Baja-style Mexican restaurant Prima Cantina coming soon to St. Pete Beach
/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.
Tacos, Beans & Rice, Chips & Guacamole, and a Prima Margarita from Prima Cantina
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.”
Prima Cantina, LaBudde tells St. Pete Rising, will be more formal than a fast-casual restaurant but not a “fancy white tablecloth place either.”
“Like Matteo Trattoria & Pizzeria, we’ll be pretty authentic,” LaBudde says, “but slightly Americanized.”
For example, he adds, portion sizes will be larger than what you might expect at a similar restaurant, which should appeal to vacationing families. “And there won’t be any sticker shock,” LaBudde says.
The menu includes standards such as burritos, fajitas, and enchiladas, as well as a generous selection of salads and bowls, and 10 varieties of tacos. Customers can begin their meal with an appetizer such as Street Corn Esquites, Shrimp Ceviche, Chicken Albondigas Soup, or a Surf and Turf Roll, just to name a few options.
The Prima Margartia with Casamigos Blanco Tequila, agave nectar, and hand squeezed lime juice
Prices range from $7 for the street corn appetizer to $29 for Grilled Branzino, an entrée that consists of butterflied and de-boned fish grilled and served with a side of Roja salsa and a side of cilantro pesto and served with the customer’s choice of tortillas.
Prima Cantina will also feature a full bar, which will be fully stocked with ample varieties of tequila, LaBudde says.
“The tequila selection will be pretty broad,” he says. “We’re going to go above and beyond with different drink recipes and a whole slew of margaritas.”
Prima Cantina’s Sizzling Shrimp Fajitas Comes with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, bell peppers, garlic, salt, pepper, and warm flour tortillas.
The cocktail menu will feature selections like a Mezcal Mule, Tequila Sunrise, and Piccante, which contains Casamigos Blanco Tequila, muddled serrano chili peppers, agave nectar, and hand-squeezed lime juice.
The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner every day and including its large outdoor dining area, it will be able to seat up to 200 people. He’s not sure if it will offer live entertainment on weekends, but there’s been some discussion about staging a large Cinco de Mayo party in the parking lot.
“We have a giant parking lot,” he says, “and the timing works out well. We’ll open in March and then have a couple of months to become a well-oiled machine.”
For more information, check out Prima Cantina’s website and give them a follow on Facebook, and Instagram.
