FORT WALTON BEACH – Staff’s Restaurant has been a fixture downtown for nearly 100 years. These days it doesn’t look like it will make it to its centennial. Fifth generation family members blame the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a long wait for claims money from BP and fewer customers for putting them on the brink of closure. “We’ve been through the Great Depression, hurricanes and economic hard times, but the oil spill is what will shut us down,” said restaurant co-owner Martha Garvie. “To think this is what’s going to wipe us out … We’ve used all possible revenue that we could beg, borrow and steal, so to speak.” No final decision has been made to close, but indicators point to that option. Heather Ptaschek, an accountant for the restaurant, said Staff’s received an initial reimbursement for lost revenues last summer, but has gotten no money from additional claims. She said under the 90-day review period, Staff’s should have received a check in mid-April. However, she was told there would be another 90 days of review before anything could happen. “We’re not close to our numbers,” Ptaschek said. “If we can’t get the money and we don’t have the sales, we can’t make it. We’re down ...
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