Sandy Hook, a must visit on Pine Island, FL

The life and times of Sandy Hook Fish and Rib House, now Yucatan Waterfront Bar & Grill. 

Interesting how time flies, especially when you've been around the Pine Island area for a while and watched how it has grown.

40 years!  Not many restaurants in Southwest Florida can claim a great track record of entertaining and making patrons happy, but Sandy Hook Fish and Rib House can.

Let's first go back to 1978 when Sandy Hook opened as the Sandy Hook Crab House.  A retired dentist, responsible for the name of Sandy Hook, personally carved the Totem poles out front and painted most of the art on the walls.  Sandy Hook was known as a supper club back then and the then owner, Jean Kuznar, would play piano and sing to her restaurant patrons as they gobbled down their Pine Island fresh catch.

The Hook has many other interesting tidbits behind its doors including real ship portholes, a compass on the end of an Eddie gun, antique paintings, brass antique cash register at the entrance and an ole crank phone sitting in a corner that if cranked still works, amongst many other curiosities inside and out.

The Kuznar's decided to sell the restaurant in 1981 to two gentlemen who owned it for just under a decade.  During this same decade,  Rich and Bev Lauber who owned Mariner's Inn in North Fort Myers frequented Sandy Hook and fell in love with the place, eventually buying a home in Saint James City, then finally settled into Matlacha.  They told the gentlemen if they ever decided to sell, that they'd like to be first in line.

In 1989, the Lauber's dream of owning Sandy Hook came true as they were approached by the gentlemen for the sale and now this is where the Hook blossomed along with a young girl, Nicole who at the time was a hard working teen.

Ms Nicole's first images of Sandy Hook were "BROWN", everything "brown" and she really didn't take a liking to the color, so her first impression was: "I don't care to go back".

Further to this family story, her parents said she would be going back, because they just bought the place and that she'd be working there starting Tuesday in which she begrudgingly agreed because she respected her parents and would do almost anything for them.

The first night working at Sandy Hook, Nicole came home and told her parents that she never wanted to go back to Mariner's Inn and wanted to stay at Sandy Hook and work.  She loved Sandy Hook- the view, the people and the feeling of the Pine Island community.

Needless to say, Nicole had an impact at a very young age.  Rich and Bev painted the walls white and got rid of the brown. This is when they discovered amazing art by the original owner of The Hook which you couldn't see with the brown background. Nicole's father painstakingly painted around them and touched them up many times to keep them in good condition throughout the years that followed.

Nicole went off on her own for a little while attending college and working for a restaurant supply company, but eventually asked her parents if she could return and run the restaurant, being she felt the restaurant and the island was really in her blood.

Nicole took over management of the restaurant in 1997 while Mom did books and Dad did maintenance and over saw the kitchen.

To this day, this amazing family has kept a staff with some working for the family for 35 years and others 20 years. Nicole says, "staff treat the business like it's part of a family.  They are our backbone."

She continues, "We've celebrated many first dates, marriage proposals, weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and celebrations with our customers and I feel so unbelievably fortunate to be a part of it all.  Blowing the ships horn is a highlight for patrons when these things happen, they actually can't wait for it."

Now, the Hook has been recently sold but will still continue to operate "as is" for now.

If you'd like to enjoy watching the Ospreys (seahawks) and Pelicans eat their fresh catches over a beautiful view of the water in an old Florida setting, this is the place!

Sandy Hook Fish and Rib House is a must when on Pine Island for dinner.  Hours are Tuesday thru Saturday 4pm to 9pm and Sunday they open early 12noon to 8pm.  They are the very last stop in Matlacha and the very first stop before you make your journey onto the big island, Pine Island at 4875 Pine Island Rd, Matalcha, Florida.

-⚓written by Jennifer Russell, resident of Pine Island for 19 years and key contributor to "Things to DO on Pine Island"!