129518 Sat Apr 24 18:44:48 -0700 1999 2 10 Florida 0 701828 Hey, y'all. Are there some can't-miss places in the Sanibel/Fort Myers area? I'm particularly interested in down-home type restaurants serving regional specialties, but am open to any recommendations for great chow! Is there good Cuban food around here, or is that limited to Miami and Tampa? Susan Sat Apr 24 18:44:48 -0700 1999 0 Susan T. 1 702416 I just returned from a week in Sanibel, my third time there. In our experience the absolute best restaurants in the Sanibel/Captiva area are Trader's, a huge funky place that also incorporates a sort of world-market type gift shop, but should be forgiven for this because of the amazing, imaginative food, and the Sunshine Cafe, which has similar food but a v. different atmosphere -- small cafe with four tables inside, and about seven outside. Both have, of course, a great deal of seafood and a token three steaks, one chicken, one pork -- standard vacation-in-florida fare. However, both have really amazing combinations of flavors and totally fresh ingredients (unlike a lot of the other pricey tourist traps we ended up suffering through). I was utterly charmed by a dish one of my companions had, a special at trader's: a succulent, thick slice of poached salmon topped with a crust of parmesan and spinach, served with an unbelievably flavorful tomato and artichoke heart risotto (and I usually can't stand risotto, find it bland and sticky) and a dill aoili. Sunshine cafe has the best filet mignon in the area and excellent crabcakes, an enormous beautiful pork chop topped with gorgonzola. Also, the service at these two places was far superior to that at other joints -- no rude harried tourist-addled waitresses. And they both had nice wine selections. Sat Jun 02 11:16:17 -0700 2001 701828 0 girlscholar 2 702417 My son gets down there in the winter. I'm alerting him to this post of yours. Might even get there myself one day! Thanks very much. Pat Sat Jun 02 13:50:39 -0700 2001 702416 0 Pat Hammond