Are you looking for a local pub or restaurant, filled with history and charm, to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in style? Well, look no further than The Bean Depot Café & Museum.
When Englewood REVIEW caught up with the ever-busy Erin McCormack, she was preparing for the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. “Every year, we make our own homemade corned beef and cabbage. Don, bless him, gets things rolling at 5 a.m. We’re cooking up ten cows just for that day.”
The place is alive with music from start to finish. They’ve got two stages spread out over five acres. Inside the restaurant, they kick things off on the small stage with Jimmy Bishop and Lance the Hurricane. “Those two are incredible,” explains Erin. “Lance tears it up on harmonica, and Jimmy’s a solid guitarist. They’ll play from 11 to 2. Right after, from 2 to 3, Mike Jager and his band Vinyl Revival take over.”
Erin says that out back there’s a bigger rented stage. From 3 to 6 p.m., the Champ Jackson band plays. “Champ’s just 15,” Erin says, “but he’s already been on Ellen DeGeneres and absolutely shreds the guitar—you have to see him perform. Everybody around here knows his name. And then, from 7 to 9 p.m., Maiden Cane, a local favorite rock band, closes out the night.”
They plan to keep their regular menu running, and you’ll find beer tents scattered all over the property; beer, wine, you name it.
“We set everything up so people can spread out,” Erin says. “Not just crowded up front. Honestly, we’ll open the whole place and just have a blast all day. After all, on St. Patrick’s Day, everybody’s Irish.”
The History of The Bean Depot Café & Museum
Step inside The Bean Depot Cafe & Museum, and you feel the weight of history. This building has stood in Charlotte County for more than a hundred years, outlasting storms and changing hands just three times: first, a father and son, then a daredevil and his wife, and finally, one of Southwest Florida’s original entrepreneurs, the man who gave El Jobean its name.
Family ownership still matters here. The Bean Depot is one of the last family-run businesses in Charlotte County that’s held onto its roots for generations. You’ll find it at 4370 Garden Road, just north of Boca Grande. The National Register of Historic Places includes the place, just as it includes the old Grand Hotel, which storms demolished when it stood next door. Joel Bean built the place in 1923 as the El Jobean Post Office and General Store, and since then, it’s always been where people gather.
It all started back in 1923, when Joel Bean bought over a thousand acres and started building. He named the area El Jobean by simply rearranging the letters of his last name. The post office and the hotel were the foundation.
In 1942, a man named Leo Simon, known for circus stunts like setting himself on fire, bought both buildings. Folks called him Captain Leo or Suicide Simon. For years, the hotel became a magnet for daredevils, with high-wire acts like the Flying Wallendas and the Flying Valentine Brothers practicing right out back. The place built a reputation for excitement and spectacle, documented by El Jobean Historical Properties Inc. in the ’90s when they tried to restore both buildings.
By 1996, interest in the property had faded. That’s when Tim Berini stepped in, bought the old post office for $50,000, and turned it into what we know today: the Bean Depot Cafe, part restaurant, part museum. “Suicide Simon” burgers are still on the menu, along with hot dogs, salads, and sandwiches.
When Tim passed away in 2019, the cafe went to Don, his mom Ruth Anderson, and Chris Meyer. Ruth lives in Alaska; Don juggles an engineering career in Tampa, and so day-to-day management now falls to Erin McCormack, a childhood friend of Don’s and a fellow Lemon Bay High graduate.
For Don, the heart of The Bean Depot Café & Museum is community, staying connected, and being part of something bigger.
Erin warns that if you plan to visit, follow these directions. “If you’re trying to find us, heads up—it’s not easy the first time,” she explains. “We’re tucked away at the base of the El Jobean Bridge: 4370 Garden Road, Port Charlotte, Florida 33953. Coming from Englewood? Take the first left after the bridge. From Port Charlotte? It’s the last right before you cross. No big sign or anything. People tell us all the time they’ve lived here for decades and never knew we were here. We’re hidden in the corner, but once folks find us, they always come back.”
