Fort Myers, Cape Coral: 4 longtime restaurants that closed in 2025
Cape Coral and Fort Myers experienced the closure of several beloved longstanding restaurants in 2025, marking the end of eras both cherished and significant to the local community.
Two long-time employees, Carmen Santiago and Sean Deckter, have purchased the Fort Myers restaurant Cibo.The new owners plan to maintain the restaurant’s current menu and atmosphere, which has cultivated a loyal customer base.Cibo is known for its from-scratch Italian cooking, including homemade pastas, sauces, and desserts.
Carmen Santiago was a teenager when she began working there as a dishwasher.
Around the same time, Sean Deckter was starting in the pantry, making salads and desserts.
Two decades later, they’re still at Cibo, nestled in the Bridge Plaza in Fort Myers.
Only as of Sept. 1, they now hold the title of restaurant owners.
“With her experience in the front of the house and mine in the back, it seemed to be a perfect scenario,” Deckter said. “We work very well together.”
“Way back, customers began putting the idea in our brains of maybe owning this some day,” Santiago added. “Craig, too. He said he would help us get a business of our own. And if we didn’t find one, we could get this one.”
Craig would be Craig Komatz, who has owned this (somehow still somewhat) hidden gem of an Italian restaurant off McGregor Boulevard across from The Landings for the last 15 years.
“It was time for me to sell,” he said. “I’ve got health issues. I’ve never taken time off to take care of myself. Running a restaurant for 15 years is tough. I’m going to relax.”
And he’s leaving it in outstanding hands.
“I had three bidders, but it had to be (Sean and Carmen),” Komatz said. “They’re a wonderful couple who have grown to be leaders here. I told them I’ll be a lifetime free consultant to them if they need it. They know they can always call, and I won’t get in the way.”
Impeccable service is a focal point
To say Cibo is a neighborhood favorite is a gross understatement.
“As long as I can remember, the same people, every single day, have been lined up to come in and have drinks,” Deckter said. “They sit in the bar, in the same seats.”
“If they’re not coming in or going on vacation, they let us know,” Santiago added. “We’d worry if we didn’t see them, think that something was wrong.”
Santiago, a staple in the front of the house, has a strong bond with customers.
“There are some nights when I hug 75 percent of the people who come in,” she said. “I know them all.”
And yet with all the regulars keeping the restaurant routinely busy, Santiago sees room to grow, especially through social media.
“So many people don’t know about us after 20 years,” she said. “They know Lazy Flamingo, (Nomiki’s) Plakka (Greek Restaurant), Sushi Sake. We’ve been here longer than most, but some still don’t know what Cibo is about.”
And we love what it’s about.
Whether it’s your first visit or your 1,000th, Cibo — with a modernly traditional feel after an update a couple of years ago — is warm, welcoming and charming.
“It’s a country club without the dues,” Komatz said. “The service is impeccable but not over formalized. Everyone asks for certain servers and knows what bartenders are working. The food always seems to overshadow everything, and I love our food. But I truly believe the food is 4.5 stars and the service is 5 stars.”
And speaking about that food …
Deckter, a Fort Myers native and Bishop Verot grad, went from line cook to sous chef and then head chef when Komatz bought Cibo in 2011. He has been with the restaurant since it first opened as Café Cibo in 2004, a few doors down the plaza in what is now 3 City Pizzeria’s spot.
“Everything is freshly made here,” Santiago said. “Every vegetable is chopped and every soup, every sauce is from scratch. They’re back there pounding the chicken, the veal, breading everything. Cutting the filets. All the desserts are homemade. We don’t put it on the menu if it’s not.”
You’ll find that menu full of artfully prepared and presented seafood, pasta and steak.
“Really something for everyone,” Komatz said.
The filet mignon (filetto di manzo) is a Deckter favorite.
“It’s the way we serve it,” he said. “The port wine demi, the gorgonzola fonduta, the quality meat. The flavors are so good.”
The fresh fish of the day (pesce all’acqua pazzo) is a bestseller, as is the parmigiana (eggplant, chicken, or veal), and the ravioli, which Komatz’s mother has made by hand for more than a decade.
Small plates are a popular option, as evidenced by our dreamy ricotta gnocchi, our veal, pork & beef meatball in pomodoro sauce, and jumbo lump crab cake (which miraculously holds together despite hefty chunks of crab). All were so delightful.
Specials change daily, and on weekends, they kick up a notch.
“We have a gigantic mailing list and we hype up those specials,” Deckter said. “Halibut, seabass, bone-in ribeye, braised short rib. We try to do something nice.”
Which, again, is an understatement.
“I’ve been in the kitchen my whole life,” said Deckter. “Cibo is Cibo. We might tweak something here and there, but we’re not going to change anything.”
Cheers to at least another 15 years.
Cibo, 12901 McGregor Blvd., Unit 16, Fort Myers; opens at 4 p.m. daily; for reservations, call (239) 454-3700; cibofortmyers.com or on Facebook and Instagram
Robyn George is a food and dining reporter for The News-Press. Connect at rhgeorge@fortmyer.gannett.com
Dining and Cooking