Sea Monster

If you have been in the South Florida community more than 5 minutes you have at least heard of the name Toni Barone. After 23 years as the ìQueen of Searsî Toni leaped into the nightclub business in 1991 and has not looked back ever since. Not only has she owned some of the most famous clubs in Broward County, she has also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charities. It all started with Pinktales, which later changed its name to Rumors and was opened from 1991 until 1994. Right after that closed she opened The End Up which was super successful until it closed in 2001. I remember when I came to town in 1996 and heard of The End Up and thought it was a strange name. My friends explained to me that it was called that because that is where everyone ended up at the end of the night. The name held true to itself, as I remember many nights being there till 4am. In 1998 she opened (with partners) the Sea Monster which opened with a slow start but after 6 months became one of the most famous and talked about nightclubs in the history of South Florida. In 2003 Toni and her partners opened Elements. As is the case with some partnerships, things did not work out and unfortunately the end result was the closing of the much loved Sea Monster. Toni kept Elements successful until she sold in 2007 due to family illnesses. Toni's mom, who she has taken care of since her dad passed was having major back surgery, her brothers wife was diagnosed with a fatal form of cancer (and died a few months later) and her sister needed to have a mastectomy. As you can see Toni had her plate full. A little over a year later things were back to normal for Toni and she was thinking twice about her retirement from the nightclub business or as Toni says ìI was getting antsy to be back in the biz. After all, its in my blood.î A short while later she got a call from the landlord of the Sea Monster property to ask her if she was interested in re-opening, and she took that as a hint and began preparations to return to South Florida what it so missed, our beloved Sea Monster.

The Sea Monster will return with its former line-up, which is Noche Latina on Fridays, Pandora presenting one of the hottest women's night in South Florida on Saturdays, and of course their famous Sunday T dance. Toni has also partnered up with Peter Burke to have the T Cruise dock right in front of the Sea Monster (as you may remember Toni was the originator of the cruise). In addition to the regular weekly line-up she has some special events planned including a white party event, and many more.
Toni has enjoyed partnering up for the re-opening of the Sea Monster with Gary Hall (one of the original owners of Dudes in Fort Lauderdale, as well as one of the original owners of Divas and Dudes in Key West) who has been an inspiration, fun and a breath of fresh air for her. She went on to say ìI am thrilled with the hype and excitement that is around town regarding the re-opening of Sea Monster, and this additional support has reaffirmed in my mind how fantastic this club is going to be for our community.î