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Do you remember the movie Labyrinth? The other day while shopping at Forever 21, I suddenly heard David Bowie’s voice piped in through the store’s speakers singing some nameless song from that classic ‘80’s film. You remind me of the babe. What babe? The babe with the power. What power... Oddly, I actually knew some of the words. Why? I have no idea.

Later that same day as I sat at the long granite bar at Naples’ new nightspot South Street City Oven and Grill, I found myself staring admiringly at a large painting of Billy Idol in full rocker glory. His hair flamed at the tips, a cross earring dangled from one bright red ear and pixie-like angels flew in front of his oversized head. On the bar in front of me, one of those plastic magic eight balls rested next to a stack of napkins and some neon colored straws. I had the sudden urge to ask the eight ball: were the 1980s coming back to haunt me?

But South Street isn’t an ‘80s bar, and despite the fact that it’s named after a Philadelphia street famous for its shops, restaurants and “bohemian” atmosphere, it’s not really a Philly bar either.

“We don’t want to alienate anyone and say it’s a Philly bar ‘cause it’s not,” said bartender and Philadelphia native Steve Baffa. Rather, he described South Street, which opened on the corner of Pine Ridge Road and Goodlette-Frank Road on January 6, as an “alternative” to Naples’ many bistros and chain restaurants. It’s not swanky and it’s not trendy. It’s not trashy and it’s not overpriced. It’s definitely not trying to be a nightclub, but it’s also not a dive bar. Are you confused yet?

South Street is – in many ways – a comfortable in-between. The kind of place where you could wear a t-shirt and flip flops with some buddies or bring a hot date for a martini and some snacks.

“It’s ultra casual, but it’s got $30,000 worth of granite,” Baffa said, pointing to the 45-seat bar that fills out the center of the restaurant. And the contradictions don’t end there. While the space itself is nothing more than a large open room punctuated by some bland tables, the walls are adorned with Baffa’s original pop art-inspired paintings of things like Barrel o’ Monkeys, eight balls and, of course, Billy Idol. At the back of the restaurant, the name South Street is spelled out in large metal letters surrounded by graffiti tags done by a local artist. Look close enough and you can see owner Joe Unsin’s daughter’s name (Riley) spelled in looping letters.

Sitting at the bar around 11 p.m. on Tuesday night, bartender Mike Bono pointed out clumps of customers around the room. A group from Carrabba’s joked around at one end of the bar, a few people from Roy’s sat further down and the couple chatting next to me had come from Fifth Avenue South’s Bice Restaurant. A steady stream of pizzas arrived from the kitchen, where Unsin was busy cooking up pies for the late night service industry crowd.

“That’s our deal,” said bartender Mike Bono, “taking care of industry people.”

Unlike virtually everywhere else in Naples, South Street’s kitchen stays open until 2 a.m. every night of the week, serving homemade pizzas and calzones to hungry late night diners and service industry professionals who head over when they get off work.

Baffa insisted that I try a slice of Unsin’s newest creation, a Philly cheese steak pizza that he described as “freaking awesome.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. The rest of the menu, which ends nightly at 10 p.m., is full of simple comfort food staples like macaroni and cheese ($8.99) and meatball parmesan hoagies (subs, if you don’t know the lingo)($7.99). Prices top off at about $14.99 and there are plenty of beers on tap to wash them down. Refreshing isn’t it?