BackStreets’ $1.3 million renovation culmination of a two-year effort
BackStreets Sports Bar reopened a couple of months ago and it looks nothing like it did before.
The popular Cape Coral bar got a complete overhaul.
By the time the $1.3 million renovation was complete, owner Shelly Walton said the only original things left were two east and west walls.
The renovation has been in the works for the past two years. Walton really wanted to do it last year while the Streetscape was being finished. There was a tariff on steel and it was hard to get, so she waited.
The Streetscape is a $13.1 million city project to revamp Southeast 47th Terrace.
“We did a good business and we were running out of a way to do good business,” Walton said. “It was becoming hard to keep up with the current floor plan and kitchen that we had so we needed to update it to continue to do the business that we do.”
They tore the back room down and went with the middle of the restaurant and outside bar from May to July while construction went on everywhere else.
“We wanted it to be brand new with an old look to it,” Walton said. “Modern and retro.”
The current beige and deep, dark wood tones are not the same look and color scheme as before.
Not even a table base is the same.
“We just ran with what we had,” Walton said. “We had to accommodate for bands and Golden Tee machines and darts and pool so we had to do what we could.”
The full liquor bar features darts, pool, Golden Tee, poker, Buzztime, karaoke and live music.
BackStreets offers a full bar menu every day until 10 p.m., along with New York style pizza until 1 a.m.
Happy Hour is 4 to 6 p.m., Monday to Friday with ’round two’ on Tuesdays from 10 p.m. to midnight. There are also acoustic solos six days a week during NFL season, and there are seven solos out of season. Full bands play on the weekends and there is karaoke on the patio every night starting shortly after 9 p.m.
BackStreets also offers a complimentary limo service to and from the bar, starting each night at 6 p.m. It travels from South Cape Coral to Pine Island Road, and over the bridge to the McGregor area.
Some history:
* The Upper Deck opened in 1995 and in 1998; it changed its named to BackStreets Sports Bar.
* The outside bar and patio was added in 2007.
* Most recently, the building at 915 Southeast 47th Terrace was gutted and contractors redid the interior.
In addition to a new backroom, there’s a new kitchen, new walk-in refrigerator, new bathrooms, all new plumbing and all new electrical.
“We redid the entire thing,” Walton said.
She said so far customers seem to be really happy with the changes.
The bar was closed on July 29 and it reopened on Sept. 6.
During that time, Walton gave her employees the option of taking a vacation or working at the pop-up bar next door.
“I opened a pop-up bar next door. They had two years notice to take a vacation,” she said. “Some took a vacation and some stayed on at the pop-up bar. The kitchen guys just worked.”
Patrons may still smoke in the bar, and Walton says it’s “a billion percent better.
BackStreets got a new ventilation system and installed six smoke heaters.
“They are just phenomenal,” Walton said. “It’s a huge difference from what it was.”
BackStreets Sports Bar is at 915 S.E. 47th Terrace.