You’d think Braelyn, B for short, owns the place.
After all, the restaurant bears her name, and when she’s there, she’s either in the office or chatting with regulars. She’s effortlessly personable and a joy to meet.
But she’s not the owner of B’s Grillhouse in Cape Coral.
Braelyn is just 7 years old.
“She walks around like she owns the place,” said Casey Cardini, B’s mom and the restaurant’s general manager. “She says her name’s on the door.”
Dawn Grummel, B’s grandmother and Casey’s mother, is the actual owner of this laid-back, family-friendly, neighborhood restaurant in Lighthouse Plaza on Pine Island Road.
It took over the former Foster’s Grille space, next to Luciano’s Pizza, on March 5.
Casey and her mother had been talking about buying a restaurant when …
“She came in to Foster’s one day — she had never been there before — and saw it was for sale,” Casey said. “She bought it a month later.”
Chargrilled burgers, sandwiches and more at B’s
Foster’s Grille, which still has 20-plus locations in Maryland and Virginia, first brought its charburgers to Cape Coral in the late 2000s. It served the community for nearly 20 years before being sold to Grummel.
“If you liked Foster’s food, we still have it,” said Casey, who was a manager at the nearby Carrabba’s before coming to B’s. “We have the exact same burgers, same food. The same cook is still here. We kept the entire staff.”
And while most of the menu is the same, it’s a bit bigger.
“We added salads and wraps,” Casey said. “And we’re getting ready to add to the menu again. We’ll still keep more but will add some new apps, new sandwiches.”
Right now, the cheesesteaks — original Philly or chicken Philly — are a best seller.
“We chop up the steak, then chop it more,” said Casey, who moved here from the Philadelphia area 20 years ago. “We add the cheese, and it melts right in, and we chop it more. We doubled the amount of meat. It’s as close to original as you can get.”
The patty melt is also popular, along with Italian beef, (bone-in and boneless) wings, daily specials, and, of course, the charburgers.
“(Foster’s) had a build-your-own option,” Casey said. “We now name them.”
Options include classic, Western BBQ, Black & Blue, Hangover (with fried egg) and Mushroom Swiss.
There’s a turkey burger too.
And as for B herself?
Well, she usually opts for chicken tenders, mac & cheese, broccoli and the fresh-baked cookies and homemade cake.
Fresh food, community events at B’s
“Nothing here is frozen,” Casey said. “We have one freezer, and it’s for the waffle fries. We cut and bread our own onion rings. Fries are homemade. The tenders — we don’t use frozen chicken. We use our own breading, then fry them. Our bread is delivered four times a week. It’s all fresh.”
Sauces, cake slices and brownies can be added to the fresh list too.
It’s all ordered and delivered right to your table, which is a change from the Foster’s days when you filled out a slip with your order on it.
“That was a big change,” Casey said. “We have full table service now.”
Other smaller changes include upgraded and more TVs, new cushions in the booths, and fresh paint on the full-liquor bar.
Special events were, and still are, a big part of the restaurant.
“We have live music, bingo, poker,” Casey said. “We do things for schools. The car show is still here every Wednesday. The biker club wants to do events. It really helps draw people in. We see a lot of the same customers (from Foster’s), but we’re seeing a lot of new people too. A lot of families.”
Some of them spot Braelyn right away.
“We’ve been doing TikTok, and she’ll get on there,” Casey said. “People recognize her now.”
Remember, though, she doesn’t B’s or any other restaurant. Not yet anyway.
B’s Grillhouse, 728 SW Pine Island Road, Cape Coral; open at 11 a.m. Tuesday through Sunday; (239) 360-8966; bsgrillhouse.com and on Facebook
Robyn George is a food and dining reporter for The News-Press. Connect at rhgeorge@fortmyer.gannett.com
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This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Cape Coral restaurant all about family, fun and those charburgers
Reporting by Robyn George, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
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By Robyn George, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News | USA TODAY Network
