An intimate wine bar is coming to downtown St. Petersburg in May, when the Cork Room is set to open on the ground floor of 357 5th Street South, a five-story, 25-unit apartment building that opened last year.

The $5 million development featured one retail space on the corner 5th Street and 4th Avenue South which was provided a perfect space for a small wine bar. Owner John Harr previously opened The Cork Room on Davis Islands in Tampa. Harr says the St. Pete version will be similar in many ways.

Cane & Barrel, downtown St. Petersburg’s newest rooftop bar and cocktail lounge, is now open atop the 172-key AC Hotel by Marriott at 110 2nd Street North.

Located on the eighth floor of the hotel, Cane & Barrel’s décor will feature a Cuban heritage theme created by California-based Ellis Adams Group. It will have a 1,000-square-foot interior lounge and bar along in addition to a 1,900-square-foot rooftop terrace, which will include a second bar.

St. Pete Beach’s Dockside Grill & Bar, located at 4945 Gulf Boulevard, has been sold and will reopen in the first or second week of March as Prima Cantina, a Mexican restaurant with two other locations in Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades, California.

The new owners are a group led by Nando Silvestri, who is a partner in Prima Cantina’s California locations in addition to owner of Matteo Trattoria & Pizzeria in St. Pete and Tampa; Kevin Wojtowicz, a partner in Buya Ramen; and Jon LaBudde, a longtime St. Petersburg restaurateur, investor, promoter, and commercial real estate broker who’s been involved in a litany of local food and beverage concepts over the years.

According to their website, Prima Cantina’s menu “blends elements of the deep culinary heritage of mainland Mexico with the lighter, ocean-inspired, unique coastal cooking of the Baja peninsula, fused with the natural, produce-driven approach of California cuisine.”

A sushi restaurant that specializes in plant-based vegan options is making the move to 1990 Central Avenue, across the street from the Imagine Museum in St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District. Jenna Malowany of KW Commercial represented the landlord and Danielle Cash of Somerday Group represented the tenant in the lease transaction.

House of Vegano is currently located at 655 31st Street South, where it shared space with The Body Electric Athletic Company, which shut its doors at the end of 2022. The current location will continue to serve diners until the new Central Avenue spot debuts at the end of the year.

Owner Thalia Tatham opened the sushi bar’s first brick-and-mortar location in March 2022 after initially selling food exclusively at markets and festivals and even delivering orders directly to customers’ homes.