A new coffee shop called Nanday Café is preparing to move into the storefront at 3107 Beach Boulevard South in Gulfport, the longtime home of GulfPerk Coffee Bar before it permanently closed this summer after sustaining extensive damage during Hurricane Helene. The new café takes its name from the wild Nanday parakeets that squawk through Pinellas County's treetops, a nod to one of the area's quirkiest natural mascots.
According to St Pete Rising, Nanday Café is described as a locally owned shop that will serve coffee, breakfast and lunch at the former GulfPerk location. The outlet reports the café has not yet announced an opening date or hours, leaving locals to simply watch the storefront for signs of progress.
GulfPerk's Long Goodbye After Helene
GulfPerk Coffee Bar first opened in 2021, and former manager Elliot Sutton took full ownership that November, according to The Gabber Newspaper. The shop became a neighborhood fixture over the following three years, but Hurricane Helene caused extensive damage in September 2024.
Per the same outlet, Sutton held onto hope that GulfPerk might reopen; nearly two years after the storms, he announced this past July that the shop would permanently close following the damage. Helene brought waves up to 8 feet and left at least two dozen businesses totaled.
A Mixed Recovery Along Beach Boulevard
GulfPerk's fate reflects the uneven rebound along Gulfport's commercial corridor. St Pete Rising reports that while flood-damaged neighbors like Let It Be Ice Cream and Neptune Grill managed to rebuild and reopen by late 2025, other long-standing establishments faced permanent closure due to overwhelming structural damage and renovation costs.
That split outcome has played out across the wider region, not just one block of Gulfport. Regional surveys following the late 2024 storm season recorded flood and wind damage at more than 1,800 businesses across Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, generating nearly $200 million in commercial losses, Hoodline previously reported. Gulfport's own waterfront infrastructure has faced similarly long timelines, with federal permits to rebuild the storm-damaged south basin at the municipal marina taking two years to finalize.
Why Nanday? The Parakeets Behind the Name
The café's name draws on a genuinely strange piece of local wildlife history. The Nanday parakeet, also known as the black-hooded parakeet or nanday conure, is a Neotropical parrot native to South America, easily identified by its black face and head, bright green body and reddish-orange leg feathers, according to Wild South Florida.
Free-flying Nanday parakeets were first reported in Pinellas County in 1969, per Birds by Dave.
St Pete Rising's reporting frames the connection directly, noting that accidental escapes and possibly deliberate releases led to free-flying Nanday parakeets in Florida. The green, chattering birds are now as much a part of Gulfport's identity as its waterfront murals and Tuesday night art walks.
What's on the Menu, and What's Still Unknown
Details on the café's offerings come straight from its own branding. According to its business website, Nanday Café plans to feature a menu of espresso beverages, lattes, matcha, breakfast and lunch items.
Several basic questions remain unanswered for now. St Pete Rising's report does not specify an opening date or hours for Nanday Café, and no information has surfaced yet about who operates the business or what flood mitigation measures, if any, have been built into the renovated space. For a storefront that sat through one of the worst storm seasons in recent Gulfport history, those details will likely matter to longtime residents watching the rebuild.
