Matanzas Inn Restaurant turns 25 years old
Matanzas Inn Restaurant at 416 Crescent St. will be celebrating 25 years of business this Saturday with a birthday party from noon to 5 p.m.
The event will include live entertainment featuring eight different musical artists, a $6.95 party buffet on the Upper Deck, a fishing contest for kids age 12 and under, a bounce house, corn hole games, a 50/50 raffle benefiting a local charity as well as free raffles, free Jell-O shots on the 25th minute of each hour and more. The Matanzas Inn pool will also be open to all guests.
“We’re hoping to have a great crowd,” said Linda Glover, the restaurant’s day manager. “Customers come first. Many been coming here for years. We are on a first name basis with many of our customers and see a lot of the same seasonal residents and visitors every year. We are so happy to celebrate 25 years with our staff and customers.”
At the end of the celebration, General Manager Chris Arnberg will draw a grand-prize winning ticket which will entitle the holder a special chef’s selected dinner including appetizers, entrees and desserts for 25 people to dine at the restaurant at a reserved time. The winning name will be pulled from hundreds of raffle entries from Matanzas Inn diners collected throughout the year. The 25th anniversary has been celebrated all year long with weekly $25 gift certificate giveaways.
“It should be a lot of fun,” said Arnsberg. “We’re charging just $3.95 for buffet for kids. We love kids. They grow up into customers.”
History of the site
Matanzas Inn Restaurant was so-named in 1984 after a two-year stint as the Anchor Inn Restaurant.
That past pales in comparison to some of the history of the property which dates back to pre-1920 with the island’s first canal which borders the land. Nearby, the first bridge to the island was built in 1921 and destroyed in the 1926 hurricane which created Hurricane Pass and Captiva Pass. In the 1960s the Matanzas Inn motel was built as the Anchor Inn. A second “swing bridge” was used until the current Matanzas Pass Sky Bridge was opened in 1979.
Prior to the motel being built in the 1960s, the Matanzas Inn site was the location of the first island grocery store and service station . As late as 1948. the entire island north of the bridge -approximately 110 acres- was purchased for only $125,000. Matanzas Inn still provides waterfront accommodations.
Melinda Isley contributed to the story