Monkey Bar to celebrate a decade full of Happy Hours
Why limit yourself to just one happy hour, when many more can be had at the Monkey Bar in Cape Coral?
It’s no secret Cape Coral is chock full of top restaurants and bars, each featuring something different either on the menu, atmosphere or location.
But at the Monkey Bar, located at 1428 Lafayette St., in Cape Coral, an elite menu and top service goes along with the value for one’s buck with its famous happy hour schedule. It’s famous because of how long Monkey Bar owners Claudia Garcia and Nico Bogert have stretched that one hour into eight enjoyable – and cheap – hours.
“We are open 10 hours a day with eight hours being Happy Hour,” Garcia said. “We never end our Happy Hour, it’s going on seven days a week.”
The extended Happy Hour is just one of the factors which has propelled the Monkey Bar through 10 years of service in Cape Coral. Saturday will mark the 10-year anniversary and there will be plenty of “10” sales going on.
“We will have live music starting at 2 p.m. and vendors available giving away drinks,” Garcia said. “There will be a special menu and we will be serving our famous prime rib with mashed potatoes and other sides for $10. We also will have four items on the special menu for $10 each, along with buckets of beer, margaritas and pitchers for $10.”
Garcia and Bogert are expecting a busy, busy day Saturday, but it’s par for the course at the Monkey Bar.
After the duo purchased the Monkey Bar in 2006, the facility housed 150 seats. Business was good for the first couple of years, with Bogert introducing a more upscale menu, rather than the finger foods and burgers the Monkey Bar was known for beforehand.
“When we took it over, we brought more of an upscale restaurant and featured more seafood and steaks,” Garcia said. “We still have our burgers and finger food, but we wanted something for everyone.”
When the recession hit the area, Garcia and Bogert had to be hands-on owners, meaning they ran and worked the majority of shifts. They also figured out how to keep bringing back patrons, despite the hard financial times.
“People were losing houses and jobs and we lost many customers during that time,” Garcia said. “So we did a lot of ‘buy one, get one free’ specials and offered a lot of coupons for more value.”
But the good ole’ fashion techniques also went into surviving the tough times, which eventually turned back into a better economic environment and now, the Monkey Bar seats over 250.
“We have good customer service, with quality food and drinks, we make sure every drink and dish is prepared properly,” said Bogert, who has been a certified chef for the last 40 years. “We provided consistency and were hands-on owners. People in Cape Coral are looking for value, and we provide good value.”
Top customer service is also a product of consistency. Garcia said the turnover rate of employees is low and many have been working at the Monkey Bar for the last six to seven years.
“Most of our employees stay and we don’t lay them off after the in-season has ended,” Garcia said.
One of those longtime employees is Garcia’s son, Juan Rincon, who has worked his way up to restaurant manager. Rincon also sees how his mother and Bogert have run the Monkey Bar, turning it into a successful business with a decade worth of longevity.
“I started as a dishwasher and now am the restaurant manager,” Rincon said. “The big thing here, is the atmosphere. People like the atmosphere and the outdoor area. We also have such a good happy hour because it’s so long and the entertainment we have, is another big thing.”
The original plan of Bogert and Garcia’s was to buy the Monkey Bar and sell it in a five-year period. But with the recession, those plans changed, so now they are enjoying their 10-year anniversary Saturday.
“My goal always was to work for myself,” Garcia said. “I want to make money for myself and it’s been satisfying knowing we’ve been working hard for the last 10 years. It has been a lot of sacrificing your personal time, but now after 10 years, I can say I did it.”
To learn more about the Monkey Bar, visit its website at www.monkeybarandsteakhouse.com/ or call 239-549-8800.