Frenchy's to expand into south beach

The restaurant group has a deal to buy Julie's Seafood and Sunsets on Gulfview Boulevard.

By JENNIFER FARRELL, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published December 28, 2002

CLEARWATER -- Michael "Frenchy" Preston is expanding his string of beach restaurants to include a new location on the south end of Clearwater Beach.

If all goes his way, south beach tourists won't have to trek north through the roundabout for the grouper sandwiches featured at his three north beach restaurants.

"We think it's a great location," Preston said Thursday during a phone interview from British Columbia. "There's a market there with all the hotels that we don't get to."

Preston, 51, has signed a deal to buy Julie's Seafood and Sunsets, at 351 Gulfview Blvd. The takeover is scheduled on New Year's Eve, with a conversion to "Frenchy's South Beach Cafe," to follow by February.

"We're going to run it as is for about a month or so," said Preston.

He plans to keep some menu choices from Julie's and add liquor to the service bar, which currently offers beer and wine.

Preston said the new restaurant will let him take advantage of the city's planned redesign of Gulfview Boulevard from Pier 60, near the roundabout, south to the Adams Mark Hotel.

Known as Beach Walk, the plan includes a meandering sidewalk and road system enhanced with landscaping and designated areas for pedestrians and bike riders. As planned, it will run right by Frenchy's new front door.

"Hopefully, we'll be involved in that," said Preston. "We'll have a location that's going to cater to that."

Preston, who grew up in Quebec, opened Frenchy's Cafe in 1981, then added Frenchy's Saltwater Cafe and Frenchy's Rockaway Grill, all within a half-mile of each other on north beach.

Julie's owner Julie Nichols is selling the restaurant just shy of its 20-year anniversary. Nichols opened Julie's in February 1982 and ran it with help from her husband, Andy.

The couple, who also owned two former motels on the beach, the Flamingo and the Angler, have retired to Palm Island and plan to spend half the year on their sailboat.

"The timing is right," said Nichols.

-- Jennifer Farrell can be reached at 445-4160 or farrell@sptimes.com ">farrell@sptimes.com .

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