The Mucky Duck restaurant, a Captiva Island staple and popular sunset-viewing dining destination since 1976, is on the verge of reopening after Hurricane Ian, owner Andreas Bieri said.

The soft relaunch is “days away,” he said, not knowing the exact date yet, but there will be a limited menu.

Located off the Gulf of Mexico at 11546 Andy Rosse Lane, The Mucky Duck has been shut down since Sept. 28, when the Category 4 hurricane wiped out power to the island and devastated much of it.

Somehow, the restaurant was spared from any major damage.

“To me, it’s a miracle,” Bieri said. “It’s a miracle. You look at Blind Pass and all the restaurants there. Gone. Gone. It was just absolutely hard to believe.” 

Bieri, born in Switzerland, arrived on Captiva in 1974 and became a part-owner of The Mucky Duck in 1980. He bought out his business partners between 2011 and 2016, becoming the full owner.

Only a tiny amount of water seeped inside the restaurant during the storm, and the building’s roof lost not one shingle from the winds. However, the road to reopening hasn’t been easy, as the storm deposited several feet of sand under and around the restaurant, covering much of the typically cramped parking lot.

Crews needed more than a month to excavate the sand, some of which remains in piles between the building and beach.

Bieri also had to replace the natural gas lines. 

“That took a while,” he said. “Now, at least we have hot water. You need hot water to run a restaurant.”

There will be other challenges, he said. For example, his soft drink distributor told him it would not be delivering for a while. Bieri said he would have to offer canned soft drinks instead.

“We will have a soft opening, hopefully in a few days,” Bieri said. “And just take it from there. Everybody is anxious to get their job back. I know it’s not going to be like it used to be. But we’re just going to do whatever we can.”