Ted’s Montana Grill

Rediscover Classic, Made-From-Scratch American Cuisine

By Cheryl Mandell

Ted’s Montana Grill is a staple at Coconut Point, and if you haven’t visited lately, it’s time to see what you’ve been missing. Since its opening in November 2006, Ted’s has been delivering a unique blend of classic American fare and introducing Southwest Florida to the benefits and versatility of the mighty bison.

Why bison? It is leaner, lower in calories, and higher in protein, iron, B vitamins and Omega-3s than beef, while also being naturally grass-fed without added hormones or antibiotics, making it a healthier, more sustainable red meat option.

Media entrepreneur, environmentalist and philanthropist Ted Turner and restaurateur George McKerrow conceived the idea of creating a restaurant company that would, in part, help protect the country’s population of bison, which was nearing extinction just a decade ago.

Joining forces, Turner and McKerrow founded Ted’s Montana Grill and opened their first restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, in January 2002. Using bison raised on Turner’s ranches and others, Ted’s Montana Grill began serving naturally raised bison. Today, there are more than 500,000 bison in private and public herds across the U.S.

Ted’s has always been a “from-scratch” kitchen, but it bears repeating. Meat is ground twice daily. Steaks and fish are cut by hand. Brownies are baked in-house. There’s no freezer, microwave or boil-in-a-bag shortcut hiding in the kitchen.

“When you order French fries, it’s a whole potato and we cut it, we wash it, we spin it, we cook it, we deliver it to you,” said McKerrow. “When you order a tomato — that’s made to order.”

Ted’s features ranch-raised bison as its foundation, along with certified Angus beef, an ample selection of award-winning burgers, hand-cut aged steaks from its on-premises butcher shop, all-natural chicken raised without antibiotics, fresh seafood, made-to-order salads and starters. Ted’s also caters to gluten-free guests and those with other allergies.

Guests can also enjoy a lengthy list of hand-crafted cocktails from the classic dirty martini to the clever herradura paloma made with Herradura Silver premium blue agave tequila with sparkling grapefruit, freshly squeezed lemon and lime. And there’s an impressive selection of local beers,

premium wines, delectable old-fashioned shakes and malts (which pair perfectly with a burger), hand-squeezed lemonade, and Boylan brand gourmet sodas.

“Our menu stays solid,” said proprietor Luis Datil. “We have a chef-feature library where our kitchen manager decides what he wants to feature each day, like Friday is fish and chips. But the fan favorite of chef features is Sunday’s turkey. We celebrate Thanksgiving every single Sunday.”

The dark wood accents and classic chair-and-table setups give Ted’s Montana Grill an old western feel blended with warm and welcoming traditional Americana. As home away from home for Datil, he couldn’t be more proud of his restaurant and his team, with many staff celebrating five years or more and some nearing the 20-year mark, like manager Anya Henderson, who started 17 years ago as a server and worked her way up through the ranks. Our server Chloe has been on staff since 2019, and, like many in the front of the house, went to FGCU.

From the start, Ted’s Montana Grill had the singular vision to offer guests an authentic American dining experience, and for the past 19 years, that vision has been brought to life right here in our little slice of paradise at Coconut Point.