Boathouse to hold job fair starting Thursday
After months of construction, permitting and getting the property ready, the soon-to-be-opened Boathouse Tiki Bar & Grill at the Cape Coral Yacht Club is getting closer to opening.
So close, the restaurant is hosting a four-day job fair starting Thursday to find people to hire for all positions.
The job fair will take place Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the beach pavilion, and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Yacht Club ballroom.
Among the jobs available are servers, cooks, gas pump attendants, bartenders and bait sales. Owner Zak Kearns said he expects to fill between 60 and 75 jobs.
“It will entail the front and back of the house, and in our agreement with the city we have the fuel pumps, so we need fuel pump operators,” Kearns said.
Kearns said he plans to hire that many in case a few of his employees don’t work out.
Those looking to apply must bring a driver’s license, resume and references.
The job fair idea is nothing new for the company. Kearns started it when he opened the Cape Coral Parkway location.
“We had 900 people that showed up because we set it up for one day,” Kearns said. “After that, we structured them differently. We had a five-day fair in Estero so we had a steady stream. It allows us to meet with people and know them one on one.”
The new Boathouse, with the name “Ford” dropped to avoid confusion with its other Cape location, will have the appearance of a tiki bar, with a thatched roof. The Seminole Indian tribe was commissioned to build the tiki huts and there will be an island theme, Kearns said, similar to Holiday Isle.
Much will be done in the coming week, Kearns said, ahead of staff training.
“We have all our kitchen and bar equipment as well as our furniture coming in this week,” Kearns said. “By the end of next week we should be close to being a finished restaurant.”
It is much different than the original proposal it made last year, which would have turned the place into, essentially, a boat.
The Boathouse, located where the former K-C’s River Stop was, will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., with the possibility of closing later after six months.
The Boathouse is expected to open in early May.