Industry vet opens her own restaurant in Chandler. Meet Bonnie's

In early December, Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke cut the ribbon at Bonnie's Bread & Butter. The celebration was over a year in the making, as owner Bonita "Bonnie" Henderson faced significant delays with a previous contractor. The setbacks left Henderson, a grandmother and mother, waiting and fighting to finally achieve her lifelong dream of opening a restaurant.

"I've been in this industry for over 40 years," she says, visibly exhausted but relieved as she sits down after the restaurant's grand opening, located in a plaza just a mile north of downtown Chandler. "When the Mayor gave the speech about me, I about cried — I'm only human."

Henderson's journey in the restaurant and bar industry, which helped her raise a family, purchase two homes and now open her own business, began in Tempe when she was a 19-year-old pre-med student at Arizona State University.

"It was my sophomore year, and I asked my mom, 'Will you send me some money?'" Henderson recalls. "She responded, 'Get a job.'"

So she started working as a server at the now-defunct Donny O'Brien's Irish pub on South Mill Avenue in Tempe.

"One night, the bartender didn’t show up, and I told the boss, 'I'll do it,' all cocky at 19 years old," Henderson says. "I got the job and fell in love with it."

Henderson made great money bartending and serving, she says. So she stuck to it, and never finished her university career. Forty-plus years later, after working in various restaurants and bars, Henderson has mastered the ins and outs of the service industry and is applying her knowledge to her own spot.

What to drink at Bonnie's

When it comes to the bar selection, Henderson and her staff are serving some of the same drinks she’s been crafting since the early 1980s. One such drink is the Arizona Sunset, which Henderson explains is a riff on a Tequila Sunrise.

"It’s orange juice, peach schnapps, amaretto, anejo tequila and grenadine topped with a cherry," she says.

The bar also offers a signature namesake cocktail, the Bonnie's Margarita. Other highlights include the Watermelon and Bikini margaritas and the Nico Fizz, which combines Hendrick’s Gin, rose syrup, powdered egg whites, grapefruit juice and soda. The bar also features a rotating draft selection and domestic and imported bottled beer.

"My bar manager here is my protege," she says proudly, glancing at the bustling bar. "When she was 21, I taught her how to bartend. That was seven years ago at Beast of Bourbon."

What's on the food menu?

"Everything is made in-house — it’s a scratch kitchen," Henderson explains. "We hand-cut all the chips, the fries and the sweet potatoes."

The Phoenix is a riff on the Philly cheesesteak and comes with nacho cheese, jalapenos, onions, poblano pepper and steak. The BLT is served on toasted sourdough with thick slices of peppered bacon, butter lettuce, tomato, Vermont cheddar cheese, maple Dijon aioli and a pickle slice. The Burque Club, similar but heartier, swaps in pepper jack cheese and lemon aioli and adds roasted turkey breast, Black Forest ham and avocado.

"You see that 'Q' at our bar there?" she says. "That’s paying tribute to the best restaurant I ever worked at in Albuquerque — Quarters Barbecue. My mentor and best boss, Connie Nellos, owned it. Much of what I see in this place is because of what I learned from him. He was a good boss. The turnover rate is high in this business, but I was there for over 10 years almost until he decided to close the place."

The journey to opening her own spot

About two years ago, Henderson and her husband, Rocco Hoess, moved back to Phoenix. She worked at a restaurant in Mesa, but quickly became dissatisfied.

"My new boss had no empathy," she recalls. "No, 'Hey, you did a great job,' not even a 'thank you.' I went home after one shift, and I told Rocco, 'I quit, and I’m opening my own restaurant.'"

So she scouted around town and found the vacancy on Arizona Avenue just south of Ray Road.

When Henderson first saw the spot, it wasn’t exactly love at first sight.

"It was ugly," she says. "It had all these funky colors and refrigerator doors like you’d see at a 7-Eleven"

Then she brought in a contractor, who promised a makeover in eight to 12 weeks.

"But it took 10 to 11 months. I just kept seeing my bank account dwindle and not making any income from the spot. Doubts crept in, and I thought I’d never get to the finish line," she says.

Then her family started pitching in to make up for lost time. Her husband handmade much of the wood trim and accents on the walls.

"My husband and son-in-law built that bar," she says. "Rocco did the cutting boards, the giant one by the sign and the sails up top."

Henderson credits the Chandler Chamber of Commerce with helping her navigate the challenging process of opening.

"They have been the best mentors I have ever had," she says. "They helped me with networking and meeting new people at events."

Even after securing permits, Henderson hesitated to open.

"My staff pushed me to have a soft opening, and we learned a lot because you forget all the small details," Henderson says, noting she tweaked some logistical procedures, and two weeks later, hosted the restaurant's grand opening.

Even the business's name evolved. "The first tagline didn’t work — ‘Sandwiches and Brew’ wasn’t enough," she says. "My friend and I brainstormed, and then Rocco suggested ‘Sandwiches, Brews, and Fondues.’ At our first soft opening, we sold out of our fondues."

The Classic Fondue, priced at $20, is a communal dish where diners dip bread or vegetables into melted Swiss cheese with white wine, heated over a rechaud. For sweets fans, the $12 Chocolate Fondue, with fruits and cake pieces, is a hit.

A standout appetizer is the $7 Bread and Butter Candle, which comes with bread sprinkled with sea salt and herbs plus a whipped butter candle that diners can light and dip into.

"This dish is perfect because this is a place where we break bread," Henderson says.

For Henderson, her family and friends, the restaurant and bar is also the beginning of a new chapter that blends her bar and culinary expertise, community spirit and commitment.

Bonnie's Bread & Butter

777 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler