Effects of red tide cause Englewood restaurant to close

A popular waterfront restaurant in Englewood is being forced to close its doors. With the impacts of red tide being so close by and potent, it has caused the business to lose thousands of dollars per day.

The picturesque views and atmosphere are what draw customers to the Beach Road Wine Bar and Bistro. But the waterfront that so many love may also be what forced the business to shut its doors.

Tracy Warren is the general manager at Beach Road Wine Bar. “This time of the year with the rain and the storms and the hurricanes. We’re always battling something and now throw the red tide in there,” Warren said.

Warren says the dead fish, along with the potent smell red tide brings, has cost the bistro thousands of dollars a day.

“We just want our employees and our customers to be safe,” said Warren.

Captain Riley Fauteux is a manager of Beach Road Water Sports and says he depends on the water to keep his business afloat. “We’re letting people know before they rent any of our equipment, there is red tide in the area,” said Fauteux.

He says he’s also out hundreds of dollars per day for every day that his business stays open. And, Fauteux believes that figure will continue to rise to thousands if he’s not able to take visitors out on Gulf this upcoming holiday weekend.

“It’s almost like a 50-50 shot coming in every day. You don’t know if it’s gonna be worse over at the Marina, or it’s going to be you know, a lot better,” he said.

Both businesses say they are closely monitoring red tide conditions

“We’re just hopeful it, you know, doesn’t last very much longer and we can get back up and running and do what we do best,” said Warren.

They want to make sure customers can get back to enjoying the waterfront views.

Beach Road Wine Bar and Bistro hopes to reopen by Friday. Beach Road Water Sports, on the other hand, is remaining open but monitors conditions each day.