Fifty years behind the griddle.
A Philadelphia diner family, a Florida town that adopted them, and the restaurant where everybody still knows your name.
Quick Answer
Old 41 Restaurant is a family-owned breakfast & lunch restaurant opened in 2007 by Tony Backos, who grew up in his family's Philadelphia diners and brings 50 years of restaurant experience to every plate. It has won the News-Press Community Choice award 19 consecutive years.
It started with a busboy.
Tony Backos was twelve years old when he started bussing tables in his dad's Philadelphia diner. His aunts and uncles ran diners too — several generations of a Greek family who believed a restaurant should feel like dining at home: excellent, consistent food at honest prices.
"I was born into this business," Tony says. "I am Greek — it's in my blood."
Philly comes to Bonita Springs.
In 2007, Tony brought the family playbook to Southwest Florida and opened Old 41 Restaurant, named for the old Tamiami Trail that runs through Bonita's historic heart. The menu came with him: real Amoroso rolls shipped from Philadelphia, Taylor pork roll, scrapple, and a cheesesteak that's won "Best in Bonita" so many times it's basically retired the trophy.
The kitchen and serving staff have been with Tony since the doors opened. "We are a family restaurant. The staff is family — I spend more time with them and our customers than with my own family."
How a diner becomes an institution
Generations of Greek diner owners
Tony's father, aunts and uncles run diners across Philadelphia. Tony starts bussing tables at 12 and learns every station in the house over the decades that follow.
Old 41 Restaurant opens in Bonita Springs
Fifty years of family know-how lands on Bernwood Drive. The Philly-inspired menu and "dining at home" feel win the town over fast.
The awards start — and don't stop
Best Breakfast. Best Lunch. Best Philly Cheesesteak. Best Angus Burger. Best Rice Pudding. The News-Press Community Choice award follows, year after year — 19 consecutive and counting.
Rebuilt — like an old friend coming home
After a car accident damaged the dining room, the town rallied. Regulars dropped by during six weeks of reconstruction just to check in. Old 41 reopened with the same booths, the same high-top, the same family.
Up to 400 neighbors a day
Season mornings hum: the high-top regulars solve the world's problems over coffee, snowbirds reclaim their favorite booths, and the rice pudding still disappears by early afternoon.
The house philosophy
Familiarity & quality mix
It's printed on the back of our menu, and it's the whole idea: food this good should feel this comfortable.
Staff is family
The same faces have served you since 2007. They'll remember your order before you say it.
Home-cooked, always
We roast our own turkey and beef, make our own soups, hash, gravy and rice pudding. Every day.