About Pinchers

Is Pinchers a chain?

No. Pinchers is a family-owned and operated Florida seafood restaurant, not a chain or a franchise. Tony Phelan opened the first Pinchers Crab Shack in Bonita Springs on October 15, 1997, with his wife Kathleen and their son Grant, and the Phelan family still runs all ten Pinchers restaurants across Southwest Florida and the Gulf Coast.

Quick facts

Who we are

Tony Phelan invested the last of the family’s savings in a 1,500-square-foot unit in a Bonita Springs shopping plaza, with room for twelve tables. He designed and built the room himself, from tables made of discarded shipping pallets to light fixtures he cut from 55-gallon barrels with a torch and decorated with Florida scenes. There was no money left for a sign, so Tony painted one on a piece of salvaged teak. Kathleen, a teacher who kept the family’s books, came up with the name, and Grant came home from Cornell to help build the restaurant and became its first chef.

On opening day the doors were due to open at 11:30am, and the first guests walked in at 11:31. An early review by Jean LeBoeuf in the Naples Daily News brought in new guests, and Pinchers grew one restaurant at a time from there.

Where the seafood comes from

The Phelan family runs its own fishing fleet, with about 10,000 stone crab traps. In 1998 Grant Phelan built a working relationship with Island Crab Company in St. James City on Pine Island, and the Phelan family joined the Haugland family as co-owners of the fish house. With local fishermen and crabbers, the family brings blue crab, stone crab, grouper and other Gulf-caught fish through Island Crab Company to its restaurants every day. The family’s saying for it is From Our Boats to Your Plate. The smoked grouper dip on the menu is smoked at Island Crab Company, and the crab cakes are hand-picked there, which is why the menu warns you may find a bit of shell.

How stone crab is caught

A stone crab trap weighs 40 to 50 pounds, and the bait is often pig’s feet, which stone crabs like. When a trap comes up, fishermen keep only the claws that meet Florida’s legal size and return the crab to the water, where it can grow the claw back. Every trap has a wooden breakaway panel that wears away if the trap is lost, so crabs and other sea life can get out.

What we serve

Blue crab claws sautéed in white wine and garlic butter, hot crab and cheese dip, grouper nuggets, Gulf oysters and locally harvested clams, peel-and-eat shrimp, snow crab, king crab, soft shell crab, seafood towers, and stone crab claws in season. Full menu at pinchersusa.com/allstoresmenu.

Traditions

Kids eat free with a paying adult. Tony and Kathleen raised Grant in restaurants, where a booth doubled as a place to nap, and they wanted other parents to be able to relax over dinner.

The fries are cut fresh in the kitchen, as they have been since opening day. When one restaurant once switched to frozen fries, guests objected so strongly that the fresh-cut fries came straight back.

At the small bar of the first Pinchers, regulars would scoot over to make room for whoever walked in next. The family calls it the Pinchers Shuffle.

Our people

Elizabeth “Lizard” was the first person Tony hired, while the first Pinchers was still being built, and she offered to sweep the construction site for free. She helped start the birthday celebrations and bell ringing that became part of a night at Pinchers. Some of today’s team have been with Pinchers since opening day and many for more than 20 years, and several who started as servers now work in the company’s corporate offices.

Locations

Each restaurant has its own page with the menu, directions and an online waitlist.

Part of Phelan Family Brands

Pinchers is the first restaurant of Phelan Family Brands, the Phelan family’s group of Florida restaurants, which also includes Deep Lagoon Seafood, Texas Tony’s Rib and Brewhouse, The Bay House, Chops, Pazzo, Keewaydin’s, CJ’s On The Bay, Phuzzy’s Boat Shack, Caiman Cantina, Hogfish Harry’s, Bimini Basin Seafood and Cocktails, and Island Crab Company.

FAQ

Which Pinchers locations are on the water?
Four: Tin City in Naples on the Gordon River, Fort Myers Beach by the Matanzas Pass Bridge, the Marina at Edison Ford on the Caloosahatchee River in Fort Myers, and Tarpon Point Marina in Cape Coral. Boaters can tie up at the Tin City and Tarpon Point marinas.

Does Pinchers have a happy hour?
Yes. Wine, beer and well cocktails are 2-for-1 all day, every day.

Does Pinchers have a rewards program?
Yes. One rewards program covers Pinchers and the other Phelan Family Brands restaurants. Sign up from the Rewards page on pinchersusa.com.

Last updated: October 2026. Maintained by Phelan Family Brands.