Tough as bricks, Bella Mozzarella survives
There are many places on Times Square that visitors of Fort Myers Beach will long miss. It’s safe to say that about a dozen eateries and storefronts won’t be returning from the wreckage caused by Hurricane Ian. Nearly everything at Time Square was ruined.
Out of all the places washed away, one of the few buildings to survive was the iconic and centrally located Bella Mozzarella Pizza & Grill and 2000 Flavors Ice Cream. Facing Fifth St. at the busy intersection with Old San Carlos Blvd., it’s the first place many visitors to Fort Myers Beach will stop at to eat on their way into Times Square and the beach at Lynn Hall Memorial Park. It’s also the last place many families will go before they leave the island. Now, at Times Square, it’s one of the only places to go.
Folks still come as much for the pizza as they do the ice cream and Italian ices.
While nearly everything around Bella Mozzarella fell down, the sturdy bricks laid down in the front entrance show no signs of ever letting go and tell the tale of how the building survived Ian. The shop has been on the island in one fashion or another for more than four decades and has gone through several different ownership changes.
Valentina Chavez helps manage the property for her family, which runs the place.
While it may look as if hardly anything changed since Hurricane Ian when you step inside, Ms. Chavez assures you that almost everything inside underwent a change.
“We had to rebuild,” Chavez said. “We got flooded all the way to the top. We put in a new roof, new walls, new floors. We had to rip everything out.”
After extensive repairs and renovations, they opened in May. They missed out on the island’s bounceback season in the spring and have gone through a slow summer for Fort Myers Beach. “Business has been OK,” Chavez said. “It hasn’t been the same. Thankfully we have construction workers coming in for lunch. That has really helped.”
Chavez complains about the lack of lights outside, from county poles that haven’t been replaced to the traffic light that the state installed two years ago and is now out of commission.
“We have no light outside,” Chavez said. “After sunset, it is pitch black.”
Chavez believes it is a safety issue.
The Town of Fort Myers Beach requested funding from the state for new lights during the state budget cycle earlier this year. The town submitted a request for $1.8 million for turtle-friendly lights but it never made its way into the state budget. Since that time, the town now estimates it needs about $7.9 million for new lighting, which it has applied to the state for through the Department of Emergency Management’s hurricane recovery pool.
“It’s dangerous,” Chavez said. “There is literally no light.”
She hopes that lights can return before season returns this fall.
“We definitely worked very hard to build this up. We were really lucky that we weren’t swept away,” Chavez said. “We are lucky that we are still standing.”
Bella Mozzarella Pizza & Grill is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Fort Myers Beach Observer Editor Nathan Mayberg can be reached at Nmayberg@breezenewspapers.com.