The restaurant that was always part of the plan for Huizenga Park is now serving. Sweetwaters, at 58 E. Las Olas Blvd. on the New River in downtown Fort Lauderdale, has opened its reservation book and is running dinner seven nights a week, with breakfast and lunch to follow later.

Where it is

Sweetwaters sits inside Huizenga Park, the 3.6-acre riverfront green at Las Olas Boulevard and Andrews Avenue. The park reopened earlier this year after a two-year, $15 million transformation, and the restaurant was the last major piece still to come. The park itself now has downtown's first enclosed off-leash dog run, known as The Dog Spot, a children's play area called Poppy's Play Patch, and the restored Spirit of Fort Lauderdale Fountain, a gift from the Huizenga family.

The restaurant describes its building as bright, with high ceilings and indoor and outdoor spaces that open straight onto the park landscaping, with views of the river from the dining room.

What is on the menu

The kitchen pairs South Florida seafood with flavors from elsewhere, and the opening menu runs from a raw bar to steaks. A few of the posted prices:

  • Raw bar: East and West Coast oysters at $18 a half dozen or $34 a dozen, a colossal shrimp cocktail at $21, yellowfin tuna crudo with mango and tangerine at $18, and Florida stone crab at market price now that the season is open.
  • Towers: a Grand Seafood Tower with oysters, shrimp, mussels, clams, tuna tartare, crab salad and half a Maine lobster for $98, an Imperial version with a whole lobster for $170, and a Chef's Sushi Tower for $125.
  • Sushi: rolls from $16 to $19, plus nigiri at $12 and sashimi at $10 for two pieces.
  • Mains: whole crispy local snapper with coconut-cilantro rice for $46, miso-glazed Chilean sea bass for $48, lobster spaghetti for $59 and a whole grilled branzino for $59.
  • Steaks: an 8-ounce Black Angus skirt steak for $42, a 14-ounce New York strip for $54, an 8-ounce filet mignon for $59, a four-cut Steak Progressive for $130 and a 36-ounce wagyu tomahawk for $150.
  • For the table: a tableside Caesar for $30 and spicy rigatoni with burrata at $26 for one or $48 for the table.

Separate cocktail, dessert, happy hour and daily specials menus are posted on the restaurant's site, along with a Pup Club menu, a nod to the dog run a few steps away.

Happy hour

Happy hour runs Monday through Friday from 4 to 6:30 p.m., with cocktails, wine and small plates.

Events

The restaurant is also booking private events, from small dinners to large group gatherings, through an inquiry form on its website.

How to go

Address: 58 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301, inside Huizenga Park.
Hours: Sunday through Thursday 4 to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 4 to 11 p.m.
Phone: (954) 231-7777.
Reservations: through the Book Now link on the restaurant's website.

Breakfast and lunch service are planned but have no start date yet, so for now Sweetwaters is a dinner and happy hour stop. The park around it is open to everyone, with or without a table booked.

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