RESTAURANT CONSTRUCTION · FORT MYERS, FL

Restaurant Construction in Fort Myers, FL

Your licensed design-build team for restaurant construction across Southwest Florida since 2006, all under Florida General Contractor license CGC1512714. Ground-up restaurants. Kitchen build-outs. Casual to fine dining. One team. One contract. Every permit department coordinated in-house.

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Call us at 239-895-2058 or fill out the form. We respond within one business day.

LICENSED GC · CGC1512714

18+ YEARS IN SW FLORIDA

3-YEAR WORKMANSHIP WARRANTY

DESIGN-BUILD UNDER ONE ROOF

LOCALLY OWNED & OPERATED

BUILT FOR SOUTHWEST FLORIDA · FORT MYERS, FL

Why Restaurant Construction in Fort Myers Is Different

Restaurant construction is the most permit-intensive commercial work in Florida. A single restaurant project pulls building permits, health department review, fire marshal sign-off, mechanical permits for hood and ventilation systems, plumbing permits for grease traps and three-compartment sinks, and electrical permits for kitchen equipment. Any one of those departments can hold up your opening date. A contractor who knows every department in Lee County and Collier County by name saves weeks of friction.

Restaurant work also runs on opening dates that determine whether the business survives. Most independent restaurants run on tight capital. Lease costs pile up the moment the lease starts. Pre-opening payroll for kitchen training, marketing spend for grand opening, and inventory purchases all happen before the first dollar of revenue comes in. A delayed opening can sink a concept before service even starts. The right restaurant contractor delivers on the date the contract says, full stop.

Tri-Town has held Florida General Contractor license CGC1512714 since 2006, running commercial construction projects across Lee County and Collier County. Our in-house design team works alongside our project managers in the same office, so the kitchen layout that fits your menu and the front-of-house that fits your concept are the same designs that open on time.

From casual quick-service buildouts to ground-up fine dining destinations, we deliver a fixed written scope before any permit gets pulled. You will know the price, the plan, and the opening date up front. Every completed restaurant is backed by a 3-year workmanship warranty.

LICENSES & CREDENTIALS

Fully Licensed & Insured in Florida

CGC1512714

CCC1329614

MRSA729

MRSR829

HI3275

OPERATING SINCE

2006

Fort Myers, Southwest Florida

WHAT WE OFFER

Full-Scope Restaurant Construction Across Fort Myers

From shell-condition turnover to grand opening, every restaurant project is permitted and supervised under one general contractor license.

Kitchen Build-Outs

Full kitchen construction including hood and ventilation systems, fire suppression, grease traps, three-compartment sinks, FDA-compliant prep surfaces, equipment-grade electrical service, and walk-in cooler installation. Often runs as tenant improvements inside a shell-condition restaurant space with landlord-provided MEP stub-outs. Equipment vendor coordination handled under the same project schedule.

Front-of-House Design & Construction

Dining room layouts, bar construction, host stations, banquette seating, custom millwork, and concept-specific finishes. Acoustic design for noise control. Lighting design for ambiance and food presentation. Some scope shares trades and finish vendors with retail construction, which is where the per-job efficiency comes in when concept-specific design work crosses both disciplines.

Hood Ventilation & Fire Suppression

Type I exhaust hoods for cooking equipment, Type II hoods for dishwashing and steam, make-up air systems, and engineered fire suppression. Roof penetrations for hood exhaust and make-up air run through commercial roofing work in parallel with kitchen construction. Pre-engineered fire suppression systems coordinated with the local fire marshal review.

ADA Bathrooms & Service Areas

Restaurant bathroom counts and ADA accessibility requirements vary by occupancy load and gender separation rules. Bathroom layout, fixture counts, signage compliance, and accessible-route planning are all part of pre-construction. Service areas, employee break rooms, manager offices, and back-of-house storage planned around health department flow requirements (raw-to-cooked, clean-to-dirty separation).

Outdoor Dining & Patio Construction

Patios, decks, screened lanais, and outdoor bar areas. Coastal construction control line filings where applicable. Hurricane-rated structures for permanent outdoor cover. Heat lamps, ceiling fans, music infrastructure, and outdoor lighting are all part of the scope. Coordination with sidewalk café permits or municipal outdoor dining approvals where required.

Back-of-House & Staff Spaces

Manager offices, employee changing areas, break rooms, and dry storage all part of the build-out. Office portions of the back-of-house often share scope and finishes with office remodeling, with the same trades handling both areas during the build.

Why A Locally Established Design-Build Firm Beats An Out-of-Area Restaurant Builder Every Time

Restaurant operators in Southwest Florida face a specialized version of the storm-chaser problem. National restaurant construction firms parachute into the Fort Myers market for brand rollouts, run a build-out, then leave. Independent operators sometimes hire generalist commercial GCs who have never coordinated a health department review or a fire marshal hood inspection, and discover at week six that the contractor does not know the local department processes.

Three years later, plenty of restaurant spaces are still untangling. Hood inspections that failed and got re-engineered after equipment was already in place. Grease trap permits that never got pulled and required tearing out finished flooring. Fire suppression systems that were sized wrong and had to be redone before the certificate of occupancy. Opening dates that slipped by months.

Tri-Town has held Florida General Contractor license CGC1512714 since 2006 and has been running commercial projects in Fort Myers for almost two decades. We know the Lee County and Collier County health department reviewers, the fire marshals, the mechanical permit reviewers, and the building inspectors by name. We know which equipment manufacturers’ fire suppression systems get pre-approved fastest. We know how the local hood ventilation review process actually works.

That means when you sign a restaurant construction contract with Tri-Town, the warranty is backed by a contractor who is still answering the phone five years from now. The 3-year workmanship warranty covers labor and installation across every trade we supervised. The team that built it is the team that fixes it if something fails.

Why Choose Tri-Town Construction?

Plenty of contractors will bid on a restaurant. Fewer will hit the opening date they quoted on day one. Fewer still will honor the warranty two years after grand opening. Since 2006, we have built our reputation on one thing: finishing what we start, and standing behind it.

Locally Established Since 2006

Eighteen-plus years of commercial work in Fort Myers. We know the Lee County and Collier County health department reviewers, fire marshals, mechanical permit reviewers, and building inspectors across the region.

Architect & Builder Under One Roof

Most restaurant projects run through a separate architect, a separate kitchen design consultant, a separate GC, and separate trade vendors. Drawings cross multiple walls. Opening dates slip. Our in-house design team works inside the same office as our project managers, so the kitchen layout, dining room concept, and full project schedule all live in the same building.

Multi-Department Permit Coordination

Restaurant work pulls building, health, fire, mechanical, plumbing, and electrical permits, plus equipment manufacturer pre-approvals. We coordinate every department in-house under one project schedule. You do not chase any of it.

Opening-Date Discipline

Restaurant projects run on opening dates that determine whether the business survives. We build the project schedule backwards from your opening date, with floats built in for health and fire department reviews. If a date is at risk, you hear about it weeks before it becomes a problem, not the week of.

Fixed Scope Before You Sign

You will see a detailed scope of work and a fixed price before any demolition starts. The number on your contract is the number you pay. No surprise change orders show up halfway through, even when an inspector adds a requirement.

3-Year Workmanship Warranty

Every completed restaurant in Southwest Florida is backed by our 3-year workmanship warranty. This covers labor and installation across every trade we supervised, including hood and fire suppression installation. Manufacturer coverage on equipment stays separate.

PROCESS

Our Fort Myers Restaurant Construction Process

Five clear stages. No surprises. Every Southwest Florida restaurateur deserves to know exactly what happens with their build at each step.

Free Discovery Consultation

We visit your space, walk every square foot, and talk through your concept, menu, target opening date, and capital budget. Shell condition, existing electrical capacity, hood location feasibility, grease trap routing, ADA bathroom count, fire department requirements, and shopping center or landlord restrictions all get flagged right there. You leave with clear direction and zero pressure to sign.

Design & Pre-Construction

Our in-house design team translates your concept and menu into floor plans, elevations, kitchen layouts, and material selections. Equipment specifications, hood sizing, fire suppression engineering, finish selections, and MEP routing all get specified at this stage. Your fixed-price estimate covers every line of the build.

Multi-Department Permits & Procurement

We pull every required permit through Lee County or Collier County (building, health, fire, mechanical, plumbing, electrical) and submit equipment manufacturer pre-approvals where required. Long-lead items like custom hoods, walk-in coolers, specialty equipment, and millwork get ordered to your spec. Landlord work-letter coordination set up in advance.

Construction & Inspections

Demolition (if applicable), structural work, rough trades, hood and ventilation installation, grease trap install, drywall, finishes, equipment installation, and final cleanup all run on schedule. Your project manager sends a weekly progress update with photos. Health and fire department inspections coordinated mid-build to catch issues early, not at final.

Equipment Tie-In & Final Inspections

Equipment vendor coordination during install. Hood balancing and fire suppression commissioning. Health department final inspection. Fire marshal final inspection. Building department certificate of occupancy. All inspections coordinated by our team.

Grand Opening & 3-Year Warranty

Final punch list and walkthrough with you before grand opening. Your 3-year workmanship warranty activates at certificate of occupancy. Any defect in labor or installation inside that window gets fixed on our dime. We stay in regular contact during the first weeks of service to catch any post-opening issues.

Recent Restaurant Builds Across Southwest Florida

From casual quick-service buildouts to ground-up fine dining destinations across Lee and Collier County, every restaurant project is constructed under license CGC1512714 and to current FBC, health, and fire code standards.

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What Fort Myers Restaurateurs Say About Tri-Town Construction

We let our clients speak for us. Here is what restaurant operators and hospitality groups across Southwest Florida have said after their restaurants were complete.

“I highly recommend Tri-Town Construction! I am a local real estate professional, whenever one of my customers needs ANYTHING done to their home, Mike is my go-to guy! He always answers his phone and schedules a time to discuss the scope of the project — and his estimates are always very competitive. Tri-Town has completed several remodel projects for my customers and they all rave about his communication skills and quality of craftsmanship. If you have a home renovation project call Tri-Town Construction!”

Ronald A. | Real Estate Professional | Southwest Florida

“I completed a whole home remodel with an addition using Tri-Town. I could not be happier! The quality of workmanship, professionalism from each and every staff member and subcontractor, and turnkey beauty that was my end result is by far unsurpassed. It is breathtaking! We plan on using Tri-Town on our dream home build in the next couple of years — although now I hate to leave this gorgeous vacation home they gave us. Kudos to such an amazing company!”

Diane K. | Whole Home Remodel + Addition | Southwest Florida

“Highly recommend Tri-Town to complete your renovation project. They were professional, so reliable, patient with our many questions, and assured us that the project will be completed without any problems. Their pricing was so reasonable. They are a trustworthy company who puts customers first.”

Jennifer P. | Verified Client | Fort Myers, FL

Licensed, Insured & Industry-Recognized

Restaurant Construction Across Fort Myers, Lee County & All of Southwest Florida

Tri-Town Construction has been locally owned and operated in Fort Myers since 2006. Our team knows the Lee County and Collier County health department reviewers, fire marshals, mechanical permit reviewers, and building inspectors serving Southwest Florida. Whether your restaurant is on US-41, in a downtown core, on the waterfront, or in a regional dining destination, Tri-Town already knows the permit path your build will take.

Fort Myers
Fort Myers Beach
Estero Island
Sanibel
Bonita Springs
Estero
Cape Coral
Naples
Marco Island
Lee County
Collier County

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a restaurant build take in Southwest Florida?

Most restaurant builds in Southwest Florida run 4 to 8 months of construction time, with design, multi-department permitting, and equipment lead times adding another 4 to 8 months up front. Ground-up restaurants on raw land run longest. Conversions of existing restaurant spaces run shortest because some hood, grease trap, and electrical infrastructure can be reused. We deliver a full project schedule, backwards-planned from your opening date, the day you sign the contract.

How much does restaurant construction cost in Fort Myers?

Most restaurant builds in Fort Myers start around $200 per square foot for casual concepts with standard kitchen equipment, and run higher for fine dining with custom millwork, specialty equipment, and high-end finishes. Kitchen equipment, hood sizing, and concept-specific finishes drive most of the cost variation. Call us with your concept and target space, and we will give you a real ballpark.

Can you handle the kitchen design or do I need a separate kitchen consultant?

We can handle both, depending on your needs. For most casual and standard concepts, our in-house team handles the kitchen layout, equipment specification, and hood sizing alongside the front-of-house design. For complex fine dining concepts with specialty equipment or chef-driven kitchen requirements, we coordinate with your chef and any external kitchen consultant under the same project schedule. Either way, you have one project manager.

What permits does a restaurant need in Lee County?

Building permit, health department review and permit, fire marshal review and permit, mechanical permit for hood and ventilation, plumbing permit for grease trap and three-compartment sinks, and electrical permit for kitchen equipment. Liquor license review where applicable. Signage permit. Outdoor dining permit if applicable. We pull every required permit in-house. You do not chase any of it.

What happens if a health department or fire marshal inspection fails?

Mid-build inspections occasionally surface required changes that were not flagged during plan review. When that happens, we coordinate the correction work, re-inspection scheduling, and any required engineering updates without changing your contract price unless the issue is outside the original scope. Most failures are catchable issues like ventilation balancing or fire suppression nozzle placement that get fixed in days, not weeks.

What areas near Fort Myers do you build restaurants in?

We handle restaurant construction across Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel, Bonita Springs, Estero, Naples, Marco Island, and surrounding Lee County and Collier County communities. Our team handles permits through both county offices and works with the major health department and fire marshal reviewers serving the region.

RESTAURANT CONSTRUCTION · FORT MYERS, FL

Ready To Build Your Restaurant

Free, no-obligation discovery consultations for restaurateurs and hospitality groups across Fort Myers and Southwest Florida. We respond within one business day and provide a written estimate before any work begins.