It’s the end of an era as South Mississippi waterfront restaurant owners retire
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Huck’s Cove Grill in Gautier will close Oct. 26 after 26 years of operation permanently.
- Owners Don and Joann Worner sold their 26-year waterfront restaurant to a local buyer.
- Huck’s closure follows two other Gulf Coast waterfront restaurant shutdowns in 2025.
A slice of the Caribbean with its resident alligator, Willie, and dining decks overlooking the river will slip away after this weekend.
Sunday, Oct. 26 is the last day for owners Don and Joann Worner at Huck’s Cove Grill on the Bayou in Gautier. They sold the restaurant to a local buyer who owns another restaurant on the Coast.
It’s the third waterfront restaurant to close or change hands in three months. Tiki Bar & Grill in Gautier and Flamingo Landing in Gulfport closed in August.
“Sad,” is how they describe the end of the era that began on Oct. 19, 1999, when they purchased the restaurant on the West Pascagoula River. They recently totaled $10 million they’ve invested in the business and community since then, the college kids and local staff members who worked there, the bands who entertained and the countless people they fed.
“We’re kind of an icon in Gautier. Like a yacht club where everyone could belong,” Don said.
Times change, and it’s hard for a small restaurant to survive, he said, especially when the owners spend six months on weather watch.
“It’s come time for us to retire,” Don said.
“It’s a younger person’s business,” Joann said.
One more taste of paradise
The restaurant still will be open Friday through Sunday for one last visit and a veterans’ poker run on Saturday.
The restaurant is known for its burgers and seafood, and they added Coast favorites like fried green tomatoes, gumbo and fried dill pickles.
“We tried to have items none of the other restaurants served,” Joann said, like being the first to put gator tail on the menu.
Customers will have a couple more days of great weather for dining on the water, but the forecast for Sunday, their last day, is wet.
Stormy weather kind of fits with the history of the place. The couple bought the waterfront restaurant from Beau Speed, a Gautier pharmacist who opened Huck’s Cove in 1996, bringing a taste of his tropical Caribbean experiences to South Mississippi.
The building was just hit by Hurricane Georges before the sale went through, and was repaired.
“We’ve always built back” Don said, restoring the building, the docks and decks torn up by tropical storms and deluged by Hurricane Katrina. The water line of Katrina is marked above the window in the restaurant, amid the license plates, photos of celebrities who ate there and the wallpaper of memorabilia.
The Worners said most of the license plates are theirs. “We traveled a lot,” said Don. He was from Ocean Springs and when they were ready to settle back on the Coast, they were looking for a place that reminded the of the Bahamas, where they had spent a lot of time.
Tucked away and friendly
Customers can pull up in their boat or set their map to 3000 Oak St. to reach Huck’s Cove. Or they can go with local directions to turn off Highway 90 by the bridge and hang a right just after the cemetery. Then it’s a weave past the separate restroom building like those in the Bahamas, into the entry with its porch swings and out beyond to the decks.
People just seem to find the restaurant. “We wanted to go somewhere on the water,” said two customers from Cleveland, Ohio, who were having lunch on the deck with their dogs after visiting the alligator. Manatees also have been known to swim up to Huck’s a time or two.
“I love this little place,” said Lisa Simpson, who wants the new owners to keep the menu and the restaurant the same. She and Jeffrey Saylors visit whenever they come to Biloxi from Florida, and she always orders the same thing. “I’m not getting crawfish in West Palm Beach,” she said.
As the new owner takes on the care of the building and the history of Huck’s Cove, the Worners no longer will have to watch for storms six months of the year.
“We’re going to travel some more,” Don said. “Just enjoy life.”
This story was originally published October 24, 2025 at 3:00 PM.
