Prime Social rooftop restaurant hoping to open location in Naples

A restaurant is working to bring a new location to downtown Naples. Prime Social, owned by Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, would be right above Chop City Grill and could be the first rooftop restaurant on Fifth Avenue.

The thought of it has some people excited, but Prime Social still has some city approvals it has to go through before it can open.

William Marshall says he has lived in Naples for 23 years and thinks adding a rooftop restaurant in the area would serve the city well.

“It just seems that Fifth Avenue and Naples is able to absorb everything and anything people throw at it,” said Marshall.

Prime Social would have food options like a raw bar, sushi roll, pizza appetizers, and desserts.

The preliminary design plans showed it would feature 210-seats indoors and a lounge along the back of the third-floor property with streetside outdoor seating.

During the city’s design review board meeting, architect Matthew Kragh discussed a code change that worked in their favor.

“The Fifth Avenue overlay district restaurants were not allowed anywhere but on the first floor. Second floor could be office or residential. Third floor must be residential. They took through a text change to see if we could add more excitement to Fifth Avenue and the city of Naples and have some rooftop restaurants like some other great cities around. So this is a perfect opportunity,” said Kragh.

Kragh says the code also indicated you couldn’t be closer than 500 feet to a single-family neighborhood, with noise and safety concerns being the primary reason. He says where Prime Social is currently proposed would not violate that rule.

“We will head to the planning advisory board and get their input, and then we will go through city council for their conditional use, and then we will circle back with you for a final design review board,” said Kragh.

People who frequently eat on Fifth Avenue say a rooftop restaurant would be a great addition.

“I think especially in the winter when there’s not a lot of places to find seating that would open it up, and you’d get good breezes from the water, and you could maybe even see the water. I think it’s a great idea,” said Cynthia Long.

If the council gives the OK, Prime Social could be open as early as 2024.

Cameron Mitchell Restaurants said more details would be available as the project progresses.