Mr. travelmad478 and I will be spending three nights there next month. I know Sanibel is as white-bread as can be, but are there any high points, food-wise? Sanibel would not normally be a place we’d go, but a visit cancellation by a family member elsewhere in Florida meant we had to find something relatively convenient to Punta Gorda, and this seemed the best option.
This is on Captiva Island, but they’re pretty close, as I am sure you’re aware.
If you’ve never been to the Bubble Room, well… it’s quite an experience. Cheesy. Over-the-top. The food is mid, IIRC.
Bleu Rendezvous looks to have great seafood.
The Bubble Room…yikes. We’re after good and at least somewhat interesting food, and will happily cook it ourselves if there are no good restaurant options.
“Yikes” is the appropriate reaction to this place.
Have you looked at the other restaurant?
I did. Have you been there?
We tend to lean toward food that is a little more “out there” and not straight-up traditional.
Perhaps others who have traveled the small island more extensively or longer than I have will have better suggestions for you.
Good luck!
I would go to Doc Ford’s (a sports bar with 4 locations , the food looks more interesting to me than what I can get here), Rosalita’s for what is called creative Tex Mex and Cielo.
I usually dine out for dinner, rather than cook, when I’m in a resort area like Sanibel Island. I lower my expectations, and I’m usually content with what I order.
I haven’t spent significant time in Florida, but I have had 3 week-long visits to the Outerbanks. I was surprised my cousins were renting big beach houses and eating home made pot roast or takeout chain pizza most nights, when for us Canadians, going our for crab cakes and other local specialties, even at a whitebread chain or tourist trap was a bigger treat than eating our own cooking at the condo.
When I stayed at a rental with a kitchen in Maui for 4 days the last time, we were making our breakfasts and lunches, and going out for our dinners.
If there are great markets or stores selling crab and grouper around, maybe cooking what you like is going to be a better solution for you!
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I havent been out to Sanibel since before the hurricane, but am in Ft Myers regularly.
Doc Fords is good in that sports bar meets seafood place kind of way. They’re a chain, so Im fairly sure that there’s a sameness there. I ate at the St Pete location last, and it was def vetter than most chains ..but still a chain. Def woeth a visit if you’re a fan of the books, especially since Sanibel is more or less the flagship.
The Mucky Duck was well known for good food before Ian…latest is that they should be open by December.
Its a higher end clientele, so the food tends to be better.
On the mainland, I ate at Derolo’s Italian a few weeks ago and it was delicious old school Italian. (I had linguine with clams and it was one of the better versions Ive had)
Downtown Ft Myers is worth a look…lots of little shops and restaurants (a welcome change from the boarded-up storefronts it used to be)
It’s also stone crab season so make sure you partake.
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@Sunshine842 I knew you would have some good suggestions!
Thanks, Tex-Mex is fine with us. We are definitely not above eating queso and chips! Doc Ford’s looks OK too, with expectations set appropriately for a place like Sanibel. I wonder if reservations are necessary at either of those. I was in Cape Coral a few years ago, In February, and it seemed like everywhere we went there was an hour-plus wait for a table.
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Thank you @Sunshine842 —these are the kind of personal recommendations I am looking for. We might get lucky with Mucky Duck, who say that they are hoping to reopen by Dec. 1. We are trying to stay on Sanibel/Captiva because the driving around that area is so aggravating (and we will already be driving between Punta Gorda, Longboat Key, Hutchinson Island on the Atlantic Coast, and Sanibel in our one week in FL). Our accommodation is on the southern end of Sanibel and we will have bikes at our disposal.
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Any time you’re near the coast between November and April its worth the time to try to make a reservation (not all places take them). Its high season with both snowbirds and tourists and traffic and crowds are inevitable.
Going off island also invokes the $6 toll…so it rather needs to be worth the price!
Do plan to shop for at least drinks and snacks on the mainland. Baileys has put together a stopgap grocery while they rebuild, but theyve always been pricey (captive audience) and the small store will mean limited choice
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Noted, thank you!
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Are rock shrimp a thing on the Gulf Coast? I always make sure to have a shit-ton when I’m down on the Space Coast every spring.
Not really - rock shrimp are mostly an East Coast harvest. But we do have gorgeous Gulf shrimp, both pink and grey.
I do see there’s a fleet that sells them off the dock in Ft Myers Beach: https://www.facebook.com/share/17jFBD1kA6/
If you can find clams farmed further north near Crystal River and Homosassa theyre worth it. Farmed, but grown in open water and have great flavor.
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The Lazy Flamingo, on Captiva right beside thuebridge to Sanibel, has a very food wood cooked grouper and Caesar salad combination – and good oysters. Traditions on the Beach is gone, or rather moved to the mainland as Bellini’s. In Fort Myers, which is home to thevery worthwhile Edison and Ford winter estates, you can get a Heavenly Biscuit at Heavenly Biscuit, and at Cubans Be Like there’s very good seafood. I think Ive posted on all of these places on my blog.
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I hesitated on making too many recommendations on the island because so much was destroyed, and I havent been able to keep up with what’s coming back and when.
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I will do my best to report back. I’ve only been there once, in February 2022, pre-Ian.
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