A different kind of steakhouse. Bourbon & Bones Chophouse opens in Lakewood Ranch
Bourbon & Bones Chophouse & Market opened in Lakewood Ranch’s San Marco Plaza a week ago, and Bob Radakovic has already been a customer twice.
“This is great,” he said this week, as he paused from eating a sandwich.
His dining companion agreed: “The steak was awesome.”
Bourbon & Bones, 8205 Natures Way, is the newest offering from restaurant partners Ron Fuller and Steve Bishop. And a big departure for them.
The other restaurants, under their Excellence in Restaurants LLC umbrella, include Riviera Dunes Dockside in Palmetto, Bridge Street Bistro in Bradenton Beach, Island Time Bar & Grill in Bradenton Beach, and the Surf Shack Coastal Kitchen in Tampa. All have a strong Florida beach vibe.
“This is dramatically different. It’s our modern version of a steak house and bourbon bar,” Bishop said.
Bourbon & Bones is positioned in the middle of the steak house market, aiming for taste and service above what a diner might find in a chain steak house and rivaling that found in a high-end steak house, he said.
All steak served at Bourbon & Bones is certified Angus beef. It is aged a minimum of 30 days and cut in-house. Steaks are flamed cooked on either a charbroiler or a 1,000-degree infrared broiler, and delivered sizzling to the table on a 300-degree plate, finished with steakhouse butter.
The menu includes soups, salads and appetizers, all starting at $9.
Slow roasted prime rib is listed for $24 for a 10-ounce cut and $29 for a 14-ounce cut. Top sirloin steaks are listed at $19 for an eight-ounce cut and $24 for a 12-ounce cut. A seven-ounce filet mignon is $28, while a 10-ounce filet is $34.
Steaks are served with the restaurant’s signature au gratin potatoes, truffle fries or Yukon Gold mashed potatoes along with house-made red onion jam.
Other offerings, of the non-steak variety, include buttermilk fried chicken, for $17, chophouse meatloaf for $18, shrimp and grits for $22, Rockefeller pasta (large shrimp, sea scallops, spinach, caramelized onions, bacon, Parmesan cheese and Cavatappi pasta) for $22, and more.
A Bourbon & Bones burger is made from house-ground fine beef, and topped with red onion jam, thick bacon, aged cheddar, baby iceburg lettuce, and ripened tomato for $16.
The bourbon bar is a unique feature of the restaurant.
“We have more than 50 different bourbons. You can get flights of bourbons and you can mix and match them. You can spend anywhere from $8 to $30 for a flight,” Bishop said.
Another feature of the restaurant is a market at the entrance, where customers can buy cuts of meat, seafood and side items to take home.
With 149 seats of indoor and outdoor seating, Bourbon & Bones replaces the El Torro Mexican restaurant and a longtime pancake house that previously occupied the same space.
Bourbon & Bones has put a number of measures in place to keep customers and staff safe during the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, including mask wearing by staff, social distancing, and intensive cleaning.
Customers have the option of touchless ordering by hovering their phone camera over a QR code that then displays the menu on their smart phone. Customers can also order from a hand-held menu that is sanitized after each use.
Staff at Bourbon & Bones includes executive chef Jacob Rodibaugh, executive sous chef Michael Church, bar manager Kevin Meier, general manager Kirsten O’Hara, and assistant general manager Savanah White.
Bourbon & Bones is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. Lunch is served 11:30 a.m. - 4 p.m Monday through Friday and brunch is served on weekends 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Dinner is served starting at 4 p.m. The restaurant generally closes about 9 p.m., but may stay open later, depending on the amount of business that it is doing.
For more information on & Bones Chophouse & Market visit https://www.bourbonandboneslw.com/ or call 941-893-5403.
