Amber and Mike Brady with cat Sophie. PHOTO PROVIDED<\/p>\n
Miceli\u2019s Restaurant owners Mike and Amber Brady said the most important thing to know about them is that their family comes first.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur family is the most important thing to us,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Amber Brady added with the task of taking this on comes the responsibility of taking on a great deal of other families in the community as well. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn a restaurant business, it\u2019s not just us. We\u2019re impacting everyone else,\u201d she said. \u201cI think this weighs on our minds a lot. When you\u2019re a small business, you\u2019re trying to think about and take care of all these other people that have families as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple came to Pine Island from Vero Beach in June 2023. They said that they visited the island a couple of times and absolutely loved it, adding that there was an immediate interest when they heard Miceli\u2019s was for sale. When friends Dave and Ellen Lane found out about the Matlacha restaurant, they asked right away if the Bradys had any interest in partnering on the venture, which is how they came to be business partners and owners.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all ended up retiring from our jobs and came here,\u201d Amber Brady said.<\/p>\n
By their own admission, the Matlacha region had won them over. They recalled the area outside of Bert\u2019s Bar & Grille when describing the way that they fell in love with it. <\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we got here, just venturing out \u2014 we are constantly going out, either to Saint James or Bokeelia and just checking everything out,\u201d he said. \u201cWe get to meet a lot of owners. It\u2019s really great that people will stop in and meet us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Making friends has been an experience all on its own and worth mentioning, Amber Brady added, naming the Blue Dog Bar & Grill as an example of just one of many other restaurants where they have been welcomed.<\/p>\n
Mike Brady noted everyone encouraging one another in Pine Island is an example of how to draw people out to the island.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all in it together. The more places to visit out here, the more people will come out this way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Most of their emphasis on Pine Island is spent focusing on the people who come into Miceli\u2019s. They said many people see traveling out to the island as quite an investment of their time, so the couple tell them about the hidden gems that set the community apart from all other places.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe like to give them a path through the island like, \u2018You\u2019ve got to go to C.W. Fudge and buy chocolates. Go to the Perfect Cup, it\u2019s an amazing breakfast spot. Go over to Blue Dog for fresh fish,’\u201d Amber Brady said. \u201cWe work them down the island in both directions, telling them where to find a particular vibe.\u201d<\/p>\n
From the Moose Lodge and Froggy\u2019s, down to Tarpon Lodge, the couple said they find promoting the island to be a pretty easy job whenever asked by customers what to do while they are in town.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want folks to have a great experience,\u201d she said. \u201cWe even help out other restaurants when we can.\u201d<\/p>\n
They explained that in the past few years, there people who have needed help after storms like Hurricanes Ian, Helene and Milton.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone was stopping in for us too. We had regulars coming in trying to help clean up, and we had our employees here for two months working to help us get back open,\u201d Mike Brady said.<\/p>\n
During the times just after the hurricanes, when Miceli\u2019s was unable to remain open, the couple were still able to utilize help from their employees, who often sat and ate meals with them as they all discussed strategies.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone who wanted to work was able to and we were able to pay them. They worked every day and we would sit out back and have lunch and eat dinner and talk through everything,\u201d Amber Brady said. \u201cIt was just a family and we were trying to keep everybody OK.\u201d<\/p>\n
A description of Pine Island to a stranger, they said, might include a Key West vibe, but not in a big way. A great wish they have for Pine Island is to watch it continue to thrive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would love to see more restaurants out here. We want to see it be a destination for people to come from surrounding areas, like the Cape,\u201d Mike Brady said. \u201cI feel like there are so many opportunities out here. The more places there are to visit out here, the better it is for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n