It takes a family to raise a village

The popular Captain Curt’s compound is a salute to the Stewart family’s commitment to the Key and to each other

“We’re not professional restaurateurs,” said Brad Stewart, who’s operated the famed Captain Curt’s Crab & Oyster Bar with his brother Brett since 1994. “We’re just a family who’s got a good thing going, and we’re trying to keep improving on it.”

Despite their aversion to the “professional restaurateur” title, Brett and Brad have not only kept the Old Stickney Point Road restaurant’s iconic status going over their 29-year tenure; they’ve overseen tremendous growth in the Captain Curt’s physical footprint, its staff, and its brand reach — all while touting “quality food, family and friends.”

“We don’t want to be twice as big,” said Brett. “It’s not about the money. It’s about the dining experience.”

The Stewart brothers grew up in Vicksburg, outside of Kalamazoo, Michigan, where their father, Dave, had a plastic-injection-molding company. After graduating high school, the brothers moved together to the family’s vacation home in Sarasota.

Meanwhile, Captain Curt’s had originally been opened in 1979 on south Midnight Pass Road (Turtle Beach Grill occupies that spot now). A new owner moved the restaurant up near the south bridge in 1982, to a building that had previously been a Davidson Drugs.

When the brothers took over in 1994, Captain Curt’s was only a fraction of the space it takes up now.

By Hannah Wallace

“It was a nice little restaurant,” said Brett. “[The previous owner] didn’t really change a lot or do a lot of upgrades. We just kind of ran it the way he did for the first year or two. But it wasn’t doing that well. Brad and I were like, ‘We gotta do better.’”

They started making changes to the menu and ran specials in the summer. They bought advertising. Brett hired a plane to fly a banner over the beach.

But the real turnaround, they agree, came when they built a bar area in a previously closed off space behind the original dining room, what Brett called the “Back Room Saloon.” There they hosted live entertainment and karaoke; Sundays were Elvis nights, Mondays were for the Beatles.

But Brett and Brad were still just tenants on the property. One day a “For Sale” sign appeared out front, sparking concern in their customers — and in the brothers themselves, who worried what another landlord would do to their rent.

“We’d painted ourselves into a corner,” said Brett. “That’s when Mom and Dad came down and took a look at everything.”

In fact, the Stewart parents arrived unannounced and proceeded to make the purchase themselves, without asking or even notifying their sons beforehand.

“They’d just showed up. We didn’t know they were coming. Brad and I were on our way to go fishing,” said Brett. “Mom and Dad were like, ‘We just want to let you know that we bought the property.’”

Now thriving

With their parents as landlords, the Stewarts spent the next 15 years paying off the mortgage while taking full advantage of new space. They grew their souvenir shop. A makeshift tiki bar they’d set up to shelter people waiting for tables grew into a permanent outdoor space that became iconic in its own right. The expansion continued into the next-door space, previously the Dragon Chinese restaurant.