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BONITA SPRINGS — A gusty night of rain and wind didn’t keep all local businesses from closing shop Tuesday after Tropical Storm Fay rolled through Bonita Springs.

“I’m mighty glad you’re open,” a customer in a raincoat said after having a hot breakfast at Dolly’s Produce Patch and Eatery on Bonita Beach Road.

A steady stream of customers came in and out, each thanking the business for opening.

Mike Grover, of Bonita Springs, lost power at his house at 10 a.m. Tuesday, and was happy to see Dolly’s was open.

“I came to my favorite spot for lunch,” he said.

Owner Dolly Scott, wearing a bathing suit underneath her clothes, said: “We absolutely opened by 5:30 in the morning.”

Scott has opened the restaurant by flashlight before, during major power outages, but her workers began cooking breakfast and a hot lunch of baked chicken, macaroni and cheese and hot rice pudding at 5 a.m. with electricity in the building.

“We’re always open during a hurricane to feed the community,” she continued.

Her son, Randy Alander joked: “We have afternoon thunderstorms worse than this.”

Many businesses closed as a precautionary measure with Fay predicted to hit Southwest Florida as a potential Category 1 storm with winds nearing 80 miles-per-hour. Even though Fay never reached its potential, Lee County officials estimated that storm cost the county $3.3 million in economic losses.

The owner of New York Pizza & More, Dixon Lopez, in Beach Plaza also planned to open no matter what. The business stayed open for Hurricane Wilma, and Fay was no exception.

“To serve the community,” Lopez explained.

After being open about an hour, the restaurant had received a few phone calls inquiring if it was open, but had yet to see a customer walk through the door.

Though Fay never reached hurricane strength, many business doors remained closed, aside from pharmacies, gas stations and chain eateries.

Big Hickory Seafood Grille Deli & Marina strapped down boats and had a generator on standby, but never lost power. Even so, general manager Bob Hilliard kept the restaurant closed, and took the opportunity to catch up on paperwork Tuesday afternoon.

“We’ll be opening up tomorrow morning. We did OK. We had a little bit of mess, limbs down on the side.” he said.

Other businesses played it by ear, preparing for the worst, but planning for the best.

The Fish House Restaurant employees strapped the restaurant down before the storm. Manager Ken Perhealth was behind the bar around 1 p.m. Tuesday, trying to get the restaurant up and running by 2.

“It was a wait and see thing,” Perhealth said. “We kind of dodged it.”