Off The Eaten Path: Jimmy P's Charred in Bonita keeps power lunch alive

Finding a local restaurant open for lunch in Southwest Florida has become a bit of a challenge for some over the last couple of years. Many restaurants did not reestablish service following the COVID-19 pandemic. Others are still recovering from Hurricane Ian-related setbacks.

But that’s not the case at Jimmy P’s Charred in Bonita Springs. The so-called power lunch is alive and well here.

Grab any of the nearly 100 seats any weekday and watch a steady parade of patrons from young professionals to retirees, power brokers, and blue-collar workers, all hungry for what the neighborhood steakhouse is serving.

Burgers, as one might suspect by the name of the restaurant, are a big deal. Each patty is eight ounces of Wagyu beef, ground fresh daily in Jimmy P’s nearby butcher shop. The shop cuts and smokes all the meats that are served at the restaurant.

Jimmy P’s lunch menu has classic cheeseburgers with American cheese, Swiss burgers featuring Jimmy P’s signature sauce, barvbecue burgers stacked with onion rings, bacon and coleslaw, and a jalapeño burger with pepper jack cheese and fried jalapeños.

Regulars have their favorites but are always eager to hear about the craft burger of the day. In this daily special, chefs get to put their creativity to work. It’s not unusual for them to stack the handhelds so high that it’s nearly impossible to get your mouth around them.

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In 1985, third generation butcher Jimmy Pepper opened the doors of Jimmy P’s original butcher shop in Naples. At the time, it was the only place to get your hands on a wide variety, cuts and grades of Wagyu, along with exotic meats like kangaroo, antelope, and elk.

Heritage Berkshire pork is a signature. You’ll find the chops in the butcher shop for take home, as well cooked to perfection on both the lunch and dinner menus.

The shop set the bar and has since grown to be the premier place to find quality cuts of meat in Southwest Florida. The name carries weight in the world of carnivores.

The Pepper family branched out in 2015 opening the first Charred Steakhouse on Tamiami Trail in Naples. With demand growing, they expanded into Bonita Springs opening a second butcher shop, and a retail shop in a commercial complex on Bernwood Drive. The restaurant, 25301 S. Tamiami Trail, at Prado at Spring Creek, Bonita, followed in February 2019.

Here, handhelds are not reserved for burgers alone. The smokehouse beef brisket is a favorite. It is served on ciabatta bread and drizzled in homemade barbecue sauce. This steakhouse prides itself in its sauces and rubs. They are packaged and available for purchase.

Then there are the hotdogs. They’re not the ballpark variety. They are Kobe beef. According to connoisseurs, they have a nice “snap.”

When it comes to Jimmy P’s and meat, there are no rules. Who says one must wait until dinner for Wagyu filet mignon? It’s on the lunch menu along with a Manhattan Wagyu New York strip.

However, if you do wait until dinner, the choices are exponentially bigger. The dinner menu has more than half a dozen cuts options ranging from a Wagyu baseball cut sirloin to a Wagyu Tomahawk Ribeye and everything in between.

The thick cuts of meat are seasoned with a proprietary rub then charbroiled at 1,200 degrees or higher to seal in the flavors.

A big steakhouse with a big wine list to match, Jimmy P’s Charred uses a coravin preservation system. This allows lunch guests to have only one glass of a higher-end selection instead of having to pull the cork on a bottle.

Juicy meats, big wines, and an occasional healthful salad, Jimmy P’s in Bonita has all the ingredients needed for a successful Southwest Florida power lunch.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Power lunch alive and well at Jimmy P's Charred in Bonita Springs