Do you have to dress up at Pinchers?

A lesson Tony learned the hard way

When Tony was a young man working in restaurants, two groups of guests came in. One looked sharp and well-dressed. The other was dressed much more casually. Tony assumed the well-dressed party deserved more attention.

It was a mistake. The casually dressed guests noticed the difference in how they were treated, and by the end of the meal they had made their disappointment clear in a way Tony would remember for decades. He tells the story today because he knows exactly what he got wrong: he judged people by how they looked instead of making everyone feel equally welcome.

Everybody gets the regulars’ welcome

Years later, when the family opened Pinchers in Bonita Springs, they wanted the kind of restaurant where nobody needed to prove they belonged. Bring the kids. Stop by after a day on the water. You should feel just as welcome as the person who comes in every Friday and knows half the staff by name.

Hospitality is personal

For Tony, hospitality means walking through the dining room, talking to guests, remembering faces and paying attention to the little things. Grant grew up watching his father do it, and the family wants those lessons to stay part of Pinchers as it grows.

There’s a special feeling in walking into a restaurant and realizing somebody is glad to see you. Maybe they remember your name or what you usually order. Maybe it’s your very first visit, and they simply make you comfortable enough to come back.

Being a regular isn’t really about how many times you’ve visited. It’s about how a place makes you feel when you walk through the door. At Pinchers, Tony would like everyone to feel that way, even the first time.