Restaurant in Cape Coral helps another in Punta Gorda recover from Milton

Bartenders at the Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda have struggled since Hurricane Milton severely damaged the pub.

So, Nice Guys Pizza in Cape Coral invited them to grab a shift at their restaurant, and on Monday night, they made good on the invitation.

There was no spot at the bar or restaurant. People showed up and supported the Celtic Ray staff, and the night was all about raising money for those staff members.

On a day they’re normally closed, Nice Guys opened their doors to help the fellow Southwest Florida restaurant.

“We’ve got kind of like a bar pop-up with Celtic Ray, so we got a bunch of bartenders running their style service at our bar,” said Greg Gebhard, the owner of Nice Guys. “We’re trying to raise a bunch of money for them, because they’re out of out of work for a little while.”

Hurricanes Helene and Milton damaged the Celtic Ray, and the staff said they couldn’t catch a break.

Matt “Bun” Donnelly, a bartender at Celtic Ray, said, “We got hit first during Helene, which was pretty awful. They completely wrecked the inside, on the outside and the whole kitchen, and everybody teamed together to clean up. And then we got the kitchen reopened. And two days later, Milton happened.”

Donnelly praised the community’s help: “It’s awesome that the community is all getting together to help us out… So it’s great that another part of the community, Cape Coral, is helping us, too. It feels really good.”

Terri Midea had to come out to support.

“We had lost our home to Hurricane Ian, so we know what it’s about with supporting everybody,” said Midea.

Midea couldn’t miss getting pizza and her go-to drink, “I say they come here every Monday and do this.”

Celtic Ray hopes to be fully reopened by next month.