Your date picks you up for your night out. It’s a surprise but you’re starting to put the pieces together as you arrive to Casa Sensei on Las Olas Boulevard. However, this is no ordinary dinner date — a gondola pulls up on the river with your meal waiting for you.
In an instant your date night went from Fort Lauderdale to Venice. If you didn’t already know, our city earned the nickname “Venice of America” because of the many canals that run through it. “If we are going to live up to that name, we definitely need our gondolas,” says Riverfront Gondola Tours owner Captain Bradley Wilson. “And it is those small, placid neighborhood canals of Las Olas, Nurmi, Rio Vista, Harbor Beach, etc. which just beckon the quiet gondolas to them. Our city is the perfect place for gondolas.”
So how does this excursion work? Riverfront Gondola Tours provides the table, the boat and the scenery. Casa Sensei provides the cuisine; you can select items from the main menu or the sushi menu. The restaurant serves your food on the gondola and then you’re off on a unique night out.
“We love seeing you on your first dates, your romantic outings and when you pop the big question. And on those anniversaries and birthdays,” says Captain Wilson. “We love being special enough to be a part of your special occasions.”
The tour cruises the canals for an hour and a half, which is plenty of time to take in the views. Plus, if you’re looking to continue the night beyond the water, they have dropoff locations at The Downtowner, 15th Street Fisheries and Bahia Mar’s fuel dock.
“To hear our guests rave about their captain or the amazing experience they had with us, that’s our ‘fuel.’ That makes us love what we do all the more,” Captain Wilson adds.
