‘3 Amigos’ lounge to open in Lehigh

These are the '3 Amigos' for which the new daytime lounge and night club is being named. They are from left to right, Jaime Iparraguirre, German Hernandez and Alain Hernandez, both brothers. Photo by Mel Toadvine
They call themselves the ‘3 Amigos’ and they’re planning to open what they call a classy lounge in Lehigh where folks can go and have a drink and a good time.
“We’re planning a first class place for the residents of Lehigh. There’s nothing like it here now and we think they’ll like what we will be offering,” said Jaime Iparraguirre, one of the owners of the new lounge.
“We’re not the usual type of bar when you think of a bar. We are going to be a notch up, a first class place where you can bring your friends and relax or even dance,” Iparraguirre said.
He knows the restaurant and lounge business. He operates the Habana Cafe on Homestead Rd., a first-class restaurant with white tablecloths and a popular place in Lehigh to have a meal.
Iparraguirre has leased a large building in the Town Square in front of the Town Lakes community at 607 Williams Rd. and he’s even planning valet parking, limousine and cab service.

Francisco Comas Jr. is the new general manager of '3 Amigos'
“If the bartender thinks someone has had enough, they will be cut off. No more. And we will have a cab out front to take them home. And it won’t cost them. The next day, they can call us and the cab will go and pick them up to come back for their car or to enjoy an evening at the lounge,” he said.
Iparraguirre will continue to operate his restaurant in the Lehigh Towne Centre at the intersection of Homestead and Alabama roads. His general manager at 3 Amigos is Francisco Comas Jr.
“He’ll be running the place, but I’ll be there as much as I can,” he said. He has been running teaser ads in The Citizen on its dining page for the past several weeks just to get the logo or image of “3 Amigos” in people’s minds.
“We plan to open in two or three weeks. We’ll advertise our opening and we plan to extend our grand opening for two weeks,” Iparraguirre said.
Born in Key West, he says he was raised in a Latino family that operated lounges and restaurants. “My dad and my grandmother raised me in the business,” he said.
The new 3 Amigos – and that is using the number 3, he says, will have a doorman at the entrance to the lounge and a dress code will be enforced.
“We’re not saying you have to dress up in a tuxedo and all, but the dress is casual.
“We want a nice place and we want our customers to feel good about our place.
It will be a place to get dressed up for because you’re going to have a good time here,” he said.
“And our prices, they are going to be the best in town and the area. We’re staring off with wings, regular, medium or hot at nine cents a wing and we’ll have a grille for burgers and other things like that,” he said.
There is nothing else in Lehigh like what Iparraguirre has planned. He said he has seen what goes on in some of the bars in the area, but the new 3 Amigos lounge will be different. He plans to have his own security and also says he has talked to the Sheriff’s Office about his new business.
“The minute we have a problem, our security will usher that person out. We will not put up with that type of clientele at our place. We want all our people to come and have a good time and not worry about screaming and fighting and drunks. It’s not going to happen at our new place,” he said.
The new lounge is located in a large attractive building in front of Town
Lakes. Off the beaten path, so to speak, Iparraguirre says he will offer something so nice that people will want to come and when the word gets round town, he believes he can make a success at the business where others have failed with restaurants and little advertising.
Thomas Pfumer, a member of the family-owned business that developed Town Lakes, says he is in full support of Iparraguirre and wishes him success. Also in the town square is a professional center and office building, tennis courts and a miniature golf course.
The new lounge will have theme nights. The lounge will be open every day except for Monday from noon to midnight and on Saturday night, maybe to 2 a.m.
“We have some interesting themes such as Ladies Night, Latino Night, Hip Hop Night on Saturday and on Sunday Teen Night.
“We want to have a nice place for the local teenagers to come and enjoy themselves with good supervision. We’re catering to the kids between 14 and 18 and they can come and dance and listen to their ‘boom-boom’ music,” he laughed.
Then there is Rainbow Night on Thursdays for the gay and lesbian community, he said. “There is no place for them to enjoy themselves and we want to provide entertainment catered to them,” he said. “This night will be from 7 p.m. to
midnight.”
But everyone is invited each night,” he said. “We are having themes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t come in and enjoy yourself. You don’t have to be gay
to come in on that theme night. Everyone is welcome.
“On Teen Night, the bar is shut down. There will be soft drinks and finger foods for the teenagers who join us. It will give them a place to come to and enjoy themselves before going back to school on Monday morning, but the club will close at 10 p.m. that night,” he said.
Karaoke is planned every night and there will be a happy hour every day from noon to 5 p.m., except for Sundays and Mondays when they are not open, he said.
“All our employees will be dressed in really cool black and white attire, really classy looking, too,” he said. He said there will be big bands, comedians and more coming from Miami during the first two weeks.
When the club began advertising for employment, Iparraguirre said he received more than 300 applications and he plans to hire people all from Lehigh Acres. “I’m going through this big pile of applications now. We’ll start out with about 20 employees,” he said.
“This is what a lot of people in Lehigh say we need to have, a fun place to enjoy themselves and we plan to provide it,” he said. “We’ll do fine. I am very confident about this venture,” Iparraguirre said.
- Francisco Comas Jr. is the new general manager of ‘3 Amigos’