The Anna Maria Island Sun Newspaper



Vol. 17 No. 14 - January 18, 2017

BUSINESS

AMOB: 20 years of great food

LaPensee Plumbing Pools Air

submitted

From left, Karen Abel and Jennifer Washington blend both therapy
and relaxation in their massage programs.

Anna Maria Oyster Bar's motto, "We're more than just oysters," may possibly be the biggest understatement in culinary history, and for 20 years loyal customers have been discovering just what an understatement it is. If you want seafood – no problem, pasta – no problem, sandwiches – no problem, burgers – no problem and, yes, oysters almost any way you can think of – no problem.

In 1996, John Horne opened the first Anna Maria Oyster Bar at the end of the city pier at the north end of Anna Maria. A year later, he opened the Anna Maria Oyster Bar Landside on 14th Street in Bradenton, then in 2002, another Oyster Bar appeared on Cortez Road in Bradenton, followed by 51st Street in Ellenton in 2003, and although the Anna Maria Oyster Bar's original pier location has been closed for years, last year Horne managed to get back to his roots and opened another pier location at 200 Bridge Street on the Bradenton Beach Pier.

Not a bad 20 year run for this native Floridian who grew up on Anna Maria beaches and started working in restaurants right after college. He is now president of a company with over 300 employees with very little turnover, some of whom have been with him from the beginning. He rewards them with longevity trips and a fun up to date work environment. In addition, his right-hand man for the past two years and the director of operations for all of the Oyster Bar locations is Steve Ananicz.

But the real star of the Anna Maria Oyster Bar restaurants is the food. It offers daily specials, happy hour and fresh fish, with grouper as one of the favorites. Fish and chips is the biggest seller, there is a prime rib special one night a week and soon Horne will be adding farm raised cobia to the regular menu. Of course, oysters are always on the menu in a variety of ways, including John Horne's personal favorite, chipotle. The menu offers something for everyone with lunch and dinner prices starting at $10.

At the new Bradenton Beach Pier location, breakfast is served every day from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., and you just might catch John Horne himself cooking in between watching for dolphins. The pier location offers counter service dining, making it a really relaxed fun place. There also is a shuttle service where you can drop off your guests and follow the shuttle to available parking and/or call for a pickup at 877-743-3264.

To celebrate their 20 years in business the Anna Maria Oyster Bar has created a special Birthday Cake Cocktail containing Pinnacle Cake Vodka, soda, pineapple, cherry garnish served in a special glass rimmed with sprinkles. The cocktail is $5.00 and all the proceeds will go to a different nonprofit group every month starting with The AMI Community Center in January and continuing with the following nonprofits monthly until the end of the year: Tidewell Hospice, Women's Resource Center, PACE Center for Girls, ALS Awareness, Maverick's Vets, MOTS Troop Support, Manatee Education Foundation, Turning Points, ACS/MSABC Breast Cancer Support, Food Bank of Manatee County and Mayors Feed the Hungry.

In spite of his busy schedule , John Horne has always found time to support the community. He started volunteering for the Anna Maria Island Community Center in 1993, served 15 years on their board and still is involved with their annual fundraiser.

When is an oyster bar more than an oyster bar, well maybe it's when your kids or grandkids ten or under can eat for a penny an inch Sunday through Thursday. Or maybe it's when you can eat breakfast while watching the fishing boats headed out for the day. Or maybe it's just a lot more than oysters served by people who have been doing it for 20 years, Anna Maria Oyster Bar four locations available for a fun and delicious meal.

ANNA MARIA OYSTER BAR

6696 Cortez Road W., Bradenton

6906 14th St. W., Bradenton

1525 51st Ave. E., Ellenton

200 Bridge St., Bradenton Beach

778- AMOB (2662)

Hours for Bradenton & Ellenton locations:

Sunday – Thursday: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Friday & Saturday: 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.

Hours for Bradenton Beach location:

Sunday – Thursday: 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Friday & Saturday: 8 a.m. – 10 p.m.

www.oysterbar.net

All major credit cards accepted

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story

Reverse mortgages worth another look

Investment Corner

I have written about reverse mortgages over the years, at least twice here in the Sun. My advice was that reverse mortgages were expensive for the borrower, but in the case where a retired person or couple had run out of assets, using the equity in their home through a reverse mortgage wasn’t the worst idea in the world.

I’m bringing the topic back one more time because some changes in federal guidelines have made the reverse mortgage a more attractive option for those who are over age 62, that own their home free and clear of another mortgage and who are concerned about the possibility of running low on retirement income during their lifetime

Space limitations don’t’ allow us to go into a full primer on reverse mortgages, but let’s hit some of the highlights.

• Fees are down: The up front mortgage insurance premium applied to all reverse mortgages was reduced from 2.5 percent of the loan amount to 0.5 percent by the Reverse Mortgage Stabilization Act of 2013, as long as the borrower doesn’t tap more than 60 percent of the available credit balance in the first year. Other fees have been standardized and are roughly in line with a traditional home mortgage, but often lenders will issue credits to offset some or all of these other expenses.

• Education: Borrowers are required to attend a consumer counseling session to make sure they understand the nature of the reverse mortgage. The cost of this session is $125

• Borrowing limit: The limit for reverse mortgage credit lines depends on the age of the youngest borrower, current interest rates and the lenders margin. Generally, you can access about half of the value of your principal resident, up to a current maximum value of $625,000.

• Payments: You don’t need to make payment on a reverse mortgage. The money you borrow and accrued interest must be repaid when you no longer live in the home. This can be through a move to another location, or if you pass away. The home will then be sold, the reverse mortgage paid off and any excess above that can be left to heirs.

In the past, advice was generally to take out the reverse mortgage as a last resort when it was obvious additional funds may be needed. Under current guidelines, that advice is outdated. Reverse mortgage lines of credit actually grow over time, giving the borrower the ability to borrow more. So, the current advice in most situations is to establish the line of credit in your mid-60s, when eligible, and instead of borrowing, just let the line of credit rest with a zero balance.

A line of credit for about $125,000 will grow to about $190,000 in 10 years, 290,000 in 20 years and over $440,000 in 30 years. Establishing, but not accessing the line of credit until later in retirement gives the retiree a lot of flexibility. The exact loan characteristics are influenced by the age(s) of the borrowers as well as the current level of interest rates.

In summary, for those who may find themselves real estate rich and liquid asset challenged, a reverse mortgage may be a good option.

Tom Breiter is president of Breiter Capital Management, Inc., an Anna Maria based investment advisor. He can be reached at 778-1900. Some of the investment concepts highlighted in this column may carry the risk of loss of principal, and investors should determine appropriateness for their personal situation before investing. Visit www.breitercapital.com.

 


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