With a sale of the property now pending, the owners of Bonita Bill’s have announced that after 30 years in business they will be closing on Sunday, January 5th. The rumor in the community is that the new owners will be the owners of Doc Ford’s, however, Marty and Joe Harrity have not responded to an email we sent to verify or deny that rumor.
There are actually 4 properties listed as pending at $6.9 million. They are 700, 702, 716 and 718 Fishermann’s Wharf. 700 and 702 are where the restaurant is located. 716 and 718 are across the road from the restaurant. All 4 pieces of property are next door to Doc Ford’s. Some have speculated that if the owners of Doc Ford’s are the eventual buyers they will use at least some of that property to expand their parking lot. The future of the restaurant is unknown at this time.
The property went up for sale shortly after the owner Bill Semmer passed away last year. Semmer bought the Bonita Fish Company and Fish House in 1991 and changed the name to Bonita Bill’s Waterfront Cafe and Tiki Bar. The original asking price for the properties when they were first listed was $7.9 million.
On the Bonita Bill’s Facebook page they posted that they “will continue with regular operating hours; closed on Mondays. Tuesday-Friday 11am-9:30pm-ish (lunch/dinner only), and Saturday & Sunday from 8am to 9:30pm-ish. We will be open NYE (regular hours).”
If you have a gift card with a balance email Finance@BonitaBills.com for assistance.
Thanks for that wonderful piece of history.
A historic bayfront in San Carlos Island history.
Hundreds of thousands of pounds of Estero and Hellpeckney Bay mullett went thru the Bonita Fish Company and Dixie Fish next door in the 40s, 50s and 60s.
Arthur Anderson’s Gulfpak dock on the other side of Bonita Fish became home to one of the island’s first shrimp fleets in 1950. He was heir to the country’s largest accounting firm, the Arthur Anderson Company, and invented a modern vending machine.
Next door to Gulfpak was the island’s first restaurant, Lucille and Clarence Joiner’s Sunshine Isles, at the foot of the swing bridge.
Doc Townley’s ice house was next door to where Doc Ford’s is today. The entire block was a thriving wharf as early as the 40s.