2 Florida Restaurants Named 'Best Everyday Eats' In The US Were Hit Hard By Hurricane Ian
One restaurant was completely wiped out.
Just a week before Hurricane Ian, Tripadvisor came out with a new list of top-rated restaurants in America. Three Florida restaurants landed on their "Best of the Best Everday Eats" list.
Coming in second place is Doc Ford's Bar & Grille in Fort Myers Beach, FL. No. 4 is Il Pastaiolo In Miami Beach, FL and No. 8 is The Salty Crab Bar & Grill North Beach in Clearwater, FL.
The Fort Myers and Clearwater locations listed were in direct line of the natural disaster, and The Salty Crab Bar & Grill is completely wiped out.
They posted a photo to Instagram four days ago showing a "before and after" of the building with a GoFundMe link to help their 78 staff members.
"Our main focus is just on our employees and making sure that they have what they need," Jamie McElhone, the Marketing Coordinator with the restaurant, told Narcity. She said all the money is going directly to them.
Beachside Hospitality Group, the organization that runs the restaurant, also showed the damage in videos and photos on their TikTok page.
You can see a large body of water sweeping through the building, tearing down the structure and basically leaving rubble.
McElhone told Narcity that they have a donation pick-up location where their workers can take water, food and clothing, as they face their own destruction at home.
@beachsidehospitality #HurricaneIan devastated #FtMyersBeach and we lost everything here at the #SaltyCrab Please donate to our GoFundMe to help our 78 employees. Visit our Facebook Page for more information #BeachsideStrong #FloridaStrong
"What i would do to just get to work one more shift there. I am completely devastated. My home away from home. Love you forever salty crab 🦀 ❤️," a woman named Danielle Staton commented on the video.
They are shut down for business, but Doc Ford's Bar & Grille was able to keep some of its chain locations open. According to its Instagram, the Fort Myers location was hit by the storm.
It is unclear if that location is currently open for business, as the phone lines seem to be down. The establishment hadn't immediately responded to Narcity's request for comment.
As far as The Salty's Crab's reopening process, McElhone says they are waiting for the insurance company to be able to get down to the beach so they can feel out what that might look like.
She called our news team, as their Internet is still out in that area.