With closures and power outages surrounding Hurricane Irma, these places flourished

The skies were darkening, rain had been coming from the clouds for hours and with a curfew in place, there was nearly no one to be found on the streets the afternoon of Sept. 10, 2017.

Despite the daunting approach of Hurricane Irma, which would hit Manatee County overnight between Sept. 10 and Sept. 11, a few beacons of light could be found. A few local establishments were up and running until the last minute, then were some of the first to provide hot meals and cold drinks after the storm passed.

One of them was Cafe Amalfi, on 14th Street West in Bayshore Gardens. Last year, owner John D’Atria said the restaurant was open and he would ride out the storm there with his dog, Lakota, because he knew it would be safer than at his house.

It turned out to be a good business decision, one he said he would “absolutely” do again should another storm roll through the area.

“We did fantastic that week,” D’Atria said. “The whole week was astronomical.”

He said people were lined up out of the door for a taste of warm Italian food.

“People didn’t care, they just wanted food. They were starving,” D’Atria said. “They had nowhere to go. It was crazy.”

His restaurant is positioned at the edge of the Apollo Center in the 6700 block of Tamiami Trail, just down the street and within walking distance from a couple hotels.

Many of his customers that day were staying in the nearby hotels and came out in search of a hot meal. That Saturday before the storm, he said he did three to four times his normal business as other restaurants and businesses started shutting down.

“In a time of distress like that, I just couldn’t believe how everybody kind of depends on you,” D’Atria said.

He wasn’t alone.

In the 2500 block of Manatee Avenue, the doors were open at 3 Keys Brewing and Eatery most of Sept. 10. Jeff Douglas — who has owned the brewery with his wife, Cathy, for about two years — said they had fresh food in the kitchen and stayed open to sell as much of it as they could. Should they have lost power during the storm, the food could have gone bad.

It worked in their favor. Douglas said the brewery was “packed all day.”

To the point, Douglas said, where customers stepped up to help them board up the business before the hurricane struck.

On Monday morning, Douglas and his wife returned to the brewery to find the power still on. They pulled down the boards and put up signs. The two of them went back to running the bar and stocked some brewery equipment typically reserved for beer with water. They gave out water and ice to anyone who came up to ask.

Douglas said providing water and ice to the community was “a no-brainer.”

“We became the place people came,” Douglas said.

Without much left in the way of food, Douglas opted to serve beer that day and called in a friend with a food truck.

Johnny McKinney, owner of J&J Bar B Que, brought his food trailer to 3 Keys that afternoon. He had a line of customers for hours, he said.

McKinney has owned the food trailer for about three years and has worked in the restaurant business since 1979. He said with the nature of his business, he “stays ready to go,” so he was able to prepare food and opened for business around 4 p.m.

“I knew a lot of people had power out and they were going to be looking for something to eat after the hurricane,” McKinney said.

The biggest challenge, he said, was keeping food stocked.

“I’m just lucky I keep a lot of inventory on-hand and ready to go,” McKinney said.

Douglas and McKinney said customers told them how glad they were to find somewhere open.

“People were waiting an hour for food but were happy to have something,” Douglas said.

But with power out across the county, not everyone was able to jump back into operation so quickly.

Anna Maria Oyster Bar restaurants closed down days before Hurricane Irma arrived, said John Horne, the president of the company.

The decision to shut down the four locations gave the restaurants time to secure food and supplies, as well as give their employees time to find safety and shelter from the approaching storm.

Once Irma passed, the stores opened again one by one as power was restored. The beauty of having multiple locations, Horne said, was the luxury of being able to pull staff and products from other locations to fill in gaps.

“The staff was obviously ecstatic to get to work but we consider ourselves second responders. You go to a restaurant to feel comfortable,” Horne said.

Bringing back that sense of home and a bit of normalcy — being a place for people to sit in air conditioning or have a hot meal again, even getting back to work— after a traumatic experience was important.

As was making sure staff had a sense of security too. Horne said by communicating regularly with them and being prepared, helps provide that. Horne said being prepared with account numbers for the business and phone numbers for utility providers before the storm even approaches can help in the aftermath.

But would those that stayed open do it all the same, should another storm hit?

D’Atria said yes, but would consider making a special “hurricane menu” with limited items. It would cut down the number of things he would have to make and could better prepare food in larger amounts for the crowds.

It also helped spread the word about D’Atria’s restaurant, growing his customer base for the rest of the year. D’Atria said he even gets recognized at the grocery store by customers he served immediately before and after the storm.

Douglas, too, said they would do it all again. It’s about putting the community first.

“We’re all in that situation together, be nice to each other and help each other out,” he said.

He hopes to see the same attitude in the future.

“That makes me feel great that I was doing a service to the community like that, ‘cause I know how people felt. A lot of people didn’t have power, especially in this area.... A lot of places weren’t open so it made me feel pretty good to be able to provide that for people when they needed it,” McKinney said.

This story was originally published September 6, 2018 at 1:41 PM.