Farewell Big Al

Big Al Landers came to Marco Island in 1985 and made his mark on the Island's restaurant scene by opening six successful restaurants over a two-decade period. Landers was widely known for his namesake restaurant, Big Al’s Hoagie House, a business he opened in the Town Center shopping center. Today, Landers’ niece, Candice Simmons, is co-owner of Big Al’s, now located in Pelican Plaza on Bald Eagle Drive, with Jackie Romanowicz.  

"He's pretty much Marco Island,” Candice Simmons said of her locally famous uncle. "He's been here building all these businesses since the '80s, and he's really made a lot of memories on the island with a lot of people. It's really too bad that he's gone and he's not here anymore. But we are here now. Me and Jackie running Big Al’s. We're going to keep it going for him. We love him.” 

Landers followed his girlfriend-turned-wife Robin to the island in 1985. Robin and Al became somewhat of a power couple on the island during their 21 years of marriage. 

“Nobody really knows about the beginning years,” said Robin (Landers) Turley, "and why we ended up on Marco Island. I moved to Fort Lauderdale from Massachusetts. I was a small-town country girl, and I moved to the big city. And Al was the first guy that I met.” 

Within six months, Robin moved to Marco Island. After visiting on weekends, Al eventually joined her on Marco. The couple married and opened, operated, and then sold a number of successful restaurants on the island. Only Big Al’s and Cocomo’s are still in operation. 

"We were like small-town celebrities,” Robin said with a laugh. “We kind of got a feel of how the big people feel. It was kind of like living in a bubble. But it was good to us. It was a good time. Now it's all gone. I am amazed how Marco's like a big city now.” 

Scott Gibbs, who owns Cocomo’s with his wife Bonnie, said Landers gave him his first job on Marco, as an electrician. 

“We actually met in 1994,” Scott Gibbs said. “Al had a lighting company, and my brother was working for him. I was going to school at UNLV. My brother said, 'I can get you a job doing lighting. We're making $150 a day, whether we work two hours or 10.' My brother and I had the experience because my dad was an electrical contractor.  

"I knew Al and Robin for years, and then in 2003, when he was building Cocomo’s, I said, ‘You get that up and running, and I'll buy it from you.' So, they opened in November 2003. The first week in January, he pulls in my driveway on his Harley and says, ‘Can we talk? Are you serious about buying Cocomo’s?' I said, ‘Absolutely.' That's how it all started. Bonnie and I figured out a way to purchase it, and we bought it from him in April. So, they ended up having it like four or five months. And here we are 20 years later. Al and I had a good relationship. He always treated me good. Just kind of an easy guy to like. He and Robin worked hard. When you walked in his restaurant, he was on the line.” 

Robin was by Al’s side for all of his restaurant ventures. She said Big Al’s was inspired by a sub shop they both frequented in Ft. Lauderdale. 

“Mike Marre was his childhood friend,” Robin said. “They would sneak down to Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and surf all the time. The banter going back and forth between them made everybody want to be around them. It was a great energy. Surprisingly enough, right where they would surf in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, there was this tiny little closet-sized sub shop called Laspada's. And they had truly the best subs."  

Robin’s parents urged her to move to Marco Island. 

"My parents wanted me out of the city and in a safe place,” she said. "I did love Marco. Jim Prange was the first person I met. Al started doing research and realized there wasn't much food here. He said, ‘We need a good sub shop.' So, he did a big version of Laspada's, and that's how Big Al's started. Then we opened it as a sports pub. It was kind of like Cheers. Al not only had a gift of gab, but he was amazing with remembering names and what his customers liked to eat. People, when they would walk in, Al would yell their name out. If you ate there a lot, he would see you in the long line and he would make your sub and throw it to you and say, ‘Have a good day.' Not even charge. Just a thanks for coming in. He was amazing. He was a people person. He knew how to make people feel good. And he had a nice filter. I had no filter, but he was amazing. He knew how to make people feel good.” 

Landers was known for his giving spirit. Noted local realtor Jim Prange considered Al a best friend. 

"I remember him donating bikes,” Prange said. “If a kid lost a bike, Al would go down to the bike shop and buy a standard little bike, and he'd give it away.” 

Prange helped Robin and her parents buy a condominium at Riverside Club and helped Al get Big Al’s started. 

“I helped him find that location,” Prange said. "He opened up Big Al's Hoagie House. Then, he ended up leasing the space next door to him. They ended up putting in a sports bar. What was so cool, though, is it was like the hometown bar.” 

The bar at Big Al’s was U-shaped and small enough to allow banter to go back and forth among the patrons. In fact, the regulars settled into their bar stools to watch the final episode of Cheers together. Al was also known for his Super Bowl parties. 

"Super Bowl was the coolest thing,” Prange said, “Al would sell each seat and then he'd lock the door. The seat included a bucket of beer or whatever. Those were the most awesome, awesome Super Bowls ever because you got to be with the local group that you really knew.” 

Landers immersed himself in everything Marco Island. He was particularly fond of athletics. 

“He was on so many boards, so many organizations, raising money for different events,” Robin said. “He did all that, and the restaurants alone kept him busy. He was very charitable. He was a triathlete, he was always competing. All over the board. His flag football team that he formed back in the day was his biggest pride. They traveled the circuit and did pretty well.” 

Prange joined Landers in many of his athletic pursuits, including the Marco Island Sports Festival in the late 1990s. 

“We were weekend warriors as far as sports go,” Prange laughed. “We got into doing these 5Ks. Then we got into doing half marathons. Neither one of us really trained. We were never there to finish first. I was in Rotary Club and we were big sponsors of the Marco Island Sports Festival. They had the Terry Scarlet Athlete of Iron Award.  

Scarlet was a beloved singer and guitarist who was very active in the island’s social scene.  

“Terry came down with cancer,” Prange said. “The award didn’t go to the best athlete, it went to the athlete that did the most events.” 

Prange set his sights on winning the award. But there was another athlete who had the same plan. 

“Terry was a friend of mine, so I’m signing up for every stinking event I can,” Prange said. “Then somebody said, ‘You know, Jim, there’s another guy that’s doing sort of the same thing. I didn’t know who this guy was. It was Al." 

One of the events of the sports fest was a triathlon. 

“We started down at Tigertail Beach,” Prange said. “I was 40, Al was 39. So, we had separate starting times. We ended up 19 seconds apart, yet we did not race alongside each other. That’s just how equal we were. It ends up two years in a row he and I tied for the Athlete of Iron award.” 

Al and Robin opened six restaurants on Marco Island: Big Al’s Hoagie House and Sports Pub, Kahuna’s, Buckwheat’s, Bimini’s, and Cocomo’s, and the resurrected Big Al’s Deli. But it was the original Big Al’s that was his favorite. 

“That was his pride,” Robin said. “He enjoyed all the restaurants. They were all on different scales. But I think Big Al's made him most proud. We used to get all the Platinum Plate awards because it is truly home-cooked food. Big Al's was the smallest one and it raked in all the awards. The others were bigger. Some of them had partners. But I think his favorite is Big Al's. And how sweet that my niece ended up owning it. That's my blood.” 

“He definitely had the gift of gab,” Robin said. “We always said he can sell ice to an Eskimo. That's where he shined. He shined on the front end. I was in the kitchen doing all the cooking and ordering. It was a good ride. I loved it." 

Philanthropy was also important to Big Al. 

"All his giving was important to him,” Robin said. "He impacted a lot of people on the island. He was iconic. Just very community-oriented. And he was relentless in his giving. He had the biggest heart and was kind. He never had a bad word. He really was a beautiful person. He was quite the small-town philanthropist. He gave everything. If there was a funeral and we knew the person and they frequented here, he’d say, ‘It's on me, I've got it.' And he would take care of all the food. That was a common thing that he would do. Just donate and donate. He donated his time as well. He was a philanthropist and a visionary." 

But Landers’ biggest source of pride was his children. 

"He was so proud of his children,” Landers Turley said. "Very proud of Tiana and Reno on where they are in life.” 

Though they divorced, Al and Robin remained close. 

 “We weren't just amicable,” she said. "We love each other. Divorces don't have to be ugly. He loved my current husband and vice versa. We had the right personalities. There were no egos, and it worked. We got lucky through our divorce. We stayed really good friends." 

Landers died on September 5, 2024. 

“He passed away from an undetected saddle pulmonary embolism,” Robin said. "That's what got him. We've lost so many greats recently on the island. He knew all these people and he's like, ‘Wow, another great is gone.' Al's on that list now. He's gone. I'm going to miss him. He was just a good person. As a couple, we worked well. I have to say, he made his mark. And it was a beautiful mark."