Whitney Beach Deli & Wine changes become permanent

Whitney Beach Deli & Wines will not re-open as a restaurant. Instead, owner Andrew Hlywa will focus on expanding the deli concept that he initially developed for the summer.

Hlywa opened Whitney Beach Deli & Wines at 6810 Gulf of Mexico Drive in Whitney Beach Plaza in February, featuring a menu Hlywa described as an “American grill”-style. This included pancakes and omelets for breakfast, sandwiches and wraps for lunch and classic entrees for dinner, along with a full bar and adjacent liquor store. Due to tough economic times and a slow summer, Hlywa closed the restaurant and bar in June, leaving only the liquor store open for business, planning to re-open in October. But a week later, he re-opened the bar and the restaurant portion as a deli, serving a limited menu of doughnuts, muffins and Danish pastry for breakfast and hot dogs, cold sandwiches and salads for lunch and dinner. Hlywa said the changes would allow him to cut costs for the summer.

Hlywa said he decided to make the deli concept permanent Oct. 3, as the result of “economics and the depression that Longboat is in.”

The menu now offers an expanded selection of cold and hot sandwiches, along with oatmeal and bagels for breakfast. The liquor store and bar remain open.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].