According to Nick Anton, owner of La Perla, 734 S. 5th St., the restaurant's expansion will open right after Summerfest.

Anton bought the building next door -- the old Brass Light Gallery manufacturing plant -- after the gallery consolidated its retail and manufacturing operations in their space at 131 S. 1st St.

The La Perla expansion is 4,500 sq. ft. and includes a brand new kitchen, expanded menu and late-night dining until 1 a.m. The menu boasts more quesadillas, shrimp and jalapeno martinis, and new margarita flavors including peach, mango, melon, watermelon and more.

Husband-wife team Tom Littmann and Demetra Copoulos created the interior design. (Copoulos designed the mechanical pepper in the original space.) It features glass garage doors, horseshoe-shaped booths and a rooftop patio that's already open for business.

Anton also plans to have salsa dancing and weekend djs spinning Latin beats.

"Hopefully we'll have a lot of dancing, both on the floor and on the bar top like in South Beach," says Anton. "We're really trying to promote the Latin Quarter."