Remember Dania Beach Grill? See beach eatery's transformation into Lucky Fish Beach Bar + Grill

Yahoo

21-03-2025

Remember the landmark oceanfront shack Dania Beach Grill? Six years after city officials declared it 'structurally unsafe,' the restaurant has been overhauled and reborn as Lucky Fish Beach Bar + Grill.
The new seafood-centric eatery, which marked its grand opening on Monday, comes from the Moshakos family — Lou Moshakos, wife Joy and daughter Amber — whose LM Restaurants group (Oceanic, Two Georges at The Cove) spent 3 1/2 years on the project.
Consider it a sister to the Lucky Fish in Pompano Beach, the beachy seafood sit-down north of Atlantic Boulevard, with a near-identical menu that leans flip-flop-and-board-shorts casual, featuring everything from smoked fish dip and tuna poke nachos to mahi-mahi handhelds and Key lime pie.
Its footprint on the northern patch of Frank C. 'Tootie' Adler Park is sprawling, including a 6,000-square-foot dining room, 4,000-square-foot tiki bar pavilion, and a 1,721-square-foot patio deck with a covered live-music bandstand as its centerpiece.
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The buildout — right on North Beach Road's loop, overlooking sea grapes and beach sand — proved to be time-consuming, but that's only one reason this Lucky Fish took so long to open, says LM founder Lou Moshakos.
Here's another reason: Built with steel, concrete, aluminum and stainless steel, the sleekly modern restaurant is higher off the ground than the weathered beach hangout it replaced. Its kitchen is 17.5 feet above sea level, while the dining room is 12, to comply with modern beach building codes, plus it has an elevator for mobility-challenged diners. It's also equipped with sea turtle-friendly beach lighting, the result of many months and back-and-forth with Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, Moshakos says.
'This one required special care,' Moshakos says. 'Even though the old [Dania Beach Grill] building is gone, the connection is still there, still vibrant. It's amazing how many people over the past 14 months have stopped by and told me their connections to this space.'
A fan-favorite hangout for 75 years, Dania Beach Grill was condemned in April 2019, racking up a trove of code violations at the time, which included damaged and corroded awnings, broken walls and plywood beams, rotten wood and exposed wires.
It wasn't until November 2021 that LM Restaurants won a competitive bid to revive the watering hole. Bulldozers eventually demolished it the following August.
'The conditions by the sea were very harsh on the old plywood over the decades,' says Amber Moshakos, president of LM Restaurants, which is headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., and runs 34 restaurants in the southeastern United States. 'The older building created an opportunity for us to reimagine what the restaurant could be. We wanted to limit our impacts to the environment, since we're so close to the water.'
During the buildout, special attention was paid to filling Lucky Fish with thoughtful callbacks to Dania Beach Grill, adds cofounder Joy Moshakos. In progress are wall displays of memorabilia, including old signs and photos of bygone regulars and servers.
'We really tried to recreate the old vibe, because it was truly a landmark that meant a lot to the old Dania Beach community here,' she says.
Dania Beach Commissioner AJ Ryan clocked one of those callbacks right away during a soft-opening visit last weekend. On the grass beside the front-entrance sidewalk is a relocated plaque dedicated to the five founders of the Dania Beach Improvement Committee, framed by five new palm trees. The group has beautified the beach since 1964.
'My great-grandfather AJ Ryan Sr. was a founder, so I'm very grateful the new owners honored the past,' says Ryan, who has been visiting Dania Beach Grill since age 7.
Lou Moshakos says he's heard similar fond memories from customers since construction began.
'I just met one couple today and they told me they met 10 years ago across the street on the beach and hung out at the old Grill,' he says. 'Now they're married with a child. This place — it's full of memories.'
It's also full of seafood and tiki cocktails. There are 20 signature drinks including frozen margaritas and strawberry daiquiris, bloody marys and white peach sangria.
Entrees include beer-battered North Atlantic haddock and chips; grilled salmon with sesame soy rice, mushrooms, peppers and green onions; grilled swordfish in a beurre blanc reduction; and a Lucky Fish Bowl with choice of protein, island rice, black beans, avocado crema, corn and pico de gallo. Non-seafood lovers also have options, including a shaved ribeye cheesesteak sub, buttermilk-brined crispy chicken sandwich and Angus smash burgers.
For dessert, there are ice-cream sandwiches as well as deep-fried and double-stuffed Oreos in vanilla sauce.
What about those $2 beers, Chicago-style hot dogs and conch fritters that were perennial fixtures of the 75-year-old neighborhood Dania Beach Grill? Fans will have to make do with Lucky Fish's own versions, including New York-style Nathan's hot dogs and Killer Conch Fritters with lemon and two dipping sauces.
Along with a 3-6 p.m. weekday happy hour, Lucky Fish has scheduled live acts performing island music with steel drums from 6 to 9 p.m. daily.
Says Lou Moshakos: 'It's like a Jimmy Buffett paradise every day of the week, trust me.'
Lucky Fish Beach Bar + Grill is at 65 N. Beach Road, Dania Beach. Visit LuckyFishBeachBar.com or call 754-221-0182.