Jimmie “The Beef Guy” Hart has brought Chicago style to Fort Myers. 

Hart opened the first Jimmie The Beef Guy in November 2021 on the southeast corner of Bonita Beach Road and U.S. 41. 

On May 2, he opened his second location at 3664 Cleveland Ave. in Fort Myers, just south of Hill Avenue. The “La Parilla” sign for a Puerto Rican restaurant that used to use the 800 square feet of space still stands. 

The restaurant is still a bit of a work in progress, Hart said, but he had to get up and running. The sign and the wall decorations aren’t ready yet, but the food is being served. 

Sandwiches are in the $11 to $15 range. Italian beef, sausage, sausage & beef, breaded steak and Maxwell Polish sausage make up the bulk of the menu. Side items consist of fries, a cup of cheese or “Italian Stallions,” which are thinly sliced Italian beef with mozzarella/provolone cheese and hot giardiniera wrapped in a crispy dough and “deep fried to perfection.” 

“It’s thinly sliced Italian beef,” Hart said of the menu’s staple, with the seasonings making it unique. “It’s a little special recipe. We don’t like to tell anybody. 

“It’s a Chicago tradition. It’s a staple back home. The sandwich. The beef. The Giardiniera. The Italian sausage. The breaded steak. That’s our up and coming, our No. 1 sandwich.” 

Hart is urging the Cape Coral and Gateway crowd to give his new restaurant a try. Hart joked that it seats “1,142 people, 27 at a time.” Given the limited indoor capacity, he expected the restaurant to become a grab-and-go destination for the Fort Myers area dining crowd. 

“Come on in and give us a shot,” Hart said. “You won’t be disappointed. The sandwich will change your life—is what I like to say.”