Beloved island pub, restaurant reopens post-hurricane
After taking a hard hit by the 2024 storms, The Mucky Duck on Captiva is back up and running.
The beloved restaurant and pub officially reopened its doors to customers on March 14.
“We’re grateful people have come back,” owner Andreas Bieri said.
When Hurricane Ian struck in 2022, there was a lot of sand and clean up, but no structural damages.
“Ian didn’t do much damage,” he said. “It took us about four months to recover.”
Then Hurricane Helene came along in September 2024, leaving behind sand for removal again.
“It took us a few weeks to get rid of the sand — and then (Hurricane) Milton,” Bieri said of the storm that followed in October. “We were just about to open up again after Helene when Milton struck.”
“That was the big one,” he added.
Sandy Bieri shared via social media that her husband and she had evacuated ahead of the storm. When they received photos of the restaurant afterward from local law enforcement, she cried her eyes out.
“More sand inundation, front windows and wall gone, roof sagging, dining room trashed — we truly thought it was over,” she wrote. “As most of you know, we’ve been through the mill ever since Hurricane Ian in 2022.”
Sandy Bieri shared that her husband was already into his 70s at the time and he had been in the restaurant business for over 50 years, so his initial reaction was that he was done, it was too much.
“But Andreas is not a quitter,” she wrote, explaining that her husband also received a call from a friend on Captiva who told him that he had to rebuild, not for himself, but for his staff and the community.
“He is the most ethical and hardworking person I have ever known, and I am more proud of him than I can say,” Sandy Bieri added. “Not just for what he has accomplished during his lifetime, but also for sticking out this unimaginably difficult journey of multiple hurricanes over the years and the tedious and extremely frustrating rebuilding of the Duck.”
And rebuilding after Milton is what he did.
“It pushed in the front of the building,” he said. “It was structural damage.”
Not to mention the interior damage due to water and wind.
“A lot of things were damaged inside — everything,” Bieri said, citing a laundry list of things that needed replacement or repair, from the roof on down to the plumbing and electric.
In addition, the Duck now boasts a new reconfigured kitchen and new computer systems.
“It looks the same, the feel is the same,” he said. “We have not changed.”
“We found items down the street that belonged here in the dining room,” Bieri added. “A lot of them were damaged, but we salvaged what we could.”
As for elevating the restaurant or adding a roof-top deck, Sandy Bieri touched on it.
“It was not a simple matter of raising our building, which has a historical designation,” she wrote. “The expense, legalities, stress and logistics of not just raising our building, but also having to relocate it due to governmental regulations, or tear it down and do a new build, were not what we wanted to take on.”
“And even if it was, it’s not what we would have chosen to do — we wanted to restore the Duck the way it was, and that was our choice,” Sandy Bieri added. “Fortunately, most folks have been very supportive along the way, and that’s why we have pressed on.”
Her husband voiced appreciation for the customers who have come back.
“That was a nice surprise,” Bieri said.
His wife shared his sentiment.
“We can’t even properly express our gratitude for all of the incredible support we have received over the years — and, of course, thank you to our amazing staff. You are the best,” she wrote. “It truly means the world to us!”
Open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., the restaurant offers appetizers, soups, salads and entrees.
It does not accept reservations.
For more information, visit https://www.muckyduck.com/ or call 239-472-3434.
The Mucky Duck is at 11546 Andy Rosse Lane, Captiva.