Pinchers — Restaurant in San Carlos Park

I recently had a simple, quick, and easy lunch at Pinchers with my girls. The restaurant offers a great deal where kids eat free with an adult meal, which is always a bonus. I had a Blue Moon beer, and for our meals, I ordered the fish and chips, my GF daughter had the hot dog (no bun) and fruit cup, and my other daughter had the chicken fingers and French fries.

Overall, the quality of the food at Pinchers was okay, and the restaurant is advertised as a $$ quality establishment, but it felt more like a high-quality $ restaurant. The kids' French fries were only okay, and the chicken tenders were typical for $ restaurants - not house-made, previously frozen, heavy on the batter, a little bit of chicken, and tasted of the deep fryer. The only GF option for kids was a hot dog without a bun.

My fish and chips were average, a little below the expectations for a $$ restaurant, but still edible. The French fries were okay, and the coleslaw tasted a little too sweet and around the quality of store-bought - not particularly fresh and a little bland. The fish and chips were off in the fish to batter ratio, with a little too much batter for the thin piece of fish. They tasted previously frozen and fried.

The ambiance of Pinchers was wonderful, and it is an excellent option for families with kids. The restaurant provides crayons, kids menus, and table paper for entertainment. The decor inside is lovely, and the servers were friendly, helpful, polite, and professional.

Although the food quality at Pinchers was not exceptional, the restaurant's fun decor and ambiance definitely made up for it. The value level was very high, with the "kids eat free" with an adult meal deal, and the overall cost was very reasonable for the experience. The food quality was consistent with the price and not overpriced. I am not aware of any better meal in SWFL for a similar price.

In conclusion, Pinchers is a reasonably good mid-range option and an excellent option for an easy meal with kids without breaking the bank. It's not the best meal in town, but it's definitely not the worst either. Compared to other midrange options, it might be worth spending a little more for a higher quality food experience. However, I plan to continue dining at Pinchers for an easy lunch, especially since it is a good option for families with kids due to the outstanding...

Our visit to the this location was so disappointing. We used to frequent the LWR location and LOVED it. Pincher’s has always been a staple in our family’s celebrations. We recently moved back to Florida after a brief relocation to Michigan for my husband’s work. When we saw there was a Pincher’s located close to my husband’s new job and where we live, we were so excited. We decided to pop in for dinner to celebrate being back home, in Florida. We were greeted by the hostess and promptly seated. Kenzie, our server, was right by to introduce herself and get drink orders. I requested a GF menu, which she quickly delivered. We all placed our orders and waited for our food. When my salad arrived, it had croutons and sides of bread. I quickly asked Kenzie if it could be corrected since I order it GF. She asked if it is an allergy issue, which I explained it was. She told me they would refire it. All of our food came out and everyone began to eat. My son ordered a second order of bacon and it was delivered and still no salad. Kenzie did check back frequently and let me know they were working on it and it would be out asap. When it finally came out, my entire family was done eating. We had 3 small children, so there was no longer time to eat my food. Kenzie provided me a to-go box. She did remove the salad from our check, and she was a great server. While there’s numerous reasons that the salad refire could have taken so long, the most disappointing part is that a manager did not once approach our table or address the situation. A manager (or person that appeared to be a manager) was present, but did not stop by. My husband works in restaurant management and we are very aware of the challenges that may go on behind the scenes. We are very understanding when there are hiccups in service, but this is surely a situation a manger table touch would have made all the difference. We would love to frequent this location, but may give the other Fort Myers locations a chance to win...

The server was awesome, though forgetful. Once he brought us food, he forgot to check back in and see if we needed drink refills. We made do.

The calamari was the best part of the food. Crunchy, tasty, and perfectly cooked.

That’s the last nice thing I have to say about this place. I ordered the broiled grouper. My boyfriend ordered the fried red snapper. The grouper was 1/3 of a grouper fillet and it was so over cooked and tough. It had a fishy taste too, which means it was on the verge of going bad or cooked really poorly. Grouper doesn’t have a fishy taste when I cook it.

The picture of the fried red snapper is all you need. It was a processed and prefrozen piece of fish that came in already breaded, and frozen. It reminded me a larger Gordon’s fish fillet. You can tell it was processed and frozen. No fish looks that way when it’s filleted fresh. And for the price, it should have been filleted fresh. It was also dry and rubbery, so I think it was freezer burnt. I spit it out, it was that disgusting. And I told the manager that came to the table what I thought of it.

Their idea of a serving of cole slaw is a tiny condiment cup of cole slaw. That’s one of the cheapest sides you offer and you skimp on it. And it want that good, either. Very mayonnaisey and no tang. It was blah. The bigger side was the fries. Why? Cause fries are cheap and filling. They make max profit and give you skimp portions of what you are paying for.

I do not recommend this place. The server comped me 1/3 of the cost of the grouper because it was over cooked. Not his fault. And I was sure to tell him that. I didn’t hold it against him. But the snapper, which was even worse than the grouper wasn’t comped at all. That was processed and frozen fish, that was freezer burnt. We were highly disappointed with this place, and I will not be going back. I honestly don’t understand how this place has so many...