Richard Robinson opened two new restaurants March 21.
He rebranded Pink Salt + Veveta Tapas at 1567 University Blvd. W. to Plank. It is a fast-casual Caribbean seafood restaurant.
He also opened Branzino San Marco at 1430 San Marco Blvd., his former Pink Salt location before moving to Lakewood. It will be more upscale and combine Caribbean and Indian flavors and cooking styles.
It is open 4-10 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Reservaions are recommended and can be made through the Yelp app.
Branzino is named after a fish related to the sea bass. However, the restaurant serves a variety of dishes and would not be considered solely a seafood restaurant.
“We wanted to start something totally different with a new name, new concept. We decided that, to start fresh with a new name so it doesn’t muddle things up here,” Robinson said.
While Pink Salt San Marco had a capacity of 150, Robinson has reduced the seating for Branzino to 75 to 80 to create a more intimate feel.
He decided to suggest reservations because “we don’t want people to wait, not overly long,” he said.
“We also want people to come in and sit and don’t feel rushed. We don’t want to be a turn-and-burn restaurant.”
Robinson said Pink Salt + Veveta Tapas wasn’t the right fit for Lakewood. Even though it just a few miles from the San Marco Pink Salt, customers in the neighborhood wanted something less expensive and more family-friendly.
“Seafood does have a good profit margin to it, but it will also give people what they’re looking for. If they’re on a budget, per se, if they’re trying to feed a family, this is what we are doing,”Robinson said.
Gene’s Seafood Restaurant and Blue Marlin Bar had been in that space. It closed in September 2017 after 22 years.
Pink Salt has had several incarnations. It started in 2018 on St. Augustine Road and the next year moved to Baymeadows Road. It moved into San Marco in 2020.
In August 2023, Pink Salt moved to Lakewood and added the tapas portion of the menu, making it two restaurants in one location.
The Lakewood move was prompted by the road conditions on San Marco Boulevard, Robinson told the Daily Record in October 2023.
During heavy rain in San Marco, cars driving by caused wakes that splash hard enough against the door to enter the front of the restaurant, he said.
“Yes, it still gets flooded 90% of the time, but we realized the convenience it offers to customers who live on that side of town,” he said of the location.
He is hopeful that new public works projects in that area will alleviate the overflowing water in the street and gutters.
Both restaurants will look similar to their predecessors, Robinson said. He didn’t see a need to spend a lot of money to redecorate. The name Plank offered its own form of cost savings.
“Well, salmon comes mostly served on the plank. So we decide give it an easy name to call it Plank,” he said.
“Instead of spending money to get new signage, we just converted the letters from Pink Salt to Plank.”