Cap's Place facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Cap's Place
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Outside tables with Intracoastal Waterway view
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 Location in Florida
Location in the United States
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| Location | 2980 NE. 31st Ave., Lighthouse Point, Florida |
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| Area | 1.5 acres (0.61 ha) |
| Built | 1928 |
| Built by | Knight, Cap; Hasis, Al |
| Architectural style | Vernacular frame |
| NRHP reference No. | 90001227 |
| Added to NRHP | 10 August 1990 |
Cap's Place, also known as Club Unique, is a super old and special restaurant in Lighthouse Point, Florida. It first opened way back in 1928. Back then, it was a secret place where people could eat, drink, and play games during a time when alcohol was not allowed. It's the oldest building still standing in Lighthouse Point and the oldest business around.
Cap's Place has been a restaurant since it started. It's even the oldest restaurant in Broward County, Florida. Because it's so important to history, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on August 10, 1990. You can find it at 2980 Northeast 31st Avenue. There's no parking right at the restaurant, so most people take a small boat to get there!
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Cap's Place: Where It Is
Cap's Place is made up of five wooden buildings, and four of them are considered historic. It sits on a narrow piece of land between Lake Placid and the Intracoastal Waterway. This area is in a neighborhood in Lighthouse Point, Florida.
The very first building was put together in 1928 on an old boat called a dredging barge that was pulled onto the shore. People say it didn't have any fancy design, just "Cap's own creative style." This style came from what he needed and the materials he could find in Florida back then. The place grew into its current L-shape in 1929.
At first, the land was very narrow, and parts of the buildings were actually over the water! In the 1960s, more land was added on the bay side. This made the ground higher and extended the shoreline. Now, the buildings are not over the water anymore. The restaurant is surrounded by water on its east and west sides. Tall slash pine and Australian pine trees around the north and south sides help it feel like it did a long time ago. For many years, you could only get to Cap's Place by boat.
What Cap's Place Looks Like Inside
The buildings at Cap's Place include the main restaurant, a bar, a fish house, and docks. There's also a boat house, but it's been changed a lot, so it's not considered historic anymore. All the buildings were made using local materials. These include special woods like Cuban mahogany, bamboo, pecky cypress, and Dade County pine. Some of the wood was bought from a new lumber company nearby.
The restaurant was built in two steps. The first part was built on that old dredging barge. This made the building sit higher off the ground.
The Restaurant Building
The old barge was used as the base for a one-story wooden building with a pointed roof. The walls inside and out are made of thick, flat pine boards. The windows and doors are placed evenly, and the original wooden frames are still there. The main door is on the east side, with many-paned windows next to it. The south side has plywood to protect it from water, but you can still see the windows from inside. This part of the building forms the east-west section of the L-shape you see today.
The newer part of the restaurant is a long, rectangular building. It sits on concrete blocks and has wooden floors. Its outside walls are also made of horizontal boards. This building, made of Dade County pine, has a low-sloped roof with asphalt shingles. The main door is on the north side, and another door is on the east. Even though some windows have been changed to aluminum, the original wooden window frames are still there. This part of the restaurant used to have red carpet and was called the "Poinsettia Room." It was connected to the original building in 1954.
The original building was divided into dining rooms. One of these was painted yellow and had short walls. The kitchen was in the back. Between the "yellow room" and other dining areas, there was a hallway. This hallway had six small spaces where slot machines used to be. These spaces are still there, but now they have shelves.
The Bar Area
The bar is north of the restaurant and is connected by a wooden deck with picnic tables. It's a rectangular building with windows that look like the restaurant's. It has a door facing south. People on the deck can get drinks through a wooden window opening. There's also another door and a small storage room on the west side.
The inside of the bar is very unique. A big bar made of bamboo from the Everglades, topped with old ship wood, is the main feature. It's decorated with things that washed up on the shore when the building was being built. The floor and roof are Dade County pine, and the ceiling beams and walls are pecky cypress. The bar and restaurant are decorated with all sorts of interesting items found from the sea and old memories.
Other Buildings at Cap's Place
Soon after the first building, a fish house was built on tall poles over the water. This small building was used for cleaning fish and washing dishes. Dirty water and fish scraps were put into the water below. Over time, the shoreline filled in, and now this building is used for storage. You can still see the poles that held it above the water.
All the buildings at Cap's Place are connected by decks, piers, and docks. Even though the shoreline has changed, these structures are still in good shape. There was also a boat house where the owners lived, but it has been fixed up so much that it's not considered historic anymore. A bunkhouse that housed workers is no longer there.
The Story of Cap's Place
In 1928, two friends, Eugene Theodore "Cap" Knight and Albert Hasis, pulled a dredging barge onto a small piece of land. They built a restaurant on top of it. They called it Club Unique, but everyone always called it "Cap's Place." Cap Knight had run a store and restaurant nearby since 1920. That old business was often hit by bad weather and is now gone because of erosion.
The barge, bought for about $100 in 1926, was first pulled ashore about half a mile from where it is now. It had to be moved because the Intracoastal Waterway was getting bigger. The thick ropes used to move it are still wrapped around a large pole in the bar!
From the very beginning, Club Unique was a secret place for dining and playing games. By the end of 1929, the club had grown with more buildings. Cap's Place is important to local, Florida, and U.S. history. It was one of the first businesses in the area, run by one of the original settlers. It also played a part in the history of secret drinks and games in southern Florida. One writer, Carmen McGarry, said that Cap's Place "has withstood prohibition, tough guys, hard times, wars, nature's damage, and many joyful and peaceful times for nearly a century."
One special thing about Cap's Place was that you could only get there by boat until 1953. People would drive to Hillsboro beach and flash their car lights. An employee would then row across the water to pick them up and take them to the restaurant. Today, you can get to Cap's Place by road, but there's only parking for people with disabilities. Most visitors still enjoy taking the boat shuttle.
The restaurant was known for its fresh seafood and unique menu items. With its simple, natural setting, Club Unique has been popular and successful since it opened.
Cap's Place Today
Cap's Place was most popular in the 1930s and 1940s. Local people and tourists loved to visit for food, drinks, and games. Back then, fancy cars would even bring people from the upscale hotels in Palm Beach County. It's still popular with famous people today, including artists, sports stars, movie actors, and important social figures.
Some stories say that Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt might have eaten there one night during World War II meetings. While that specific story has been questioned, Churchill definitely visited and ate in the yellow room. Other famous visitors include Meyer Lansky, Al Capone, Humphrey Bogart, Myrna Loy, Jack Dempsey, Casey Stengel, Bill Clinton, George Harrison, Mariah Carey, Jim Belushi, George Wendt, and Gordon Ramsey. Patricia Hasis, one of the owners, made a rule that staff should not bother celebrities. If they do, they could be fired right away!
New Owners and History
Since the 1970s, the restaurant has been run by the Hasis family's three children: Talle, Ted, and Tom. Talle Hasis, named after Florida's capital, used to sit outside as a child, selling cups of water to customers and getting five-dollar tips! On August 10, 1990, Cap's Place was officially added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Visiting Cap's Place Now
Getting to Cap's Place is part of the adventure. You drive through narrow streets in Lighthouse Point, then take a boat ride to the restaurant. The rustic setting and decorations create a truly special dining experience. The ceilings are low, and the floors are a bit uneven. Talle Hasis tells people who mention it, "Just duck your head down. My father built a strong place, low on the land."
The menu now includes all kinds of fresh fish, crabs, and lobster. They also have grouper chowder. The menu has been updated from the past and now offers appetizers and even key lime pie for dessert. In the past, they used to serve green turtle steaks and turtle egg pancakes. In 1963, Cap Knight was arrested for having turtle eggs that were not allowed to be collected.
Very fresh seafood is a main feature of the restaurant. In 2005, they were still buying their fish fresh every day from a local fisherman named Captain Murphy, just as they had for decades. All meals are cooked when you order them. A special dish is the hearts of palm salad, made with sabal palm from the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee. The hearts of palm have been supplied by the same Seminole family since the restaurant opened. Meals also come with warm rolls and homemade Sea Grape jelly.
Cap's Place has received good reviews from the 1980s until today. The prices are moderately expensive. The restaurant mostly relies on people telling their friends about it and doesn't advertise much. It has been called one of south Florida's most colorful and unique landmarks.
