Customers who order the new Send It South cocktail at Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille restaurants and the Dixie Fish Company are improving the health of the Florida Everglades and Florida Bay. HM Restaurant Group is partnering with Captains For Clean Water, donating $1 from every drink to the nonprofit organization’s mission of restoring and protecting Florida waters for the use and enjoyment of all.
“We’re thrilled to support Captains For Clean Water and raise awareness of the local water quality issues we face here in Southwest Florida,” said Joe Harrity, a partner with HM Restaurant Group, which owns and operates Doc Ford’s and Dixie Fish Company. “We are all impacted by the health of our local waterways – from the Gulf of Mexico to the Florida Everglades and our many rivers and lakes.”
Send It South, a refreshing and tasty combination of mango and silver rums, blue Curaçao, pineapple and soda water, is now available at Dixie Fish Company on Fort Myers Beach and Doc Ford’s four locations on Sanibel Island, Fort Myers Beach, the St. Petersburg Pier and Jungle Terrace in St. Petersburg.
As a locally owned company, HM Restaurant Group sponsors a number of projects benefiting local communities. Its successful Hospital Drinks initiative earmarks $1 from select drinks at Doc Ford’s to Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida and All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg. The program has raised over $123,000 since its inception.
A grassroots nonprofit, Captains For Clean Water was founded in 2016 by fishing guides concerned about Florida’s water management practices and the impact on estuaries’ unique plant and animal communities. The organization opposes the current-day procedure of discharging fresh water from Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers – a practice linked to blue-green algae and red tide plaguing South Florida’s waterways. Send It South refers to the group’s awareness campaign advocating a return to the natural southerly flow of critical freshwater through the Everglades and into Florida Bay, a process now impeded by dams, dikes and ditches built over a century ago. For more information, visit captainsforcleanwater.org.
Philanthropy and community outreach have been hallmarks of HM Restaurant Group and its establishments since Doc Ford’s founding on Sanibel in 2003. The company supports F.I.S.H. of SANCAP, the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, Sanibel CARES and other island nonprofit organizations. Doc Ford’s launched the “Ding” Darling Doc Ford’s Tarpon Tournament in 2012, which has raised nearly $1.2 million for Sanibel’s J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge. The 12th annual tournament takes place May 10, 2024.
HM Restaurant Group owns and operates Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille and Dixie Fish Company. Open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., the restaurants are renowned for delivering a legendary guest experience.
Award-winning Doc Ford’s offers food with a unique balance of flavors inspired by the Caribbean Rim. Beloved for its sauces, spices and signature Yucatan shrimp served daily, it’s highly regarded by locals and visitors alike as a spectacular seafood restaurant. Doc Ford’s is a perennial Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice winner. The St. Petersburg Pier restaurant was named the No. 1 restaurant for Best of the Best Restaurants for Everyday Eats in 2023.
An original Florida fishhouse and 2023 Yelp Top 100 Florida Restaurant, Dixie Fish Company’s origins date back to 1937 when it was primarily a fish market. Today, it’s an award-winning waterfront restaurant on Fort Myers Beach that serves delicious, fresh food in an ideal location for enjoying the beach atmosphere, complete with live music and picturesque views.