"Since the hotel opened last December, we have envisioned Omni Fort Lauderdale as a place that would become part of the fabric of this community."
That is Gayla Guyse, general manager of the Omni Fort Lauderdale, in the Oct. 1 announcement of Barchetta, the hotel's new Italian chophouse on the Intracoastal. Across the bridge, Pier Sixty-Six makes a similar statement in plainer language. Its FAQ says its dining outlets are available to resort guests and non-resort guests.
For Harbor Beach, this matters for a geographic reason. Most of the new waterfront dining at the neighborhood's western edge sits inside two big hotel properties that face each other across the 17th Street Causeway bridge. Both now say their restaurants serve local diners. Each venue still has its own rules about dress, age, reservations and who gets a table, and those rules decide an evening more than the menus do.
The Omni side finished its lineup on Oct. 1
Barchetta opened Oct. 1, 2026, at 1880 SE 17th St. It sits on the waterfront plaza next to the hotel and the Broward County Convention Center. Executive Chef David Caceres runs a menu of handmade pastas, seafood and prime steaks. The release highlights a Bistecca Fiorentina T-bone for two, a Frutti di Mare with Florida black grouper and Kaluga caviar, and bucatini cacio e pepe with black truffle. Barchetta means "little boat" in Italian, a name that suits a dining room overlooking the Intracoastal.
The practical details are on Omni's Barchetta page. The restaurant is closed Mondays. It is open Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday from 5 to 11 p.m., and Friday and Saturday until midnight. The kitchen closes at 10 p.m. every night. The same page sets a "cocktail chic" dress code. Baseball caps, cut-off shorts, flip-flops, graphic T-shirts and pool or beach attire are not allowed. If you are coming in straight from a day on the water, change first.
Barchetta was the last of the hotel's seven food-and-drink venues to open. The Omni welcomed its first guests on Dec. 23, 2025. The other six are Reef 76 Kitchen + Bar, Fair Ketch, Ibis Sky Lounge, Hidden Key, Tide Coastal Kitchen and Leeward Market. They keep very different hours:
- Fair Ketch is open daily from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., and the kitchen closes at 10 p.m.
- Hidden Key runs from 3 to 10 p.m., with bar service until 11.
- Ibis Sky Lounge is open Monday through Saturday from 5 to 11 p.m., and Omni describes it as 21 and over.
- Leeward Market is open daily from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Tide Coastal Kitchen serves from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., weather permitting, and is the one venue limited to registered hotel guests.
The Omni is owned by Broward County. Barchetta's opening added about 52 jobs to what the release calls the county's growing hospitality and tourism district. Because the county is the owner, the hotel has a public reason to draw local diners as well as convention crowds. The release names "our local community" ahead of convention attendees and visitors.
Across the bridge, Pier Sixty-Six counts twelve dining options
Pier Sixty-Six, at 2301 SE 17th St., reopened in 2025 after a redevelopment that Miami New Times put at $1 billion. The resort's FAQ lists twelve dining options. They are Calusso, Sotogrande, Garni, Pier Top, Windows on 66, Elate, Saltbreeze, The Nectar Room, the pool decks, Pelican Landing, and two restaurants and bars open only to club members. In-room dining, available 24 hours, is for resort guests.
The FAQ is specific about daytime hours:
- Saltbreeze, a Latin-inspired café next to the resort pool, serves daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- The Nectar Room, a cocktail lounge next to the adult pool, is open Thursday through Monday from noon to 5 p.m.
- Elate, the grab-and-go market in the lobby, is open daily from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Windows on 66 opens at 3 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and at noon Friday and Saturday. It closes at midnight every day.
- Sotogrande serves Spanish and Mediterranean lunch on the marina on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.
- Garni serves breakfast from 7 a.m. on weekdays and Saturdays. On Sundays, breakfast runs until 11 a.m. and brunch follows from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For dinner, the resort strongly recommends reservations at Calusso, Sotogrande and Pier Top, booked through each restaurant's website or OpenTable. Pier Top is the restored lounge on the 17th floor of the resort's 1960s tower. It turns a full circle every 66 minutes. Pier Top's site welcomes walk-ins, encourages reservations, and sets a minimum age of 21.
Pelican Landing is set for December
The biggest change at Pier Sixty-Six this season is a familiar name. Pelican Landing, the resort's dockside seafood spot, is coming back as a two-story, open-air raw bar over what Visit Lauderdale's Oct. 14 release calls the largest superyacht marina on the East Coast. Visit Lauderdale's listing describes it as a spot for guests "stepping off yachts or strolling through the resort," with a menu that runs from conch fritters to a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon.
In September, the Sun Sentinel reported an Oct. 17 target. Pier Sixty-Six's FAQ and Pelican Landing's own site now say December. Until it opens, the resort's other venues are the dining options on that side of the bridge.
Between the two hotels, street-level spots on SE 17th Street
The hotels hold the water. The blocks of SE 17th Street west of the bridge hold the more casual options, with no dress code involved.
Hula Kai Tiki Bar opened Sept. 26 at 1075 SE 17th St., near the convention center. It has a rooftop lounge called Ohana above the main bar. Its website lists hours of 4 to 11 p.m. on weekdays and noon to 11 p.m. on weekends, and takes reservations only for groups of six or more. Hoodline's opening coverage highlighted flaming zombies and pig-shaped rye mugs.
Chela's, a Latin social dining concept expanding from Miami Lakes with a cocktail-focused bar program, has its Fort Lauderdale address at 1302 SE 17th St. Visit Lauderdale's listing describes a restaurant and bar built for lunch, dinner, drinks and events. A few doors west, CAVA has a location at 1344 SE 17th St.
The house rules, side by side
| Venue | Address | What to know before going |
|---|---|---|
| Barchetta | 1880 SE 17th St. | Closed Mondays; cocktail chic dress code; reservations on OpenTable |
| Ibis Sky Lounge, Omni | 1850 SE 17th St. | 21 and over; Monday through Saturday evenings |
| Tide Coastal Kitchen, Omni | 1850 SE 17th St. | Registered hotel guests only |
| Pier Top | 2301 SE 17th St. | 21 and over; walk-ins welcome, reservations encouraged |
| Calusso and Sotogrande | 2301 SE 17th St. | Reservations strongly recommended |
| Pelican Landing | 2301 SE 17th St. | Opening set for December |
| Hula Kai Tiki Bar | 1075 SE 17th St. | Reservations for groups of six or more only |
Arriving by water
Both hotel properties have a water taxi stop nearby. On the Water Taxi's Fort Lauderdale route, stop F5 is Pier Sixty-Six, and stop F4/H2 serves the Hilton Marina and Convention Center. F4/H2 is also where riders transfer to the Hollywood route. Omni says the hotel has convenient access to a nearby water taxi. Barchetta's ban on pool and beach attire applies no matter how you arrive.
December brings a second date to plan around. The Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade is set for Saturday, Dec. 12, starting at 6 p.m. The route runs from Stranahan House east along the New River, then north on the Intracoastal to Lake Santa Barbara in Pompano Beach. The parade heads north, away from the causeway, so the restaurants on 17th Street are outside its path that night.
When a resort dining room on the causeway also works as your neighborhood restaurant, it helps to know these small rules: which rooms are 21 and over, which want a collared shirt, which take walk-ins. The Tim Singer South Florida team works in Harbor Beach and the streets around it every day, and we are happy to talk through the neighborhood with you, waterfront and dinner reservations included.