Opening weekend at new Daiquiri Deck went just like the rest, despite weather

Despite the bad weather raining down over the restaurant with few walls, the owners say the first weekend at the new Daiquiri Deck location at the end of Stickney Point Road went just peachy.

The Sarasota County business opened its fourth location June 5, near the intersection at Midnight Pass Road, and owners Russell Matthes, Troy Syprett and Matthew Grover were not surprised by the turnout for the first weekend — they’ve done this once or twice or three times before.

On the restaurant’s first Saturday in business in south Siesta Key, they counted 550 checks — which the owners estimate was up to 1,500 people at the restaurant that day. They estimate that each day during the first week, somewhere between 850 and 1,500 people were at the restaurant, which met their expectations based on past openings.

Opening weekends are usually “very similar,” said Matthes, vice president of marketing, with the exception of the weather in the first week in June.

According to Syprett, the company president, after four months of construction in perfectly sunny weather, the rainy opening weekend posed a challenge for the group. But it didn’t seem to deter customers from attending, and the staff reacted well.

“It’s amazing how quickly things evolve under duress,” said Grover, vice president of operations.

Fortunately, having three other locations posed an opportunity to train staff before opening weekend, and a clear vinyl screen pulled down over the opening on the west wall of the dining room helped keep customers dry. Valet parking kept problems to a minimum downstairs, and smartphone apps to keep customers updated and a downstairs bar made wait times go by quickly during the first week.

Less than three miles from the original Daiquiri Deck in the Siesta Key Village, the new location services what the owners perceived as a new need in the community. They don’t expect the success of the south bridge location to take away from the business in the Village.

“Based on the traffic and whatnot in season… it’s getting increasingly challenging to get to the public beach and then all the way down to the Village from this end,” Grover said. Matthes agreed, adding there are plenty of locals and tourists at the south end of the Key.

“We’re not cannibalizing at all, we feel like, from our own business,” Matthes said.

Because the demand in these different communities is for a similar type of business — a family oriented restaurant that also serves alcohol and can accommodate late-night traffic — there isn’t much variation between the different restaurants beyond the architecture. Each restaurant features the same menu, the same service ideology and of course, the same daiquiri machines.

“Operationally, it’s the same,” Grover said, but “all of our stores are visually very different… we’re trying to evolve.”

The new location has more of a “Miami Beach” feel, Syprett said, based on the mid-century modern architecture. The deck hangs over parking and other businesses, and you could probably see the ocean from your table. At the St. Armand's location, the owners had to work with the location they were given, with few alterations to the exterior. And the original location, built in the Siesta Key Village in 1993, maintains more of a tropical vibe.

Matthes said the Village location is and always will be the busiest location, but he isn’t worried about the success of other locations.

“Our brand can travel,” he said.

As evidence of that, the owners are gearing up to break ground on yet another location — this time a little farther north.

Within eight to 12 weeks, they hope to begin construction on a new location on Bridge Street in Bradenton Beach.