Bert’s Bar & Grill

Bert’s Bar & Grill

4271 Pine Island Road
Matlacha FL 33993

Our ancestors of more than hundred thousand generations have been hungry or facing starvation most of their lifetime. So it does not come as a surprise that food gets so much attention from our mind. And when is that more true than in our holidays where possibilities amount to check out culinary specialities we ever have been longing for.
So welcome to the foody paradise of Cape Coral! See your trip to the near-by fisher’s village Matlacha twofold.
For some it may be a time-travel into the fifties, when one of the finest movies with Elvis Presley was filmed there on location (“Follow that Dream”).
For some the journey back might start even earlier, because many fishing shanties and squatter shacks still look today as in the late 20’s. The bridge to Pine Island was completed in 1927, and not before that Matlacha housing started and the first cozy cottages and bed & breakfasts appeared on the Island. Many of them have survived to present day and give the main road a colourful face. So this is an important point: Most of Florida’s tiny fishing towns are disappearing and giving way to McDonald’s, high rises and hotel chains. But not Matlacha.
But most travellers don’t have the historical past of Matlacha on their mind when they come to see this inspiring place. They head to Bert’s Bar & Grill on  4271 Pine Island Road, Matlacha FL 33993, for good reasons.
On Wednesday & Friday Nights it could be the invitation “Join Us 4-9 For Our All U Can Eat Fish Fry.” On any other day probably simply the Grouper Reuben Melt, Fish & Chips in the Basket or Fried Oysters in the Basket.

It’s a memorable place to enjoy food.

Bert’s Bar is composed of two buildings. The original building was the bar near the road. It was built in the 30’s as a “sweet shoppe”. Then in 1941 the “hotel” building was added. It consisted of eight sleeping rooms. During WWII, army bases were set up at Page Field and many of the soldiers would come out for a weekend to Matlacha to go fishing off the “fishingest bridge in Florida” at Matlacha Pass. They became regular customers of the hotel and bar.  Stories  abound that  the hotel had the reputation of “ill repute” and ladies of the night. Imagine that.

It always was also the home to many a local fisherman. Shrimp boats were parked then out back of Bert’s. There still is deep water at the end of the dock as a result of that.
So, dining at Bert’s comes very, very close to an unforgettable vacation event.