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New premier destination for food, drink & fun opening Winter 2025
The countdown has begun for South Florida’s most impressive and cutting-edge entertainment experience: PLAY Sporting Lounge. Encompassing more than 12,000-square-feet plus an expansive covered patio, PLAY will be unlike anything in the market, offering an elevated, chef-driven menu that will be anything but sports bar fare (think killer burgers and raw bar towers!), a top notch beverage program, two expansive indoor/outdoor bars, live sports simulator suites, digital dart lanes, 60 televisions and a stage for live entertainment. When it opens its doors later this year in CityPlace Doral, PLAY Sporting Lounge will offer the ultimate destination food, drink, a fun night out or an unforgettable group experience.
“We’re so excited to finally cross the finish line to what has been years of development,” says Founder/CEO, Terry Lee. The Doral location will become our flagship location and set the tone for future development of our unique sports and entertainment brand.”
The Doral opening signals the culmination of years of hard work by founders Terry Lee and Adam Flierl, who first partnered up in 2020 and began the process of developing what would become PLAY Sporting Lounge. In fact, though the CityPlace Doral opening will be the flagship location, it is in fact the second location. In 2019, as he was seeking what would become the Doral space Lee and his business partner, Adam Flierl, a restaurant industry veteran, would be offered a prime, albeit smaller, space at none other than Hollywood, Florida’s iconic Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Here, they would launch a retro-fitted version of PLAY Sporting Lounge, simply called PLA Sports Bar, which would go on to become their wildly successful first location. “The opportunity at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino was an unexpected blessing,” says Flierl, who has held executive roles at concepts such as Topgolf and Roy’s Restaurants and is uniquely skilled at balancing high volume sales with top notch food & drink and entertainment. “It was too good an opportunity to pass up and, although our opening and COVID were ill-timed, it ended up being an amazing opportunity for us to develop much of what will go into PLAY and helped us double-down on our commitment to community engagement.”
In fact, even before PLAY (or PLA for that matter) were a reality, Lee and Flierl knew that the concept they were imaging would be borne from the philosophy of PLAY, LOVE, ACT. “Our goal was to create a place that would allow us and the team to have fun (PLAY), be respected and give respect (LOVE) and be of service to the community (ACT). Everything came from that.” So much so they launched the PLA IT FORWARD Foundation, a non-profit/community engagement arm of the F&B concept dedicated to helping underprivileged youth through sports. More on that later!
First, a peek behind the curtain of PLAY Sporting Lounge. The expansive location, close to three times the Hollywood incarnation, will offer more than 12,000-square-feet of dining and entertaining including a designed-to-dazzle indoor/outdoor bar that spills out onto the large patio, which will be equipped with “backyard” games such as corn hole, bocce as examples. Seven (7) Live Sports Simulator Suites and three (3) Digital Dart Lanes will be customizable private spaces where guests can participate in over a dozen virtual sporting events, including golf, soccer, football, basketball, zombie dodgeball, virtual gun range and more. The suites offer the perfect setup for any gathering, from date night to corporate functions, and can even be used for activities outside of the sport simulators, including streaming live games or movies.
In addition to a remarkable design and setting, the culinary program will be unparalleled for concepts such as this. Led by Executive Chef Manny Saavedra and Corporate Chef Justin Fields, the menu is far from the usual sports fare. The “Play Eat Sea” towers are picture-worthy with Jumbo Shrimp, Colossal Lump Crab, Tuna Poke, Chimichurri Oysters, and Bay Scallop & Shrimp Ceviche. Indulgence continues with dishes such as Truffled Lobster Pearl Pasta Mac with tender Maine lobster, pearl pasta, truffled cheese sauce, and buttered gremolata breadcrumbs. Meat lovers will be overjoyed with selections including the Brisket Street Taco Platter with 12-Hour Tender Brisket, shaved cabbage, cilantro, avocado, pickled onion, and served with warm corn flour blend tortillas. Of course, traditional favorites won’t be missed, with the PLAY Double Smash’d Burger, Crispy House Smoked Wings, Warm Buttered Pretzel Bites, and Fried Mozzarella Balls all on the menu. The full selection will include shareables, salads, flatbreads, handhelds, plates/bowls, desserts, and kids’ menu.
The beverage program is just as substantial, with craft cocktails, draft beer, wine, and alcohol-free offerings. Creative concoctions include the Bramble Bliss with Crown Royal Blackberry, lemon juice, simple syrup, and Chambord floater, the Lychee Caipirinha, with Brazilian Cachaca liqueur, J.F. Haden’s Lychee Liqueur, sugar, and lime; and a Rock N’ Roll Margarita, with Rock N Roll Platinum, fruit puree, Triple Sec, and fresh lime. Even better, selections such as the PLA IT FORWARD Paloma with Codigo 1530 Rosa Tequila, grapefruit juice, fresh lime, club soda, and Tajin salt rim are not only delicious but also benefit the brand’s PLA IT FORWARD Foundation.
Located at 3450 NW 83rd Avenue, Suite 145, Doral, FL 33166, PLAY Sporting Lounge will have a 300+ seating capacity between indoor, outdoor, and private dining. Apart from an exceptional entertainment and dining experience, the concept looks forward to being an integral part of the community. PLAY Sporting Lounge’s expected opening is currently December 2025.
PLAY Sporting Lounge will begin hiring a team of “PLAYers” in November, with openings across all FOH and BOH positions. Interested candidates are invited to submit resumes to doraljobs@playloveact.com. For more information, please visit www.playsportinglounge.com; follow on Instagram: @playsportinglounge.
