By Jondi Gumz
Three weeks after an epic storm with waves that broke the Capitola Wharf in two and shuttered restaurants all along the oceanfront Esplanade, how are business owners in Capitola faring?
The Capitola-Soquel Times took a stroll down the Esplanade, easily accessible to those on foot, on a sunny afternoon to find out.
Michelle Strong owns Capitola Bar & Grill on the Esplanade, which reopened after the epic storm. • Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz
Outside the Capitola Bar & Grill, Lenaeh Tapia was offering samples of Boston clam chowder.
Delicious!
Owner Michelle Strong was inside, and she shared her story.
She and her husband opened this spot in 2021, two years after opening Firehouse Brew & Grill in Martinez.
It’s on the second floor of the Margaritaville building, and there’s a beautiful view of the beach.
The couple are empty nesters, and before they were owners, they would come down to Capitola to hang out.
“We love the night life,” Michelle said.
Her Esplanade business was yellow-tagged by the city, which required inspections before she could reopen — structural engineer, electrician, plumber, plus a $4,000 gas line repair.
She didn’t start a GoFundme drive because she thought she would be able to reopen quickly.
But she was closed for two weeks – and lost $60,000 in sales. Her employees, she has 15, lost their income, with some working at more than one restaurant and losing two jobs.
She shook her head at the idea of sending employees to work elsewhere – “I don’t want to lose my staff,” she said.
She has insurance but the flooding disaster that shuttered the first-floor restaurants on the Esplanade was considered an act of God, so her losses aren’t covered.
Anthony Kresge owns Reef Dog Deli, reopened after the epic storm. • Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz
Being on the second floor, she didn’t think she would need to buy flood insurance at $12,000 a year.
She reopened on Jan. 19, the day President Biden visited Capitola’s Esplanade to see the damage for himself.
“Where’s the help?” she asked. “We are blessed to be open, but it still hurts.”
The offer of an SBA small business loan is not much help – that’s money that has to be repaid, a hardship when you’ve lost revenue you can’t get back, she said.
She pressed to get everything the city required done in order to open and bring in revenue.
She said she took on the role of the property manager, finding a new plumber — Bellow — rather than use the same plumber working the entire Esplanade because he was “spread too thin.”
Kai Buchanan is ready to serve you at Mr. Toots Coffeehouse. • Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz
A gas leak had to be found and fixed. The first plumber wanted to tear down the wall by the kitchen, creating more damage. Bellow found it faster by investigating on the other side.
Michelle thought the terms of her lease would mean that landlord Steve Yates, who formerly owned Margaritaville, would share in the expense of inspections and grant rent credit. So far, that’s not the case.
To bring in customers, Michelle has increased the Happy Hour menu.
To help the staff, she’s adding information to her menu and her website on how to donate – tips or gift cards.
She has plans to open Firehouse pizza on Ocean Street in Santa Cruz, filling the spot vacated by Dunkin Donuts – because when it’s cold, people want to eat pizza.
To help the musicians who lost performing venues, she has added more live music, Fridays on top of the regular Saturday and Sunday, giving them work.
Patrons who live in the neighborhood are loyal.
“People will come here every night if you have something going on,” she said. “We’re doing everything we can.”
Mr. Toots Coffeehouse, owned by Karl Heiman, is on the second floor of the Margaritaville building and Kai Buchanan is ready to serve you.
The coffeehouse was not especially busy when I stopped in.
“I don’t think people know we’re open,” Kai said.
Now they know.
This is a good time to visit because it’s the slow season.
Reef Dog Deli is on Capitola Avenue across from City Hall and the museum.
When locals stopped in for sandwiches, owner Anthony Kresge asked, “Are you coming to our dinner?”
He is spearheading “Cooking for Capitola,” a fundraiser for full-time Esplanade restaurant workers who are out of a job until repairs and rebuilding is complete. He figures up to 100 people worked at these now-shuttered restaurants.
He’s one of the lucky ones.
He had to clear out mud and clean tile but his shop — like many of the businesses in Capitola Village — didn’t require a major rebuild.
He is teaming up with chefs Nick Sherman and James Manss of Trestles, Brad Briske of Home and Michael Cameron and Linda Estrada of Shadowbrook to prepare and serve a five-course tasting menu with local wines Feb. 6 at Shadowbrook, that one-of-a-kind attraction with the cable car overlooking Soquel Creek.
The dinner, at $300 per person, sold out in 24 hours.
“It goes to show you how much people support you, how much they support us in town,” Anthony said.
When disaster strikes, chefs swing into action, whether it’s to feed people in need or host a dinner offering top wine and food, he added. “It’s a chef’s nature.”
Among those ordering a sandwich was the owner of the Tony Pagliaro Gallery, a shop featuring his stunningly beautiful images of our coast, which makes me grateful to live here. If you prefer Yosemite, Lake Tahoe or San Francisco, he’s photographed there, too.
Tony is another of the lucky ones.
He’s had his gallery on San Jose Avenue a short walk away for three and a half years and he was closed for a week.
“It was stressful,” he said.
Do people know he’s open?
He uses social media and TV commercials to get the word out, but he admits, “You don’t know if that message is being received.”
After 30 years of being self-employed, “you never know what you are going to get,” he said. “It’s a matter of surviving.”
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Top Photo: Most of Capitola Village is open to visitors after the epic storm. Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz