Mike and Dawn Miller, owners of The Whale on Fort Myers Beach, have confirmed to Beach Talk Radio that they are purchasing the Tuckaway Cafe at 2301 Estero Boulevard. The sale price was $3.1 million.
September 23, 2022 was the 11th year of owning Tuckaway Cafe for Tre and Amy Gillette. 5 days later Hurricane Ian ripped their building apart. For several months, like so many other restaurants, the Tuckaway team has been serving the community out of a food truck on their property and the original plan seemed to be that the Gillette’s would repair their building and reopen. They own both the building and the property.
However, the uncertainty of the cost to build back under new rules, how much insurance will cover from the damage, the time it takes to rebuild, and where business owners are in life can, and has changed how business owners move forward on Fort Myers Beach. A for sale sign went up about a week ago and the property was sold in a few days.
Before moving to 2301 Estero, Tuckaway Cafe was located at 1740 Estero.
The building was also home to Royal Scoop Ice Cream.
The Miller’s say they are planning to open a new restaurant called Sandy Bottoms Bar & Grill. They expect the sale to close June 20th.