Monkey Bar Steak & Seafood marks two decades

Monkey Bar Steak & Seafood marks two decades Will celebrate milestone anniversary with special $20 menu, daylong live entertainment Nov 12, 2026 By CJ HADDAD 5 min read 1 / 5 Owner Claudia Garcia and her son, Juan Rincon, co-owner and general manager, say well-prepared menu offerings, quality of service, has resulted on a loyal customer base. PHOTO PROVIDED 2 / 5 The Monkey Bar menu is full of quality offerings, including filet mignon, filet mignon Wellington, New York strip, prime rib, ribeye, beef tenderloin and more. On the seafood side, guests can have their choice of grouper, ahi tuna, mahi-mahi, snapper, lobster, salmon and more. PHOTO PROVIDED 3 / 5 PHOTOS PROVIDED 4 / 5 PHOTO PROVIDED 5 / 5 PHOTO PROVIDED [expand] close A Cape Coral restaurant has been hanging around for quite some time will celebrate a milestone anniversary this Saturday. Monkey Bar Steak & Seafood will mark 20 years of business in the Cape, with $20 specials and entertainment from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Nov. 14. Hand-cut steaks, high-quality seafood, and an abundance of affordable dishes and happy hour specials during a time where budgets are tight can be attributed to two decades of existence. Owned by Claudia Garcia since its inception, Monkey Bar stands out as a place where regulars flock and food is done right. “It shows that we’ve worked hard for 20 years,” Garcia said. “We’ve gone through a lot of personal and financial situations — the recession, hurricanes, COVID, illness in the family. But this is a milestone for us that we survived all of this. “Cape Coral is a place where a lot of restaurants come and go. It’s a very difficult industry to stay alive in, and it’s hard to believe we’ve been here 20 years, and all with the same owners.” Garcia boasts decades of experience in the hospitality and food industry, from working as the Food and Beverage director at Pink Shell Beach Resort and managing various country clubs. It’s a family affair as well, as her son, Juan Rincon, works as co-owner and general manager of the establishment, having earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from Florida Gulf Coast University. The Monkey Bar menu is full of quality offerings, including filet mignon, filet mignon Wellington, New York strip, prime rib, ribeye, beef tenderloin and more. On the seafood side, guests can have their choice of grouper, ahi tuna, mahi-mahi, snapper, lobster, salmon and additional fresh options. “Our food is excellent,” Garcia said. “We are a steak and seafood spot, but we also have chicken wings, burgers, and sandwiches. We are a little more high-end, believe it or not. People can take us for granted thinking it’s a dive bar. But when you go inside, you see the tablecloths and linen, china and glassware. We’re probably the only restaurant in town that sells the filet Wellington.” Monkey Bar’s head chef, Nico Bogert, hand cuts each steak in-house every single day. Garcia said they are able to cut any kind of meat, including cowboy steaks, bone-in ribeye, porterhouse and tomahawks. Bogert, who has more than 50 years of experience in the industry, was originally a partner with Garcia, and he has been the chef all 20 years of the restaurant’s existence. While Monkey Bar serves up top-notch choices, it takes into account the consumer’s budget as well. Of its 10 operational hours each day, eight of them fall under some sort of happy hour special. “We cater to people with a budget,” Garcia said. “Our prices are very reasonable.” Garcia and Rincon are also very much present in their establishment. “We’re there a lot,” Rincon said. “We make sure everything is running correctly.” Garica also has a background in real estate and, having worked in Cape Coral during her food service tenure, she saw the empty location of what is now Monkey Bar and looked into the property. It was closed at the time due to a previous hurricane. Garcia purchased what was formerly the Monkey Grill in 2006, and decided to rework the name into Monkey Bar Steak & Seafood. “There were monkeys everywhere, so we decided to keep that part and bring more quality to the food,” Garcia said. “We changed the look and made it more upscale.” Garcia said there was some pushback at first, but that customers began appreciating their high-quality service and food. “And that’s what we’ve been offering for 20 years,” she said. “We don’t serve low-grade meats or seafood. I have extensive knowledge in buying high-quality products. Everything we serve, I can assure, is high-quality.” Of course, no business could exist for two decades without a loyal customer base, and Monkey Bar has found just that. “We appreciate all of our customers,” Rincon said. “We have people that have been here for the full 20 years that literally come every single day. We appreciate them and their loyalty, and everything that they’ve gone through with us.” On Saturday, vendors will be at Monkey Bar throughout the day giving away T-shirts and other items. Garcia has also created a $20 menu with all of the offerings they usually serve. “We have a lot of good specials for $20,” she said. As for what the future holds, Rincon said it was hard to even imagine his mother would still have the restaurant back when she purchased it when he was just 13. “If we can go another 10 to 20 years — awesome,” he said. “It just depends on what happens in life and what we decide to do with the business.” Garcia added, “In 20 years, we went through so much … we’re still hanging. The monkeys are still hanging.” Monkey Bar Steak & Seafood is at 1428 Lafayette St. For more information, visit monkeybarcapecoral.com .