In the Know: Long John Silver’s fate still a mystery

Q: What happened to the Long John Silver’s on the East Trail? It has a sign on the door: "Closed for repairs".

— H. Lyn, Naples

A: The East Naples fast-food seafood franchise, which did not fully recover from losses incurred when a gas line explosion temporarily closed it and many other area restaurants late last year, is in danger of closing permanently, according to franchise co-owner David Eftekhar.

“It is really not closed for repairs,” Eftekhar said.

The local Long John Silver’s, 3015 U.S. 41 E., closed Oct. 4 after operating locally for more than 30 years, but Eftekhar is attempting to find funds to reopen. This includes hitting up TECO Peoples Gas for the $11,000 he says his business lost when a contractor’s bulldozer cut an underground natural gas line on Nov. 11, knocking out gas to businesses and restaurants in Southwest Florida for days.

“It doesn’t seem we can open again unless something happens with the lawsuit,” Eftekhar said, referring to a class-action claim regarding the gas line incident.

“Look, you are literally driving me out of business,” he told TECO, but he has not received a response to his claim.

“We kept up everything until the TECO situation,” he said.

After the gas line rupture, Eftekhar said the cash flow for his business was gone because of a loss of business and spoiled food.

Then, the bank refused to negotiate on his mortgage loan, and foreclosed on the business.

In closing the business, Eftekhar worries most about his seven employees.

“God knows my heart goes out to them. God knows I have taken care of them as long as they have been with me,” he said.

Eftekhar acquired the franchise in 2007, but a Long John Silver’s has operated at that location since the late ’70s. The business lost its drive-through when U.S. 41 East was widened a few years ago.

Paul Ellis, of California-based LE-1 LLC, purchased the half-acre property this spring. He said the current tenants are keeping up with their obligations, but he is entertaining all offers for other businesses to locate there.

The nearest Long John Silver’s location now is at 8993 Dani Drive, off Colonial Drive in Fort Myers.

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Loving Hut, a vegan Asian restaurant, opened in May 2010 in the former location of a string of restaurants which included Long John Silver's on Pine Ridge Road near U.S. 41.

Bet on it: Long John Silver’s

Q: I have a bet with my wife. She says that there was a Long John Silver’s on Pine Ridge Road near 41 that closed within the last 10 years. I never remember seeing one in that area. The only one I can ever remember seeing is the one that is on the East Trail. Please help.

— David, Naples

A: A Long John Silver’s restaurant was on Pine Ridge Road near the U.S. 41 North intersection, but that was more than 15 years ago.

It did business for nearly a decade beginning in 1984 at 975 Pine Ridge Road, now home to Loving Hut, a Taiwan-based vegan restaurant.

That Long John Silver’s was the site of a fatal shooting on May 4, 1993, when two men shot and killed the restaurant’s manager during a robbery attempt.

The would-be robbers made their way through the back door of the restaurant shortly after it closed for the night, forced Timothy Gorsich, 26, of Fort Myers, to open the office safe, and then shot him in the head.

The fast-food seafood restaurant closed for good shortly after the crime, and the homicide remains unsolved.

Since Long John Silver’s, the location has hosted at least five other restaurants. Until Loving Hut opened there last year, it was the site of Tre Fratellis’ Italian restaurant for a few years. Before that, it was two other Italian restaurants — first Chianti’s, then Tre Amici — and a Kenny Rogers Roasters chicken franchise.

Photo by TIM ATEN

Pate’s House of Prime Rib opened in October in the former Coastland Center mall location of Ted’s Montana Grill.

More local restaurant news:

■ Pate’s House of Prime Rib recently opened in the former Coastland Center mall location of Ted’s Montana Grill, the Ted Turner bison burger chain that vacated the space in January 2010. For the past six years, Stanly Pate has operated Pate’s Steak House at the Ramada Inn — previously Holiday Inn — at 1100 U.S. 41 N. in Naples. The original steakhouse location continues to be operated by Pate, but has been renamed Pate’s Pub.

Photo by TIM ATEN

Mother Cluckerz Chicken Kitchen (& Other Eclectic Edibles) opened and closed this year in the former home of Cilantro Tamales, 10823 U.S. 41 N., just south of Immokalee Road.

■ Mother Cluckerz Chicken Kitchen (& Other Eclectic Edibles) reopened Friday in the former home of Cilantro Tamales in Naples Park. The North Naples restaurant is in Sunset Plaza, 10823 U.S. 41 N., just south of Immokalee Road. The new restaurant originally opened at the end of July, but closed to remodel the interior at the end of August.

The menu, of course, includes everything chicken — soup, wings, nuggets, strips, breasts, burgers and dinners — but chef Kevin Osella regularly features specials on items such as grilled mahi mahi, baby back ribs, and mussels.

“We wanted to do something different, and fun and funky and casual,” Osella said.

Photo by TIM ATEN

Olive Garden will open its newest restaurant in Coconut Point at 4 p.m. Oct. 24.

■ Olive Garden will open its newest restaurant at 8091 Plaza Del Lago Drive in Coconut Point at 4 p.m. Oct. 24. The new Estero restaurant is built in the company’s Tuscan Farmhouse design, inspired by the traditional farmhouse found in Tuscany, Italy. Olive Garden design teams traveled to Italy regularly to work with Italian architects to create a restaurant that recalls the warmth and simple beauty of a Tuscan farmhouse, according to a news release.

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