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New Cape Coral restaurant opens with old Florida flavor, look and feel

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New Cape Coral restaurant opens with old Florida flavor, look and feel


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  • Florida Boy Burger Co. is committed to using local ingredients, with plans to offer an all-Florida beef option in the future.
  • The owners are looking to expand to other locations in Florida, including Orlando, Jacksonville, Naples, and North Port.

Stuffed squirrels, gators and a wild boar’s head are mounted on the walls. Taxidermied gator heads with mouths wide open and rattlesnakes in striking position are scattered about on tables and shelves. Four live baby gators swim around an 8-by-2-foot tank in the middle of the dining room. Oh, then there is the skin of a python stretching from floor to ceiling.

“That was caught a year ago in the Everglades,” Roger Lolly says matter-of-factly. “It’s about 10 feet, one of the larger ones I caught that day.”

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Welcome to Florida Boy Burger Co.’s newest Cape Coral location, where old Florida is everywhere.

It’s expected to open at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 21, in FK Your Diet’s old spot off Del Prado Boulevard.

“We wanted to expand at some point, but this happened so quickly,” said Louis Cioffi, a co-owner along with Lolly. “This spot was too good to pass up.”

“We’re going to get this one going, chill out a bit and keep going,” added Lolly (Floridaboyinc on Instagram) as he put the finishing touches on one of the mounted gators. “We have investors reaching out to us from all over.”

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An old Florida and Pine Island feel

For now, though, the focus is on this new Cape location, basically a carbon copy of the original location that opened last July near the intersection of Fowler Street and Colonial Boulevard in Fort Myers.

Look closely and you’ll see references to Pine Island in the photos of Lolly’s father mullet fishing, his grandfather and uncle, and of Summer Dooley whose fishing family is “legendary to the island.”

“There’s a little more Pine Island at this one,” said Lolly, who grew up there. “It’s important to us.”

The two have spent the last three months getting ready for Friday’s opening.

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“It’s been a project,” Cioffi said. “There are no shortcuts here. Everything we do is meaningful.”

Especially when it comes to the menu.

Some changes made to the original menu

“That’s the same for now, but we’re making some changes,” Cioffi said. “We got rid of the steaks and the tacos. And we’re adding gator bites.”

Other changes include making the Bangor Bash “less Louisiana” by replacing the boudin and andouille with venison sausage and wild boar cheddar and jalapeno sausage, and gator too.

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“We’re making it more Florida,” Cioffi said.

“We listened to our customers,” Lolly said. “They asked, we listened and made some changes.”

All about the burgers

The biggest changes can be found in their signature burgers, some of which will be renamed when the new menu comes out.

“Our burgers are seasoned now,” Cioffi said. “They have great flavor now. Everyone seems to like it.”

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Watch: A 10-foot long python skin adorns a wall at Florida Boy Burger

Roger Lolly mounted the skin from a 10-foot Burmese python he caught in the Everglades at his Florida Boy Burger Co. in Cape Coral.

The signature burgers are works of art at Florida Boy Burger.

One is topped with alligator sausage, blackened crabmeat, spicy pimento, pickled red onions and arugula, while another features bacon BBQ pork, cheddar and onion straws. Some come with bacon onion jam, a sunny-side-up egg or beer-battered lobster.

If it all seems too much, no worries.

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“We have an original Florida burger,” Cioffi said. “It’s plain with cheese, lettuce, tomato. It’s not on the menu right now but just ask for it. It comes with fries for $12. We don’t want anyone to be overwhelmed. Keep it simple.”

Appetizers (think frog legs, blue crab fritters, house-made pickles and more), salads, handhelds, specialty fries and milkshakes (extraordinary ones mixed with Fruity Pebbles, Key lime pie, banana pudding and cookies and cream!) round out the menu.

Burger-esque alligator patties are in the works, along with an all-Florida beef option.

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“That will be a 100 percent Florida-raised and processed beef option,” Cioffi said. “We want to support local farmers. All the greens, vegetables and fruits are local. We want to do the same with our beef.”

What’s next?

Florida Boy Burger will open Feb. 21 with little fanfare.

“There’s no soft opening, no test run,” Lolly said. “We’re going to hit the ground running. Once it’s going, we will look for another location. Orlando, Jacksonville. We want to go to Naples, North Port. We want to be part of communities. Like Louis says, ‘Come in as a customer and leave as family.’”

Here’s to a growing family.

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Florida Boy Burger Co., 1402 Del Prado Blvd S., Suite 4, Cape Coral and 4480 Fowler St., Suite 110, Fort Myers; (239) 245-7145; burgers.inc or follow on Facebook

Robyn George is a food and dining reporter for The News-Press. Connect at rhgeorge@fortmyer.gannett.com





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GALLERY: Barrett-Jackson ‘Super Saturday’ takes over South Florida Fairgrounds

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GALLERY: Barrett-Jackson ‘Super Saturday’ takes over South Florida Fairgrounds


The engines are revving for one final day of high-stakes bidding and family fun at the South Florida Fairgrounds.

Barrett-Jackson’s Palm Beach auction reaches its grand finale today with an action-packed “Super Saturday” lineup, promising to close out the weekend with a full slate of collector car sales, live entertainment, and fan attractions.

“Super Saturday,” presented by Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, officially kicks off at 8 a.m. when gates, food courts, and the exhibitor marketplace open to the public.

What to expect

  • 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.: The Fantasy Bid presented by Dodge begins early, running in tandem with the automobilia auction in the arena.
  • 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.: Thrill-seekers can catch Dodge thrill rides on the Barrett-Jackson Performance Track.
  • 10:00 a.m.: New amenities open to the public, including the Stella Artois, Staging Lanes, and Food Court patios, which offer shaded seating and auction views.
  • 10:45 a.m.: The national anthem will be performed in the auction arena, signaling the start of the main collector car auction at 11 a.m.
  • Afternoon Entertainment: DJ sets run from noon to 5 p.m. across the various patios, and a detailing clinic by Adam’s Polishes is scheduled for 2 p.m. near the South Showcase.

For those unable to attend, the whole event will be livestreamed throughout the day on the Barrett-Jackson website and the HISTORY channel from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Today’s finale comes on the heels of a high-energy Friday that saw significant sales and notable celebrity interest.

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Star power was evident throughout the day, particularly with vehicles tied to the Busch family. A 1957 Ford Thunderbird Convertible owned by Samantha Busch and a 1969 Oldsmobile 442 Custom Coupe were among the day’s heavy hitters, each fetching $159,500. Kyle Busch’s 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Custom Coupe also drew a strong bid, selling for $143,000.

Other Friday highlights included:

  • 1968 Ford Mustang Eleanor Replica: $137,500
  • 2004 Dodge Viper SRT-10 Mamba Edition: $132,000
  • 1972 Chevrolet K5 Blazer Custom SUV: $126,500
  • 1957 Ford Thunderbird Custom Convertible: $121,000
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With a festival-style atmosphere and high-profile sales driving momentum, organizers expect a busy crowd for the final push at the auction block today.



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Bodycam captures life-saving rescue of choking baby by Florida deputies

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Bodycam captures life-saving rescue of choking baby by Florida deputies


A quiet Monday turned into a frantic race against time when a deputy stepped in to save a choking 1-year-old’s life.

According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a call about a 1-year-old baby choking. Upon arrival, the responding deputy performed life-saving procedures to help the child breathe again.

See also: Two arrested after 6-year-old arrives at Florida school with bruises, deputies say

Body camera video shows a deputy holding the baby, flipping it over on its stomach, and beginning to pat the baby’s back.

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When the baby begins to cry, the deputy is heard saying, “he’s good.”



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Son of 2nd patient who died after seeing Florida surgeon describes family’s heartbreak: ‘It’s just not right’

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Son of 2nd patient who died after seeing Florida surgeon describes family’s heartbreak: ‘It’s just not right’


Weyman Dorsett knew something went wrong with his mom’s surgery as he watched an ICU doctor review her medical charts.

“I’ll never forget and it’ll never leave my mind, the look on that doctor’s face as he was reading through the files,” Dorsett, 53, said. “… He was just shaking his head, like: ‘what in the living hell is going on?’”

His mother, 70-year-old Dorothy Dorsett, was in recovery after a surgeon removed a tumor from her digestive tract. But she was hardly eating and had an abnormally fast heartbeat, according to a lawsuit Dorsett later filed. She was moved to the ICU nearly a week after the surgery.

“She just started really spiraling, pain,” Dorsett said. “She was not my mom.”

She died days later, on Aug. 4, 2023.

About a year later, another patient, William Bryan, 70, died after the same surgeon operated on him.

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The surgeon, Thomas Shaknovsky was arrested this week, accused of accidentally removing Bryan’s liver instead of his spleen, prosecutors said. Shaknovsky operated on both Dorothy Dorsett and Bryan at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast in Miramar Beach.

Shaknovsky and his lawyer could not be immediately reached for comment. However, he has denied wrongdoing in Dorothy Dorsett’s case in court filings of his own, arguing that some of the allegations were inaccurate and that descriptions of Dorsett’s care were incomplete. The lawsuit remains ongoing.

Do you have a story to share? Email reporter matthew.lavietes@nbcuni.com or reach us at our tip line.

The hospital did not immediately return a request for comment. Earlier this week, Macdonald Walker, a spokesperson for Ascension Sacred Heart, said in a statement that Shaknovsky “was never a Sacred Heart Emerald Coast employee and has not practiced at any of our facilities since August 2024.”

Weyman Dorsett filed a lawsuit against Shaknovsky and Ascension Sacred Heart last year, accusing the doctor and hospital of negligence. He spoke out for the first time since his mother died in an interview with NBC News on Thursday.

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“I’ve got two boys, a wife, now a grandbaby, and you know, I’m trying to be there for them, but, man, I’ve struggled mentally in dealing with it,” he said. “It’s just not right.”

Harrison Dorsett, Dorothy Dorsett, Mr. Weyman Dorsett Sr (now deceased), and Weyman Dorsett Jr.
Harrison Dorsett, Dorothy Dorsett, Mr. Weyman Dorsett Sr (now deceased), and Weyman Dorsett Jr.Dorsett family

On July 24, 2023, Dorothy Dorsett was admitted to the hospital after suffering abdominal pain, Weyman Dorsett, said. At the time, he said his mom was “in great health.”

“She was going non-stop. She lived on her own, drove everywhere, she went all over,” he said. “Prior to the surgery, she flew to my oldest son’s wedding in Bentonville, Arkansas, with a broken leg from a car wreck.”

At the hospital, his mom was diagnosed with gastrointestinal bleeding and acute blood loss anemia, according to the civil complaint.

The next day, the Dorsett family met Shaknovsky, whom Weyman Dorsett described as “odd.” He said the doctor prayed by his mom’s bedside before the surgery.

“It was way over the top,” Weyman Dorsett said. “It was very insincere to me.”

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He said his mother thought Shaknovsky was “very weird.”

That day, Shaknovsky performed a colonoscopy and found a tumor in Dorothy Dorsett’s digestive tract, which he removed on July 27, 2023, according to the complaint.

During the surgery following the colonoscopy, Shaknovsky did not perform a routine test, which would have ensured there were no leaks in a newly joined intestine, according to the complaint.

Shaknovsky told the family that the surgery “went great,” Weyman Dorsett said, but his mother’s condition immediately started to deteriorate.

He said that his mom was moved to the ICU on Aug. 2, 2023.

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Weyman Dorsett left that night, but his mother called him to come back to the hospital at midnight, saying she was going to die.

“My mom looked at me and just said, ‘It is what it is. I’ve lived a good life,’” he said. “And I had to sit there and watch her die.”

On Aug. 3, 2023, a doctor on call, Dr. Chun W. Chen, documented Dorothy Dorsett’s condition, according to the complaint, noting that he saw “more air than I would expect postsurgical” and mentioning concern “for bowel perforation specifically around the chain sutures in the pelvis.”

Chen added in the report that pockets of air had formed around Dorothy’s pelvis, according to the complaint.

“Although this may be postsurgical, cannot exclude bowel perforation,” he wrote.

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Chen said in a brief phone call that he didn’t remember the patient and declined to comment further.

That evening, Shaknovsky documented in a daily progress note the air and fluid collection in Dorothy’s pelvis, according to the complaint.

Shaknovsky did not advise surgical intervention due to Dorothy’s declining organ function and risks associated with anesthesia, the complaint says.

Dorothy Dorsett was pronounced dead at 5:29 a.m. on August 4, 2023, according to the complaint. She passed away surrounded by family, the complaint says.

“Until you go through it yourself, and to be there with my mom and watch her suffer, and to be there when she takes her last breath has been devastating,” Weyman Dorsett said. “I suffer every day. It’s a haunting memory that I can’t erase out of my mind.”

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Harrison Dorsett, left, Coleman Dorsett, back, and Dorothy Dorsett.
Harrison Dorsett, left, Coleman Dorsett, back, and Dorothy Dorsett.Dorsett family

Allegations of another botched surgery

On Aug. 21, 2024, prosecutors allege that Shaknovsky accidentally removed William Bryan’s liver instead of his spleen during what was scheduled to be a laparoscopic splenectomy.

Shaknovsky, who had been licensed to practice medicine in several states, had his Florida license suspended about a month after Bryan’s death. Later that year, he voluntarily surrendered his license to practice in Alabama. New York then suspended his license in 2025.

Bryan’s widow, Beverly Bryan, filed a civil lawsuit against Shaknovsky in 2025, accusing the surgeon of causing her husband’s death.

After the suit was filed, Weyman Dorsett learned that the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration completed an investigation into his mom’s death in September 2024, after Bryan’s botched surgery and more than a year after Dorothy’s death.

The investigation found that Shaknovsky and other hospital physicians “failed to appropriately use diagnostic testing and delayed in ordering imaging to timely treat sepsis” in Dorothy Dorsett’s case, according to a copy of the report.

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration did not return a request for comment.

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Shaknovsky was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of second-degree manslaughter in the death of Bryan, according to officials.

“It’s bittersweet,” Weyman Dorsett said. “You know, nothing’s going to bring back Mr. Bryan, or my mom and all the other people that are still out there that have been butchered and suffered.”

Dorothy Dorsett grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, where she and her husband, Weyman Dorsett II, her high school sweetheart, raised their two children: Weyman Dorsett III and his sister.

“She just was everything you would think the American dream mom would be,” he said. “She led by example, best cook in the world. She was our rock.”

She and her husband moved back and forth from Alabama to Miramar Beach, Florida, about 30 miles west of Panama City. She moved to Miramar Beach permanently following the death of Weyman Dorsett II in 2021.

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Weyman Dorsett III described his mother’s passing as a “big piece missing.”



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