Burntwood Tavern temporarily closed over the weekend at Mercato in North Naples, with plans to reopen in early or mid-October as a mostly new dining concept. Construction barricades went up Monday to create a new restaurant to be named Taberna Burntwood.

“We’ve been staging this for several months,” said Bret Adams, founder of the Monven Group, an Ohio-based company that operates Burntwood Tavern and many other restaurant concepts. “We’re going to do quite a bit of construction in a short amount of time. We’ve been preparing for a while. It’s exciting.”

Burntwood Tavern’s rustic decor, with reclaimed wood shiplap from century-old barns and blown-glass light fixtures, will be upgraded. Expect an all-new facade, as well, with more foliage, a lighter, fresher look and a new logo, Adams said.

“I think it will complement the restaurants on either side of us,” he said, referring to the longtime Bravo Italian Kitchen and newcomer Waxin’s, a Swedish-American restaurant opening this fall.

“As we looked at coming up with an elevated concept, a good fit or a natural fit for us was to take the word Tavern, elevate it to Taberna and still maintain the Burntwood name, which has been around for 14 years and for seven years in Mercato. We thought the two together would be a great foundation for what we’re doing.”

Taberna Burntwood Naples rendering

Many elements of the old Burntwood will evolve into the new Taberna. While visitors shouldn’t expect crystal glassware on white tablecloths, elevated service enhancements are planned to the traditional dining experience.

“We want to be a true, polished casual restaurant, so some of what you see will be called silent service. We’ve enhanced the service to really accommodate the guests,” Adams said. “We don’t want to step into the fine-dining world, but it’s a polished approach. The lines will be cleaner with a little more of a modern look and feel in the restaurant. We’re going to make the bar a little bigger. You’ll see a differentiation of service staff through uniforms, which will dictate little service enhancements that you may or may not feel, but they’ll be elevated from what we were doing before, from our traditional dining experience.”

The concept change includes more than a new name and physical changes: Expect menu changes, too.

“The menu will have less items and a higher focus on premium ingredients. So, maybe a little simpler, continued American fare, but elevated, more seasonal menu items,” Adams said.

Fan favorites such as the BWT Smash burgers aren’t going anywhere.

Taberna Burntwood Naples rendering

“We’ll try to maintain some of the traditional, popular items,” he said. “You’ll see some of the signatures today maybe move to the bar bites, where it might be a little more casual. We want to accommodate those guests who have been supporting us for years.”

Adams paints a mental picture of the restaurant’s proposed interior.

“There’ll be wood accents, but you’ll see colors of emerald green, a little bit of rust. We’ve got burnt orange and some blacks, whites and grays,” he said. “The colors will be a little deeper. There’ll be a minimal amount of reclaimed wood. The copper bar will be replaced with granite. We’ve fabricated some new custom light fixtures that we’ll be introducing, as well.

“We wanted every table to be its own experience, so the booths are strategically placed; the tables in the main dining room have their own individual place experience. We’re also going to open up the bar to the dining room so there’ll be a little more energy and little more open air.”

Taberna Burntwood Naples rendering

The changes coincide with the evolution of Mercato, which Adams considers good timing.

“We had been kicking around this concept since we came out of COVID,” he said. “We knew that some of the elements that Burntwood has are timeless, but there are other elements that needed to evolve. Coupled with Mercato’s timing of wanting to evolve some of the brands and restaurants and retail, it was good timing.”

The Mercato location at 9110 Strada Place was the first Burntwood Tavern outside of Northeast Ohio when it launched in 2017. It replaced the Rusty Bucket Restaurant and Tavern in North Naples.

Adams splits his time between Southwest Florida and Northeast Ohio, but the Naples resident said there’s a personal reason in addition to a business reason to evolve with Mercato.

“It’s been a great relationship,” he said, noting that this will be the first location for Taberna Burntwood. “Our goal is to roll this out and evaluate and potentially convert some of the other Burntwoods into Taberna Burntwood, where the market will support it.”

Taberna Burntwood Naples rendering

The company currently has 15 locations of Burntwood Tavern, including nearby spots in Gulf Coast Town Center and Bell Tower Shops in south Fort Myers. Potentially, these locations could be converted, as well, depending on how the market reacts to the change, Adams said.

“We will assess which markets might be good for this new brand, and then what markets we think Burntwood will remain,” he said. “There’s a renovation package that we’ll start rolling out the first of the year.”

Mercato wants its restaurants and retailers to share their own identity, so Taberna is trying to accommodate that, as well, Adams said. The mixed-use center is expanding the common area in front of the restaurant, adding a live performance stage and promoting a public destination.

“We’re excited about what their plans are. Obviously, we are going to be front and center so there’s going to be great visibility for events and concerts,” Adams said. “We just want to make sure we provide a great environment for those guests who are coming in and spending time there.”

The “Tim Aten Knows” weekly column answers local questions from readers. Email Tim at tim.aten@naplespress.com.