The night before the grand opening, Toucan's held a friends-and-family evening. According to WMBB's coverage of the reopening, one guest showed owner Sean Carruth a photo his family had taken at the restaurant the week before Hurricane Michael. "Now his kids are eight years older," Carruth told the station.
Toucan's officially reopened on October 23, 2026, at 719 Hwy 98, the same lot it occupied before the storm. The restaurant's own site dates it to 1966 and gives October 10, 2018, as the day Michael came ashore. The building that went up on that lot is a different kind of place from the one many families remember. It's larger, built to hold events, and designed for a town that has spent eight years rebuilding around a gap on the sand. The president of Mexico Beach's Tourist Development Council described the new Toucan's as the town's only on-the-beach dining spot. Once a place holds that role, it also becomes the place for the town's birthdays and other celebrations.
Same lot, a bigger building
When WMBB reported in May that the reopening was getting close, it said the new building sat in the same location with a Gulf view. It also said the building might look a little different but should keep the original's look. The size changed more than the look did. Owner-operator Rob Hammer told WJHG in August that the new Toucan's is "much larger than the original" and that "this one is built to withstand multiple hurricanes."
The building has two floors, each with its own job:
- First floor: the main dining room and the deck.
- Second floor: more dining in what WJHG described as a sports bar-like atmosphere.
The ownership group's 2024 plans, as WJHG described them then, went further. They included an upstairs raw-oyster bar, TVs, a large outdoor deck, an outdoor bar, and a band stage for live music. The current site points the same way. Its contact form has "DJ/Band Booking" and "Book Event" options next to general questions.
A menu that kept the old standards
Hammer told WJHG the menu is "a little diversified, but we have a lot of the original stuff that Toucans had," and he named the chicken Pappadeaux, the shrimp and sausage pasta, the she-crab soup and "most of the appetizers." When WMBB reported on the reopening plans in May, it described the original Toucan's as known for its seafood, ribs and cocktails.
| Named by the operator as returning favorites | Also on the current posted menu |
|---|---|
| She-crab soup | Smoked tuna dip |
| Shrimp and sausage pasta | Firecracker shrimp |
| Chicken Pappadeaux | Seafood gumbo |
| Most of the original appetizers | Grouper imperial |
| Seafood buckets | |
| Prime rib | |
| Grouper sandwich |
The she-crab soup is on both lists, so it's the dish that most directly connects the old restaurant to the new one.
Eight years and several opening dates
Toucan's took a long time to come back, and the dates along the way show how much rebuilding happened on Hwy 98 in the meantime.
- October 10, 2018. Hurricane Michael comes ashore and destroys the restaurant.
- March 2019. WMBB reports that Toucan's will rebuild at the same location. No construction timeline has been announced.
- 2021. The original goal for reopening.
- April 2024. Principal owner Patrick Lee tells WJHG that COVID, permitting and funding had set the project back. Construction has just started with test pilings, and the build is projected to take 12 to 18 months.
- May 2026. WMBB reports that Toucan's will reopen by the end of June.
- August 2026. Hammer tells WJHG that a few plumbing items, signs and other finishing work remain, with doors expected to open right after Labor Day.
- October 23, 2026. Toucan's officially opens.
Pilings were only being tested in April 2024, so the building itself went up in roughly two and a half years. The other five-plus years went to everything that comes before construction can start. Hammer told WJHG that during construction he was on site every day and "talked to countless people about when are you opening." At the opening, Carruth told WMBB that "the turnout has been insane" and called Toucan's "just an institution on Mexico Beach."
Built for birthdays, weddings and the other big days
The extra space has a clear purpose. Kimberly Shoaf, president of the Mexico Beach TDC, told WMBB in May that Toucan's would be "the only on the beach dining establishment" and "one of our larger venues." She said visitors could come for "birthday celebration events, their graduations, their weddings, their retirement parties."
People who went to the original Toucan's know it already filled that role. Carruth told WMBB that people he has met "have been married here, their kids first birthdays here." Another local told the station she had been coming "ever since I was a child, so when it was just a little bitty building." The new two-story building, with event booking on its contact page, is set up to host those occasions on purpose.
The practical details, from the restaurant's contact page:
- Sunday through Thursday: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Friday and Saturday: 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.
- Phone: 850-357-9334
On weekends it stays open until 2 a.m., so the upstairs sports-bar floor can serve as a late-night spot too.
The rest of Mexico Beach's fall calendar
Toucan's opens just as the town's own late-fall events start. Several of them are a short drive or golf-cart ride away:
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, Nov. 14 | Farmers & Craft Market | Parker Park |
| Thursday, Nov. 26 | Thanksgiving Turkey Trot 5K, 8 a.m. | Under the Palms Park |
| Saturday, Nov. 28 | Farmers & Craft Market | Parker Park |
| Sunday, Dec. 6 | Christmas Tree Lighting, 6 to 7:30 p.m. | Parker Park |
| Saturday, Dec. 12 | Farmers & Craft Market | Parker Park |
| Saturday, Dec. 26 | Farmers & Craft Market | Parker Park |
The Farmers & Craft Market runs on the second and fourth Saturdays at Parker Park. The Christmas Tree Lighting listing includes live music, a golf-cart parade, the tree lighting, Santa and a toy collection. Entering a cart in the parade is free, but you need to fill out an entry form.
A few smaller dining changes came through City Hall the same week Toucan's opened. The City of Mexico Beach weekly report for October 23 notes that Point Break Pizza was approved to sell beer and wine. It also notes that the Tater Nation food truck was approved after completing its application. Those are small additions next to a 60-year-old restaurant coming back. They do mean the town has a few more places to eat this fall.
At Beach Properties Real Estate Group, we were glad to see Toucan's come back to its spot on Hwy 98. If you're thinking about a home within walking or golf-cart distance of Hwy 98's restaurants and the Parker Park events, contact us. We know these blocks and we're glad to walk them with you.
