CORTEZ – The doors to Slicker’s Eatery, 12012 Cortez Road W., reopened 128 days after the flooding from Hurricane Helene swamped the restaurant.
“It feels tremendous to be open,” Slicker said. “We’re all so relieved. After four months of money going out for the staff and myself, we’re just happy to put a Band-aid on it and start moving forward.”
Slicker had been unprepared for the sight that greeted him after the September hurricane, when he said he found tables, chairs and dishes askew and floating, freezers flipped over, a dumpster pushed into the middle of Cortez Road and an ice machine broken in two and wedged against the door.
“My staff was here every day I needed them, from the day of the hurricane to opening back up. As a team, I haven’t lost one employee,” he said. “They all wanted to come back.”
When the storm hit, Slicker said the restaurant had been projected to have its best year ever in its four years of business.
“Our restaurant was finally where it needed to be,” Slicker said. “We were going on our fourth anniversary, we were excited. Everything was starting to click. We thought the world was finally catching up to us. Well, it caught up to us a little quicker than we thought.”
He said the staff pitched in with cleanup and even helped to build new tables using YouTube videos.
“We made all these tables ourselves,” Slicker said. “They’re polyurethane over plywood. We redid the floors together. Basically, we rebuilt the entire place as a team. Everything had to be replaced.”
Slicker’s is currently serving a limited menu of sandwiches, salads and flatbreads, but the new menu will be rolled out slowly, he said.
“Our new hours aren’t out yet so we’re going to open every day at 4 o’clock,” he said. “In time, we’ll be able to do brunch again. Some of the music will start next week.”
While Slicker and his team were working on putting the restaurant back together, and he was repairing damage to his home, he found time to engage in charitable activities.
On Thanksgiving Day, hundreds gathered under tents in front of Slicker’s Eatery to enjoy a free turkey dinner with all the trimmings.
The event was co-sponsored by Mark Hoffman, Slicker’s Eatery, Bring on the Ministry, the Rotary Club of Anna Maria Island and the Blessing Bags Project.
“I just know my whole life my mother taught me to be charitable,” Slicker said. “I’ll just put it this way, I’m surrounded by great people.”
Slicker was involved in Rotary initiatives to give away bicycles, donate cars and provide refrigerators to those impacted by the hurricanes.
“The restaurant itself, we had so many people come in here and help clean up, help gut the place after the first storm,” Slicker said. “Not only that, but I have also so many people, I can say hey, man, I want to give some cars away and we were able to give a couple of cars away. Those kinds of things are what is truly humbling to me.”
Supporters donated $500 to buy a personalized bar chair to support Slicker’s recovery.
“One of my relatives bought a chair and they put my mom’s favorite saying on it, which was, ‘Down in front,’ ” he said.
Slicker’s Eatery was recently named 2025 Small Business of the Year by the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce.
Related coverage: AMI Chamber awards trolley grants, businesses of the year
