FMBGN-BIZ-Snug Harbor, Wahoo Willies, and SOB-The How The Trio of Taste are Revitalizing the Beach

Peter Ennis invites us into the heart of Fort Myers Beach's resilient restaurant scene, showcasing how his trio of beloved establishments—Snug Harbor Waterfront Restaurant, Wahoo Willies, and SOB—are contributing to the community's remarkable comeback story.

When Peter opened Snug Harbor six years ago, he revived more than just a restaurant—he reconnected with local history, establishing the eatery on the same spot where the original Snug Harbor stood in the 1970s. What makes his approach special is the genuine boat-to-table experience. His business partner commercially catches fish just before Hurricane Pass, ensuring Chef Rizzo (who's worked with them for over 25 years) has access to the freshest possible seafood. For visitors unfamiliar with local species like triple tail, golden tilefish, or American red snapper, these dishes offer a true taste of southwest Florida waters.

The spirit of preservation extends to Peter's other ventures. At Wahoo Willies, operating partner Bill Ignati—whose family was part of the original cottage community—has reintroduced prime rib nights that hearken back to Charlie's Steakhouse, maintaining beloved traditions despite hurricane challenges. Similarly, when SOB's previous owners decided to move on, Peter and partners Angie and Hank Leitnicker stepped in to ensure this local favorite would continue serving the community.

Beyond serving excellent food and drinks, Peter's businesses actively strengthen community bonds through free concert series at Bayside Park between the restaurants. These Friday evening and Sunday afternoon gatherings have become essential meeting grounds where locals, seasonal residents, and first-time visitors connect through music and shared experience. After weathering multiple hurricanes, Peter has also become adept at rapid response, putting equipment on wheels for quick evacuation—a skill he wryly notes "you don't want to be good at," but one that's necessary for coastal business survival.

Want to experience Fort Myers Beach's revival firsthand? As Peter says, "The beach looks nicer than I think it's ever looked," with expanded shorelines and hotels reopening. Whether you arrive by car or boat (dockage available at Snug Harbor), you'll find a warm welcome, fresh seafood, and the unmistakable spirit that makes this slice of paradise worth fighting for.

Peter Ennis
Snug Harbor Restaurant
645 Old San Carlos Blvd, Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931
 [phone]
snugharbor.restaurant

Wahoo Willies
645 Old San Carlos Blvd, Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931
239) 233-8055
wahoowillies.com

Smokin' Oyster Bar (SOB)
340 Old San Carlos Blvd, Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931
[phone]
sob4fun.com

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Fort Myers Beach Good Neighbor
podcast, where the sun's alwaysshining and the stories are even
brighter.
Each episode we bring youcloser to the neighbors, local
legends and beachside businessesthat make Fort Myers Beach the
slice of paradise we all love.
Pull up a beach chair, grab adrink and let's meet the people
who make this island feel likehome.
We want to send out some islandlove to Eric Tibbs from Edward

(00:35):
Jones State Insurance USA andHome Well Care Services Fort
Myers.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Welcome to Fort Myers Beach.
Good neighbors, we're all aboutno shade and just sunshine, and
the sun is out today, so welove it.
And we've got Peter Ennis fromStug Harbor, Wahoo Willies and
SOB with us today.
Yes, sir, yeah, welcome.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
Thanks for coming down to Stug Harbor and thanks
for having us.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
We've got a beautiful view today and the weather is
great, so let's jump in.
So those are the people thataren't familiar with what you do
down here.
Why don't you start?

Speaker 3 (01:08):
off by sharing a little bit.
Sure.
Sure, about six years ago weopened Snug Harbor Waterfront
Restaurant.
This is on the same locationthat Snug Harbor existed,
probably in the late 70s, reallyOkay.
And then they actually moved tothe N nelly's building and then
, uh, we came back and opened inlate 19.
Wow, so we're doing that here.

(01:29):
My partner catches local fishcommercially, uh, in the little,
uh little shack right beforehurricane pass up in the air
with the freezers and machinesdown below.
Um, so it's very meticulousthat, uh, that chef rizzo gets
the best, freshest fish possible.
Any seafood things we do, nickalways has his hand on it and
Chef Rizzo's worked with Nickthey're like family for 25-plus

(01:51):
years, so they do a great jobtogether here.
Bill Ignati is our operatingpartner at Wahoo Willies and
he's been on the beach almosthis whole life.
His family was part of thecottage.
Okay, he managed Charlie'sSteakhouse.
This summer, on Wednesdays andSaturdays we started bringing
prime rib back like they used toat Charlie's.
It's been a real big hit.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
They're iconic places .

Speaker 3 (02:17):
We brought back to SOB because Reed and his dad
decided to move on.
We brought a couple of partnersin Angie and Hank Leitnicker.
They came down.
They're friends of Nick's.
Okay, we met them, spent sometime and we opened.
Right around Christmas wereopened the SOB.
We had a few tweaks because ofthe hurricane, but it's as

(02:37):
similar as we could.
We brought it back as best wecould to close.
You know, close to what it was.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
You've got a nice little trio of businesses right
here.
Yeah, we do.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
And we're doing.
A great part of the world.
I mean Fort Myers Beach is, youknow, there's, you know, talk
of some of the cottages thataren't here anymore if there are
hurricanes, but the people arestill here.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
That's what matters Right.

Speaker 3 (02:54):
The people are what make Fort Myers Beach Fort Myers
Beach the community.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (03:05):
And we've got to us here that, uh, we're gonna be
hosting some events coming, yes,yes, tonight.
Uh, tonight, actually, smackdaddy's coming down.
Okay, we have first fridaynight concert series.
Um, we're gonna be doing hereat bayside park between, uh,
snug harbor, wahoo willies andnervous nelly's okay um 6 to 9
on Fridays and 4 to 7 on Sundays.
We've been doing that for abouta year and Sundays has been so
good.
It brings locals together withvisitors, with people from out

(03:25):
of town that haven't been downhere before, and it's a free
concert, so it's always goodbands, local bands, and it's
really good for Fort Myers.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
Beach.
That's what I said.
It brings the communitytogether.
Sunday's a great day, Sundayfun day right, absolutely, it's
a great day.

Speaker 3 (03:38):
Sunday fun day right, absolutely, it's a great way.
Spend the day at the beach onthe boat and then pop in here at
four o'clock and hang out for afew hours and listen to music.
And fridays we're hoping to getpeople come out friday after
work.
Yeah, let's get on the beachand get something to eat and
listen to a great bandabsolutely so let's back up the
story a little bit here too.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
But, um, obviously we all deal with storms you, you
know whether personally,professionally, Right, Fort
Myers Beach has had their sharein the last couple of years and
challenges.
Are there certain challengesthat you've?
I mean, we've all started tocome back and grow a little bit
from it.
But is there something thatkind of you kind of point back
and say you know, we made itthrough.
Now we're seeing the light atthe end of the tunnel.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
Yeah, Unfortunately we lost a few pieces of
equipment here on the dock atsnug harbor when helene came
through last year and less thantwo weeks later milton came
through.
So we learned by by just acouple pieces of refrigeration
equipment we learned pretty goodhow to get everything on wheels

(04:36):
, all of our equipment.
We put on a couple trucks andjust drove them off the island.
Smart right.

Speaker 1 (04:41):
You know right.

Speaker 3 (04:42):
I think DeSantis said it the first time I'd heard it
from any governor.
When I say evacuate, leave, Idon't mean drive to Alabama,
Just get away from the water youknow, get inland.
Yeah, we literally just took itover to 41 and parked there a
couple of days.
We brought it back, our crewwas excited to get it all back
put together and we were open afew days later.
And it's funny how.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
You don't want to be good at that.
That's what I mean.
You don't want to be good at it.
But we've learned a lot.

Speaker 3 (05:08):
We've learned a lot.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
And it's helped prepare for other Absolutely so
it's nice going forward.
Running a business on the beachcould be a challenge in itself
too.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
It can Anywhere, but it's tough on the beach too,
because everyone's, you know thetown is trying to get back
together.
I think they're just movinginto their, finally getting
moved into their own offices andtown hall, which is good.
But, yeah, it's tough but wejust we do our best to
contribute where we cancontribute where we can um the,

(05:42):
the chamber, the women's club,the community foundation, fmb,
strong so many, so many great,great organizations and great
people that are trying to dothings to keep the community
building and keep it strong.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
So, whatever we can do to help, we do our best to
try to contribute and I'venoticed that because I was going
to be my next question aboutgiving back and supporting the
community and you guys do quitea bit down, we should try you
know, especially with the threebusinesses right in this area,
it's it's important again, I,supporting the community and you
guys do quite a bit down there,we sure try, you know,
especially with the threebusinesses right in this area.

Speaker 3 (06:01):
It's important Again bringing the community together.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
Absolutely Supporting each other and growing in the
right way.
So I know you're not fromSouthwest Florida originally.
I'm not you were born in thesame town I was born in.

Speaker 3 (06:14):
It's a crazy story, tiny little town in Wisconsin.
Tiny little town.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
yes, by the same doctor.
It is crazy.

Speaker 3 (06:20):
I moved here in 1992, so I've been here 33 years
Actually.
My partner, nick Ruland, wasactually one of the first people
I met.
I had a little place calledBackwaters, over by Getaway
Marina, and Nick had thefishmonger.
I've been married for 20 plusyears and I have to be right
next door, so yeah, I was veryfortunate to meet them early on.
I was a young kid and didn'tknow much.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
What brought you down here to?

Speaker 3 (06:42):
start, my mom had a place in Cape Coral, so I came
down to visit a few times anddid the corporate life with
Pizza Hut and decided I wantedto do something different, and
so just the opportunity came upto lease a little place I call
Backwaters, and so I did thatfor a few years and brought me
down here, which is a greatthing, nice, yes.

Speaker 2 (07:00):
We all love it.
Yeah, I got tired of the coldweather and was like I'm out of
here I'm moving south, and myjoke was I was going to put a
snow shovel on the foot of mycar and drive until somebody
asked me what it was.
That's right.
So I know operating threebusinesses down here could be
very demanding of your time, butwhen you do get a moment of

(07:20):
free time, what do you enjoydoing outside of work?

Speaker 3 (07:23):
You know what A little bit of golf.
My son just moved home so helikes to golf, so we'll golf
with him, and our family lovesto boat, so not real often, but
if we get on the boat, you knowonce a week or every other week
then that's a great way to spenda few hours Getting know once a
week or every other week, thenuh, that's a great way to spend
a few hours getting outside andenjoying the weather, absolutely
, absolutely, and now's a goodtime of the year to get out
because, especially with weatherlike this, yes, and it's not

(07:44):
too crazy with no people.

Speaker 2 (07:46):
We can do it, because once season comes, we're busy
non-stop, which is a good thing,but absolutely we need to enjoy
it while we can, absolutely.
So what is one thing that afirst-time visitor when?
When they come here, what dothey need to try?
What do you recommend?

Speaker 3 (07:59):
You know what, Like I mentioned with Nick getting the
fish, anything you can get withGrouper.
Or if you see a local fish andyou say, what is that?
I've never heard of that.
It's probably something thatjust came off the boat.
It's fresh, like a triple tailor a golden tilefish or gray
tilefish or American red snapper.
Maybe people from up north havenever heard of them.
Those are just delicious,delicious fish and again, Chef

(08:22):
Rizzo prepares them about asgood as you can make.

Speaker 2 (08:25):
And fresh.
That's right, that's the bestthing.

Speaker 3 (08:28):
What about drinks?

Speaker 2 (08:29):
Drinks.

Speaker 3 (08:30):
Actually it's funny you mentioned that this week,
all weekend long through Monday,we're doing some Jimmy Buffett
celebration drinks a bunch oftequila drinks here.
Our ultimate margarita, even ifit's not Jimmy Buffett, is
probably the go-to drink I likemy tequila Good frozen drinks
too, but yes.

Speaker 2 (08:44):
Rum Runners, we got.

Speaker 3 (08:45):
Rum Runners.

Speaker 2 (08:46):
Absolutely.
You're by the beach.
You need one of those right,Absolutely For sure.
So how would our listeners goabout finding you or contacting
you if they had any questions orwanted to stop?

Speaker 3 (08:55):
by.
You know what.
We're all on all threelocations around Facebook.
We all have websites.
But I think the easiest way is,if you're at Times Square and
you just walk four minutestowards the bay, you're going to
run right into all threerestaurants.
When you come, you can't seethe bridge from here.
The bridge is literally 200yards from here.
So when you come off the bridgeonto the beach, on the north

(09:17):
end.
You can just look down to yourright.
You'll see it take a right anda right and again.
You'll be on old st carl'sboulevard drive till you get to
the end and you'll run rightinto all three restaurants.
It's a great little area.
It's a great corner it is it isand we have.
You know there's otheroperations around too.
You know, like mentionednervous dally's, matt tanzas is
there.
Um, you know margaritaville ishalfway between here and Times
Square, yep, you know.

(09:38):
So there's a lot of good placesto go, a lot of hotels to stay
at.
Now we you know the LighthouseHotel and the Tiki Bar.
They've been open for months.
Lonnie Kai, diamond Head, mywife and I went and did a little
walkthrough with Tim over atthe Best.
Western Resort and it'sbeautiful, nice little pool,
beautiful wide area of the beach.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
The beach looks nicer than I think it's ever looked.
The beach is big, it's nice.
It's crazy how big the beach isnow.
I'm like they did a great jobwith that.

Speaker 3 (10:06):
They did, and the pier is what?
A year and a half away.

Speaker 2 (10:10):
Yeah, they say, they got the plans let's hope.
Yeah, let's, it's coming back.

Speaker 3 (10:14):
It is.
Absolutely, absolutely, andthat's what we're excited about
A little slow, but it's comingback and it's coming back good
in a good way for everyone.

Speaker 2 (10:20):
So we're inviting the people to come on down check it
out, enjoy the beach, enjoy theweather.

Speaker 3 (10:25):
Enjoy the restaurants that's right.

Speaker 2 (10:27):
Fresh fish right.
That's right.
There we go.
Any last words for ourlisteners today?

Speaker 3 (10:33):
No, I just Just really look forward to just what
you said.
Open to the public by dockagehere at Snug Harbor All three
restaurants are.
We think we have very goodstaffs and we just really
welcome.
Whether you're Lee County,collier County or you're down
from Wisconsin, come and checkus out.

Speaker 2 (10:50):
Very good, Peter.
Thank you for being such a goodneighbor.

Speaker 3 (10:53):
Oh, absolutely, it's been a pleasure getting to know
you and we're going to have somedrinks and food.
All right.
Yes, we are going to have agreat weekend.
Sounds good, all right, Thankyou, thank you.

Speaker 1 (11:02):
Thanks for tuning in to the Fort Myers Beach Good
Neighbor Podcast, wherecommunity meets paradise.
If you loved what you heard,share it with a friend and keep
the good vibes going Until nexttime.
Stay sunny, stay salty and keepbeing a good neighbor.
Also, to nominate your favoriteneighbors, local legends,
heroes or island businesses tobe on the show, go to
CaboWaboJim.
com.
That's CaboWaboJim.

(11:22):
com, or call 239-427-4100.
We want to send out some islandlove to Eric Tibbs from Edward
Jones State Insurance USA andHome Well Care Services Fort
Myers.
They are the businesses thatallow us to share the soul of
our community with everylistener, from local stories to
the positive vibe of island life.
Here's to celebrating all thatmakes Fort Myers Beach the slice

(11:43):
of paradise we all love.