What’s next for Shuckers? See the fall and rise of a favorite Miami waterfront bar

Shuckers, the bayfront hangout good for a few drinks, a fish sandwich and a killer view, could be changing soon. Developers have their eyes on the property.

Plans call for a 30-story building to replace a motel on the site and also the dockside Shuckers Waterftront Grill. The North Bay Village restaurant would be rebuilt with the new construction along the 79th Street Causeway, between Miami and Miami Beach.

But will it be the same?

Since the 1970s, the hotel has been a Runaway Bay, Holiday Inn, Inn on the Bay, and now a Best Western. Shuckers was born in the 1990s.

Miami may have a lot of waterfront, but it doesn’t have a lot of waterfront restaurants, especially informal ones. So Shuckers has been a popular place for decades.

Ten years ago, the wooden deck over the bay collapsed, sending customers and furniture into the water. The collapse happened when diners and drinkers packed the place to watch a Miami Heat game on the bar TVs. Before the deck collapse, the only time Shuckers made news was over some noise complaints from nearby condo residents.

The beloved Shuckers’ deck was rebuilt after the collapse and the restaurant has continued to serve up food, drink and views. The Grentner family owned the property from 1984 until 2016, when it was sold to a real estate company.

Here is a look at the fall and rise of Shuckers on that near-tragic night in 2013, through the Miami Herald archives:

Shuckers rises again

Published July 24, 2014

By Charles Rabin

Connie Leon-Kreps rushed from an appointment in a Broward County courtroom, parked her car and stepped toward the bar overlooking Biscayne Bay that sported new wooden floors - and a new sturdy deck.

“Oh my God,” said the mayor of North Bay Village, the island town between Miami and Miami Beach. “I’ve been waiting for so long. This is a special place for so many people.”

Just over a year after the 120-foot deck over the water at the iconic island landmark split in two and crashed into Biscayne Bay, tossing about 100 people into four feet of water in the dark of night, Shuckers Bar & Grill has reopened.

Wednesday afternoon, the local attraction on the 79th Street Causeway welcomed the local business owners and village leaders who supported the lengthy rebuilding effort. Thursday at noon, the public is welcome.

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” said General Manager Joe Portela, between giving last-minute instructions to his 60 employees, more than half of whom worked at Shuckers before the accident.

In June 2013, as more than 100 people cheered on a furious Miami Heat comeback just before halftime of an NBA Finals game against the San Antonio Spurs, patrons heard a thunderous roar, then found themselves in Biscayne Bay’s dark waters, some trapped under the debris that had tumbled from the deck.

The city’s building inspector determined that aged rusted rebar caused tons of concrete attached to the wooden deck to tear from the wall. In the ensuing chaos, employees, patrons and first responders pulled dozens of people from the water long after the power had shut down.

The bay was filled with tables and chairs, planters, lighting fixtures, steel and concrete. Some people had been trapped.

Two dozen people were taken to area hospitals by land and by air. The collapse sparked dozens of lawsuits, some that have been settled for tens of thousands of dollars, though the exact details remain confidential. The remaining three dozen or so people who still have lawsuits pending are scheduled to meet with Shuckers representatives in August to try and hash out an agreement.

The deck collapse made instant national headlines when cable outlets learned the patrons were watching the NBA Finals. Heat players, many of whom had been to Shuckers, took to the airwaves to send well-wishes.

Though work was being done in the interior of the restaurant, much of the debris field remained in the bay behind the restaurant until January, when owners Charles and Chris Grentner finally were able to secure the barges needed to clear it out. The deck has since been rebuilt.

But all that was history to the staffers and dozens of local business leaders and village officials who on Wednesday got a chance to see Shuckers for the first time in more than a year.

At one table, Vice Mayor Eddie Lim and friend Penelope Friedman were nibbling on calamari and tuna tartare.

“Finally,” Lim said between bites.

Over at another table, Village Manager Frank Rollason and staffers were enjoying chicken wings, fried shrimp and calamari, and having a cocktail or two.

“It’s a significant reopening for the village,” Rollason said. “This is a local icon in the community. It’s Shuckers. Everyone knows Shuckers.”

While the village’s most popular attraction looks much the same, there have been some significant upgrades.

About three dozen high-definition flat screen TVs hang from the walls. Large fans spray mist to keep customers cool. There’s a new stainless steel bar and a new service station.

Then there’s the new Aztec wood deck. Underneath are new concrete pilings and a second deck also made of concrete. Large stone planters with Christmas palms sit between tables on the deck, which can still be accessed by boaters who dock just a few feet away.

Colene Gerstner, a waitress who studied photography at Barry University and who worked at Shuckers before the collapse and has returned, gazed in amazement between serving customers, and summed up the day:

“It’s just surreal.”

Injuries and chaos as bar’s deck plunges into the bay

Published June 14, 2013

By Charles Rabin, Fernando Peinado and Luisa Yanez

As fans packed Shuckers Waterfront Grill to cheer on the Miami Heat against the San Antonio Spurs Thursday night, the waterfront patio deck gave way, crashing into Biscayne Bay, spilling dozens of terrified patrons into the water.

The accident happened at the popular North Bay Village spot, in back of the Best Western Plus on the Bay Inn & Marina, 1819 79th Street Causeway.

Dozens of police and fire-rescue units from around Miami-Dade rushed to the scene after the sudden collapse, which happened about 9:45 p.m., minutes before the game’s halftime as the Heat was pulling away from the Spurs.

As many as 24 people were injured. By 11:20 p.m., 15 people had been transported to various hospitals, two of them in serious condition, said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Capt. Eugene Germain Jr. Another fire captain said one person might be missing and that a search was underway as rain fell.

Germain said approximately 100 people were on the deck when it fell into the water. The deck’s official capacity was not immediately known.

“There was just a crack, and then we were in the water,” said Crystal Infante, 23, who was eating and watching the game with friend Hernan Reyes, 21, when the deck, about five feet over the water, collapsed. “It was really hard to get out, and you couldn’t find anyone.”

Infante said the water was shallow enough for them to stand, but it was difficult for them to get out because wood, umbrellas, tables, chairs and other debris surrounded them.

Multiple air rescue units also were called to the scene. 79th Street was shut down.

Pictures from the scene showed rescue workers pulling green plastic deck chairs and piles of debris from the water.

Leah Masters, a hostess at Shuckers, told Miami Herald news partner CBS4 News that people had just gotten to their feet to cheer a Heat basket when the deck collapsed.

As helicopters circled over the scene, rescuers carried people away on stretchers, one after another.

Chris Volz, 39, said he was sitting at the western end of the bar, about 10 feet from where the deck gave way.

“Everybody’s watching the game. It sounded like a freight train, then everyone was gone. The deck went down like a V.”

He said it happened in a split second and that no one had a chance to get away.

Bartenders were diving into the water to help rescue patrons. Fire trucks pulled to the water’s edge and extended their ladders to help patrons climb to safety.

Shuckers lost power when the collapse happened, casting victims and rescuers alike into the dark.

Ernesto Reyes, a regular at the eatery on Miami Heat game days, had pulled up to the “last open parking spot” at the restaurant when he heard a loud cheer, then a roaring sound followed by screams as the deck patio collapsed in up to six feet of dark water.

“I ran inside and saw people in the water everywhere. I started pulling out chairs and tables and helping them get out; many were in shock. They were just standing in place as if they couldn’t believe what had just happened to them.”

Others were in a panic, he said.

“It was a very chaotic scene.”

He helped a young mother with a large gash on her head and a baby in her arms, a young woman who lost her lower teeth and a young man trapped by heavy tables.

Reyes, 36, a paralegal who lives nearby thanked his boss for keeping him late at work at Kent Harrison Robbins.

“I would have been on that deck. This is my favorite place to watch the Heat; there is always a big crowd here.”

Reyes thinks the collapse occurred just before the halftime of the Heat game, the team was pulling away from the Spurs by 10 points.

Mayra Samubio, 40, of Orlando, who had gone to dine at the restaurant on the first day of her vacation in North Bay Village and was just about to enter the balcony when it collapsed.

“I saw a lot of people crying and very scared. Good thing there weren’t that many children on the deck.”

By 11 p.m., a triage unit had been set up in the parking lot, and victims were still being removed from the water.