Only a pile of rubble remains on what had been the original Liki Tiki BBQ restaurant on Fort Myers Beach. 

About five months before Hurricane Ian destroyed the building at the corner of Estero Boulevard and Ohio Avenue, owner Gordon Stojkoski paid $3.6 million for a long-abandoned restaurant building at 17650 San Carlos Blvd., which is off the island, north of the Matanzas Pass Bridge that leads to the beach.  

The new Liki Tiki BBQ opened last week and hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday at the building that used to be Skip One Beach Seafood and, before that, The Sandy Butler restaurant.  

“Our vision was to do an indoor-outdoor food truck,” Stojkoski said of the cavernous building with a high ceiling and about 14,000 square feet of space. “Food truck parks are hot.”For now, Fort Myers Beach isn’t a hot location. Most of the hotels on the island were destroyed or incurred substantial damage. With the original beach Liki Tiki BBQ in ruins, the Stojkoski family regrouped and brought back the brand to the other beach-area building they now own.  

“We couldn’t afford to wait,” said Stojkoski, who also owns the Aqua restaurants in downtown Naples and Bonita Springs and a second Liki Tiki BBQ restaurant in Naples.  

The new Fort Myers Beach Liki Tiki BBQ, open from 11. a.m. to 2 a.m. daily, has the same menu, full of smoked brisket and ribs, pulled pork, grouper sandwiches, conch fritters, coconut shrimp and beach bread, with most items ranging from $12 to $30. 

“We decided to open so we could get our employees working again,” Stojkoski said. “I’m fortunate we bought the building when we did, so we have something to fall back on.”  

The hurricane’s aftermath has posed numerous challenges, leaving him undecided about what to do with the beach property.  

“Just because the building’s gone doesn’t mean your mortgage is gone or your property taxes are gone,” Stojkoski said. “The burden doesn’t stop. You do what you have to do to survive.”  

Kristian Stojkoski, Gordon’s son, is managing the new location.  

“This place is definitely a little larger, and it’s going to be a little different to manage, but we should be OK,” Kristian Stojkoski said.