Cape Harbour's The Joint presents easygoing menu choices

From the News-Press
July 16, 2008

Visitors to Cape Coral's Cape Harbour can find a good dinner or lunch at Rumrunners, the popular restaurant that opened in the development in late 2003.

But what about something a little less fancy?

Jeff Gately, managing partner of Rumrunners, has just the alternative in The Joint, which opened in late 2006, also in Cape Harbour.

"We conceived it as something of an alternative to Rumrunners and it's certainly more casual," says Gately, who oversees the restaurants with partners Todd Johnson and Ralph Centalonza. "We wanted something that was a little more simple, that could be a gathering place where people could just get together but not necessarily have a big meal. Rumrunners is more of a dining place. At The Joint, you can have a snack or a beer and a pizza and drop 20 bucks and be out of there."

Gately says he and his partners "really wanted to go with a casual concept. When my friends and I go out, or I go with my partners and their wives, we are all kind of foodies and like to taste a lot of things. We don't necessarily want an 8-ounce steak or a 10-ounce piece of fish. So, we came up with this different concept. We did what you could call 'nosh,' where you order some things and pass them around, family-style."

They wanted an element of fun to that easygoing menu, and Gately says that includes popular items such as shrimp tacquito, which features shrimp in a fire-roasted red pepper sauce served with Southwestern slaw, along with various sandwiches based on everything from haddock and tuna to Kobe beef sliders to what they call "Ho-Daddy Bratwurst," New Castle-braised Bratwurst served with a house-made sauerkraut, butter chips and garlic crostini.

You can also share various pizzas and salads and items from the large "nosh" listings, characterized by Gately as "upscale pub food."

There's waterside dining at The Joint and also a large outdoors bar called Long Boards at The Joint, with a colorful, oversized tiki bar design and service from the restaurant.

Gately says they offer daily specials at The Joint, "and the emphasis is always on fresh ingredients. And, a really big thing is that we allow the chef to be creative. We always strive to have that going because it allows you to keep the quality of food high and it keeps good quality people in place and lets their creative juices flow."