LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Mark Blust and his team at the Sanibel Grill are preparing to open on a Tuesday at the restaurant located on Tarpon Bay Road.
“It’s been ehh. I would be honest here and say it’s been poor,” said Blust.
Blust is expecting today to be another slow day at the restaurant that sits adjacent to Timbers, which right now isn’t even open.
“We are operating at half as you can see. We aren’t even filling up this place so no need to have both open to be honest,” said Blust.
It’s safe to say that his restaurant is struggling.
“If you want to be nice about it — yes, sure, absolutely,” said Blust.
Up the road on Captiva at RC Otters, things aren’t much better.
“We aren’t making enough to stay afloat as is no one. Our insurance also has gone up. Mine more than tripled so as a restaurant owner you can imagine that’s a lot of cheeseburgers you have to sell to make some of that back,” said RC Otters owner Sandy Stillwell-Youngquist.
The decision to suspend tolls does come at a cost.
“You’re looking at on average a loss of $30,000 each of those days,” said John Lai with the SanCap Chamber of Commerce.
Those numbers are based on the Sunday average of last year so could be skewed according to Lai.
“We will have a better idea of those numbers after the six weeks is up,” said Lai.
In 2022 for the same exact days the tolls will be closed, the sum total of the expected loss of revenue would equal $180,000.
“It sounds like a lot but we believe that the traffic, it might encourage — will be worth much more than just money to these businesses. It means they get to survive,” said Lai.
According to Lee County:
“Board votes to support “Savor the Shore” campaign to boost restaurants and attractions.”
The Lee County Board of County Commissioners voted Tuesday to waive tolls on the Sanibel Causeway for the next six Sundays in support of the “Savor the Shore” campaign organized by the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau.
Tolls on the Causeway will be waived each Sunday through September 10. The campaign is intended to encourage residents to enjoy access to local restaurants and attractions during the off-season. Tolls are waived each Sunday on the Causeway only, not additional Lee County bridges.
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