Iconic island eatery returns with same whimsy, charm
The Bubble Room on Captiva is back with its eclectic decor, creative menu and nostalgic vibes.
Almost three years after Hurricane Ian — 1,021 days to be exact — the colorful doors of the beloved restaurant reopened on July 14 on Captiva Drive. One of the most unique and entertaining dining experiences, it features three floors fully adorned with retro “bubble lights,” moving trains and photos of musicians, stars and starlets from the Golden Age of Hollywood, plus more than 3,000 antiques from the 1930s and ’40s.
Stephen Peach, general manager for sister businesses Boops by The Bubble Room and The Bubble Room Emporium, whose wife is the general manager for the eatery, talked about the reopening.
“It’s been great. Lots of excited guests,” he said, explaining that customers have been curious to discover if their favorite trinkets survived the storm and what decorations are back or not.
Peach noted that the response has been very consistent.
“We were able to keep The Bubble Room The Bubble Room,” he said.
When Ian struck in September 2022, it set in motion a renovation that would take years to finish.
“Ian’s devastation was mainly because of the lack of being able to mitigate for a month or two,” Peach said, referring to the collapse along the Sanibel Causeway and the islands cutoff from the mainland.
He added that once they were able to access the restaurant, there was no power or water.
“We decided to gut the entire first floor,” Peach said, explaining that beyond the mitigation, it was gutted and stripped down to the studs, then rebuilt but upgraded to meet today’s building codes.
“To carry The Bubble Room into the future,” he noted.
They had almost completed the first floor when Hurricanes Helene and Milton hit last year.
“They each gave us even more water than Ian,” Peach said, adding that both were worse for Captiva.
Forced back to square one, they had to redo the first floor all over again. He noted that the wood tongue-and-grove paneling used for the interior walls had buckled in Ian — and did so again.
“The biggest difference was we could mitigate right away,” Peach said.
“We’ve been putting this place back together for three years,” he added.
The estimated loss of revenue during the long closure is in the tens of millions of dollars.
As for the revitalized and refreshed eatery, most of it remains the same.
“As far as the menu, we kept the integrity of it,” Peach said of the creative lunch and dinner options featuring quirky names, along with the signature cocktails, freshly-baked breads and tasty cakes.
“We definitely didn’t change any of the cake recipes,” he added.
With the decor, they were very careful to put thinks back as they were. However, they were more purposeful in creating themed areas by grouping similar items together, versus having everything all over the place. For example, the “Nemo” room houses nautical, fishing, mermaid and such items.
“Several other spots throughout the restaurant we were able to do that as well,” Peach said.
There are also some exciting additions.
“We were able to get a few more really cool antiques,” he said.
The Superman phone booth that was a cardboard cutout is now a wax figure of Henry Cavill.
“It’s a big upgrade for that little picture spot,” Peach said.
In addition, the Alice in Wonderland display involving a painted picture on the ceiling that depicted her falling through rabbit hole is now replaced with a LED screen that shows her falling through the hole.
“The biggest changes are with the layout of the back of the house,” he said.
They were able to relocate some server stations and make a few more tweaks to add seats.
“We were at 160 seats and now we’re at 175,” Peach said.
“The main things were keeping it the same, but changing it from a back-end perspective for better execution,” he added.
With the eatery a buzz with activity again, Peach voiced appreciation to all those involved.
“I can’t say enough about the dedication and hard work of these people,” he said of the staff. “We have a core group of people that never left, and we have another group of people that came right back.”
“These people care, they want to be here,” Peach added. “It’s nice to be surrounded by that level of commitment and motivation.”
He extended thank yous to DBK Industries, which was the general manager for the renovation project, along with Will Prather and Chef Ted Jenkins at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre in Fort Myers.
“They kept us going right after the storm by allowing us to continue doing our cakes,” Peach said, explaining that the theater let them to use its kitchen to prepare and cook their cakes for sale.
He noted that their vendor Sysco was also instrumental in helping them bounce back.
In addition, Peach thanked John Nader at The Great White Grill on Sanibel. When Boops opened and they were seeking a closer on-island site to bake their cakes, he stepped up and offered his venue.
The public is invited to stop by and reminiscence.
Open daily, the restaurant offers lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner from 4:30 to 9 p.m.
It is not taking reservations at this time, so service is first come, first served.
For more information, visit https://bubbleroomrestaurant.com/.
The Bubble Room is at 15001 Captiva Drive, Captiva.