Miami Men Continue Running LaBelle's Front Porch

Country Place LLC Evicted - New Miami Men Now Run Restaurant

LABELLE, FL. -- The restaurant saga continues at the old Flora and Ella's Restaurant location on the west side of LaBelle. A new sign with an unregistered fictitious name advertises a third business operating in the building in the last year.

After Flora and Ella's went out of business after decades of service to the food eating public, "A Country Place Restaurant and Bakery" moved in. In reality there never legally was a "Country Place Restaurant and Bakery" because no such name was licensed by the Florida Secretary of State's office as a fictitious business name.

The restaurant was operated by Norberto Daniel Mazzarello and his new wife Sherry. The Mazzarello's got the keys to the "Country Place Restaurant And Bakery," an unregistered fictitious name, on April 3rd. It opened for business July 9.

The restaurant shut it's doors December 16th after Country Place LLC was sued by the building owner for eviction.

The restaurant was actually owned and licensed as A Country Place LLC, whose officers were Carlos A. LaBeau, Pedro Alvarez, and Antonio Coletta, all of northwest Miami. They incorporated in March 2011.

Mazzarello was sued by Country Place LLC in Hendry's Circuit Court on September 8th over an operating agreement dispute. The case is still pending before Judge John Duryea.

LaBeau and Alvarez had interests in Miami's Capeda Corp. and LaBeau in Brown Cafe LLC, and Cafe Con Leche At Westland, Inc.

After allegedly not paying rent, Fred J. Burson got a default judgment and writ of possession served against the trio's restaurant December 15, 2011.

About the week of January 16th a new sign replaced the Country Place sign now reading "The Front Porch Restaurant."  There is actually no legal company with that name either. The corporation actually running the restaurant is a new one called The Heart Of LaBelle LLC.

A Miami duo, Alfonzo J. Cutillo and Nestor R. Colon started the company December 12, 2011 at about the same time the previous owners were being evicted. Coincidentally both corporations have the same registered agent in northweast Miami, Osvaldo Martinez. Martinez has been involved with 145 Florida corporations over the years.

Cutillo owns Avanti World Rental Car LLC in Miami with the three owners of A Country Place LLC, LaBeau, Alvarez and Colleta. Colon owns Cursor Computer, Inc. in Miami.

Neither the Florida Secretary of State's office or the Florida Department of Regulation's Hotel and Restaurant Division have any record of the name "The Front Porch Restaurant." No application for such a fictitious business name has been received records show.

The Hotel and Restaurant Division says no one has applied for a change of restaurant ownership from the Country Place LLC to The Heart of LaBelle LLC either.

The Hendry tax collector's office says they issued a LaBelle and Hendry county business license to The Heart of LaBelle LLC, after the new owners said they were owners of the Country Place LLC company, which turns out to not be true, at least as far as the official records indicate.

No one at the city or county so far says they have any responsibility to verify if company signs and advertising indicate a real or fake business name or not.

Update: As of February 9, according to the division of restaurants and hotels, operators of the "Front Porch Restaurant," The Heart of LaBelle LLC have not applied to the state's hotel and restaurant division for a license. The only state license existing for the restaurant is A Country Place LLC, closed in December. The company has also apparently failed to register with the Florida Secretary of State's office the fictitious business (dba) name "The Front Porch Restaurant."

Update: On March 7th, the state's food safety inspector paid a visit and found 9 violations of food safety and sanitation codes, including 8 labeled as "critical" violations. The restaurant had still apparently not changed ownership and new name records with the state. On March 13th, a sign on the front door indicated the restaurant was "Closed."