining menu of elevated Mexican dishes and cocktails crafted with fresh ingredients.<\/p>\n
Clase Azul Modern Mexican Cuisine<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fine dining with elevated drinks and food,\u201d Andrade said. \u201cIt\u2019s an authentic Mexican concept. Everything is fresh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been 20 years of working for somebody else, doing a lot of work. Working in the kitchen. Working in the bar. Working in serving. Doing all the positions in the industry. Finally, we have a reward.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Franklin Andrade never would have established two Mexican restaurants in Southwest Florida had he not attended a friend\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15881,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[13594,209,211,210,13591,13593,13592,7586],"class_list":{"0":"post-15880","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cape-coral","8":"tag-authentic-mexican","9":"tag-cape-coral","10":"tag-cape-coral-headlines","11":"tag-cape-coral-news","12":"tag-clase-azul","13":"tag-franklin-andrade","14":"tag-mexican-cuisine","15":"tag-restaurant-opening"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}