The restaurant also was shut down for a few months after Hurricane Ian sent storm surge \u2014 and a since-removed boat \u2014 into the restaurant Sept. 28, 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis menu is completely different,\u201d said Joe Harrity, managing partner of HM Restaurant Group, which bought the land for $5.5 million. The property is next to the group\u2019s two other restaurants, Dixie Fish Co. and Doc Ford\u2019s Rum Bar & Grille. \u201cThere\u2019s not a single thing at Dixie or Doc Ford\u2019s that\u2019s going to be on this menu.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Joe Harrity, managing partner of HM Restaurant Group, said Bonita Fish Co. features a completely new menu from the group\u2019s other restaurants.<\/p>\n
David Dorsey<\/p>\n
Harrity and Executive Chef Chas Tatigian showcased a sampling of the menu at a media event, where they had a spread of jumbo Gulf shrimp, smoked corned beef brisket, shrimp and corn fritters, coconut cheesecake and homemade cinnamon rolls, which will be on the Friday through Sunday brunch menu.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to recommend the smoked mullet,\u201d Harrity said. \u201cThat\u2019s one thing going back to the nostalgia of Old Florida. Mullet was a household thing back in the \u201960s and \u201970s. I think it\u2019s cool to be able to bring that back and put our spin on that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the showpiece will be bayfront dining and Bayside Private Events, which can be used for either overflow restaurant customers or can be rented for special events, such as weddings and birthday parties. It can handle groups of up to 120 people.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although the restaurant is poised to open, construction isn\u2019t quite finished. The company is awaiting permits to build a 30- to 35-slip marina. The docks will be extended from two points along the existing deck. One will be built where a planter has been placed for now. The other will extend from the edge of the events building\u2019s deck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The new Bonita Fish Co. occupies the century-old building at Fisherman\u2019s Wharf that previously housed Bonita Bill\u2019s.<\/p>\n
David Dorsey<\/p>\n
The marina will accommodate boats up to 90 feet long.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Serving food in a century-old building means the most, Harrity said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s not a whole lot of that around anymore,\u201d he said. \u201cThe fact that we\u2019re able to preserve that and add our spin to it is really important to us. I think people are going to love it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Bonita Fish Co. offers open-air waterfront dining and a full bar beneath Matanzas Pass Bridge on San Carlos Island.<\/p>\n
HM Restaurant Group<\/p>\n
The restaurant group also recently rebranded its hot sauces to \u201cGloria\u2019s,\u201d named for a cat that lives at Doc Ford\u2019s. Gloria disappeared for about six months after Hurricane Ian but has since returned to her spot at the restaurant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bonita Fish Co. will serve lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays through Sundays.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brunch hours will be 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays through Sundays, with drinks including the Bonita Mary with smoky honey-habanero rim, the Mimosa of the Day with fresh-squeezed juice and a salted caramel espresso martini.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Other menu highlights include fried grouper sandwiches, shrimp torpedoes, the BFC hot chicken sandwich, oysters, chowder, peel-and-eat shrimp and house-made cocktail sauce.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/6903896d50991.image.jpg\")
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Bonita Fish Co.\u2019s new menu highlights Gulf-caught seafood and coastal favorites, including fried grouper sandwiches, shrimp torpedoes and house-made desserts.<\/p>\n
HM Restaurant Group<\/p>\n
Tatigian has 35 years of experience. A native of Montreal, he has worked with HM Restaurant Group for eight years and said he was thrilled to build a menu from scratch. The son of a chef, Tatigian said his father had him cooking hot dogs at age 5.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still have grouper, but we have different ways of preparation,\u201d Tatigian said. \u201cEveryone put their input together to make this one different.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
General Manager Krystian Martinez will lead about 70 to 80 employees following nine years working at the Doc Ford\u2019s on Sanibel Island.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s amazing,\u201d Martinez said of the new restaurant\u2019s look. \u201cThe place looks absolutely beautiful. A lot of things are very unique for this location.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just in time for the building\u2019s 100th birthday, a new restaurant will be opening at Fisherman\u2019s Wharf on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26965,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[20210,209,211,210,4112],"class_list":{"0":"post-26964","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cape-coral","8":"tag-bonita-fish-co","9":"tag-cape-coral","10":"tag-cape-coral-headlines","11":"tag-cape-coral-news","12":"tag-fisherman"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}