3 days ago
Waterfront restaurant in downtown Fort Myers permanently closes after two decades
Searches on Apple Maps and Google say it's permanently closed.
Check the corporate website and the location is not listed.
Two identical signs Scotch-taped to the restaurant's front doors are the final confirmation, simply stating, 'We regret to inform you that this location is closed.'
And just like that, longtime downtown Fort Myers staple Joe's Crab Shack is gone.
For more than two decades, this casual waterfront joint served buckets of crab and stuffed shrimp to seafood fans overlooking the river at the base of the Caloosahatchee Bridge.
And while it's hard to believe it's closed, it's not surprising.
In 2017, Ignite Restaurant Group Inc., which owned more than 100 locations at the time, filed for Chapter 11. A few months later, more than 40 locations closed around the U.S. Around the same time, Landry's Restaurants, which owned the franchise back in the late 1990s, re-acquired Joe's.
Locations kept closing, including the one in Naples in 2013.
Today there are only 18, including four in Florida — Daytona Beach, Destin, Jacksonville and Orlando.
In December 2021, the nearly five-acre property on the river side of West First Street — made up of 10 parcels, including Legacy Harbour Marina and hotel and the lease to Joe's ― ultimately sold for a total of $20 million.
In the news: FGCU alum has quickly built an award-winning pizza powerhouse in Naples, Estero
According to Legacy Harbour's website, the property, now owned by AIRN Management, is slated to become a mixed-use community. In 2014, the Fort Myers City Council approved plans for two 25-story towers, featuring 352 residential units and over 37,000 square feet of commercial space. AIRN is looking to update that to increase the units to 377 and include 37,506 square feet of public open space with a riverwalk and park.
While permitting and construction for Phase 1 were set to occur within 10 years of the initial approval in 2014, an extended timeline is also part of that update.
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Robyn George is a food and dining reporter for The News-Press. Connect at rhgeorge@
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Joe's Crab Shack in downtown Fort Myers closes permanently
