Turtle Club in Naples to be shut down up to 1 year after Hurricane Ian damages restaurant

The Turtle Club, the fine dining restaurant that's part of the Vanderbilt Beach Resort, was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ian.

The front window that looked out from the dining room to the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico was busted.

But the one thing that remained was the iconic turtle shell.

“It was the first thing we looked for,” said General Manager Curtis McCreary on Wednesday. “We’re really lucky.”

The three-feet long turtle shell washed up to shore outside the Vanderbilt Hotel in the 1950s, McCreary said. It sat in a maintenance room before becoming a welcoming sight for restaurant visitors.

McCreary said he watched the storm surge from Hurricane Ian on the eatery’s cameras that typically broadcast the Florida sunset. When he returned to the Gulf Shore Drive restaurant, he said he was amazed by the damage.

Naples restaurants: While some local hot spots re-open for business, others are decimated

Who's open?: Where to get a hot meal at Naples restaurants after Hurricane Ian: A list of who's open

“We prepared. We always have hurricanes,” said McCreary, who’s been the GM for five years. “But this is devastating.”

The restaurant had just completed its remodeling, the electrician leaving the day before the storm. It was preparing to open for the busy season, which typically sees about 1,000 customers a day, a new menu was planned and reservations were booked for three months.

The hotel and condominiums will likely open in a month, McCreary said. But the Turtle Club will have to be closed for at least eight months to a year.

McCreary and some of the employees have been working relentlessly to clear debris. McCreary has spent eight-hour days in a skid steer, using the front bucket to scoop away sand and broken plates.

Berny Reyes, a server and manager who has worked at the Turtle Club for about two years, helped move landscaping debris Wednesday afternoon.

He said he made his family walk a mile and a half to check on the restaurant after the storm. When he saw it, it basically made him cry.

“This place is my heart,” he said. “I’m happy to rebuild. Whatever we need, whatever we’ve got to do, I’m in.”

The devastation is a chance to rebuild things the right way, McCreary said.

“We’ll be back and better than ever,” he added.

Contact Ashley White at adwhite@theadvertiser.com or on Twitter @AshleyyDi. 

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Did Turtle Club restaurant in Naples survive Ian? What we know