Tips for Dining, Eating and Food Shopping in Florida (inc. Orlando, Tampa and the Florida Keys)
Start New ThreadAny suggestions for Sanibel Island eating? We like good food and wine.....
By charli guest
on Jun 22, 2005 08:38 PM
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We liked the Mad Hatter. A review is included in my trip report, below.
Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...
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I second the mad hatter...been there a dozen or so times and it's always great. Try to get a window seat and time your reservation around sunset...beautiful view. Or they'll let you take a glass of wine out on the beach to watch the sunset. Enjoy!
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I highly recommend "Thistle Lodge" on Sanibel:
http://www.thistlelodge.com/
It's an antique home on the beach with beautiful scenery and a few steps to the beach.
The only thing is I have not been there since the hurricanes of last year, so call first. :
)
~Lauren
http://www.AllOfSwFl.com
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Traders, on Sanibel is very good and a fun place to eat. Imagine dining in the middle of an upscale Pier 1 Imports, where you can browse the store between courses. The first thing that hits you when you walk in is the aroma of food coming out of their wood burning oven. The cuisine is American with some fusion influences and prices are moderate to expensive. The wood-fired pizzas are particularly tasty.
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Haven't been to Sanibel for several years. Mc-T's used to have some very good dishes and not too pricey.
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The recommendations are endless.
McTee's was a pleasant surprise. Doesn't look like much on the outside but really good food. Can't beat that HUGe seafood platter of theirs. Enough crustaceans for two.
I would also recommend The Jacqaranda (sorry, I know the speeking is way off). Great wine selection and nice atmosphere in the inside dining area
Mezzaluna is a nice Italian place, but Italian is comfort food for me. Good wines and comforting atmosphere.
The other poster is correct. Hopefully most of these places are up and running by now. I was just there a few weeks before the Hurricane plowed through. Do call and/or check the Sanibel Dept of Commerce.
Best of luck.
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I would definitely recommend the Island Cow, Jaccaranda, Doc Ford's, and Cheeburger Cheeburger. However, I would not in any way recommend McT's. We ate there and were very disappointed. They advertise that they have the best early bird specials on the island, but when I asked the waiter about them he said they're just appetizer portions. The taste of the food was also very disappointing. Both my husbands and my meal was nothing we would ever go back for.
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We ate at Dolce Vita in May and it was great! Wonderful food and atmosphere, upscale without being pretentious. We also liked the Key Lime Bistro up in Captiva. Enjoy your trip!
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Island Cow (inexpensive, good & wide variety); Lazy Flamingo (bar atmosphere, limited menu, inexpensive, good); Hungry Heron (huge menu, good eats, inexpensive--all you can eat shrimps, prime ribs!); RC Otter (moderate, some items great like Island chowder and crunchy grouper, but very very poor service);
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For a casual breakfast try the Lighthouse Cafe. It's been there for years.
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Was in Sanibel last summer with the family. Mad Hatter was closed, but I've heard really great things about it. Next time. If you like good food and wine, stay away from Hungry Heron. Mc T's is only average. Didn't care for the food at Thistle Lodge, but the dining room and view were beautiful and the service was top notch, so I would go back. We surprisingly enjoyed the food at the Mermaid Kitchen and Cake Factory. The interior is a 'TRIP', but I would go back in a heart beat just for the chowder and oriental chicken salad. The cakes are TO DIE FOR! Was only there for lunch, have no idea what dinner is like, but I can't wait to go back there. Another place we really enjoyed was the Key Lime Bistro just a short distance in Captiva. Service a little snotty and very unprofessional, but the food very good. Great happy hour at Doc Ford's - local hang out with decent food. Have a great time - great place to unwind and relax.
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We visited Sanibel this year here are the places to visit and not to visit.
Lazy Flamingo---YES!!
Chee Burger Chee Burger--YES!!
RC Otters on Captiva--YES!!
The Mucky Duck on captiva--YES!!
Try cantina Captiva and the Keylime Bistro in Captiva good good food
Island Pizza (order in)--YES!!
Island Cow--YES!!
and here are the NO's
Gasparilla Grill--NO!
Mcts-Awful prices and terrible food
Hungry Heron--Noooooooooooooooooo
Mad Hatter--NOO
BUBBLE ROOM--DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME.
Lighthouse cafe-Decentr
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When I think top-notch food and wine on SanCap, the previously-mentioned Mad Hatter and RedFish Blufish (new American tapas with a nice selections of wine by the bottle, glass, and half-glass) are the first to come to mind. Expensive, though...we dropped $100+ per head at both.
Edited to add: Sorry, LingLing...I intended to reply to the original post, not yours. :)
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o thts fine
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We had a very disappointing meal at the Key Lime Bistro over the '08 Memorial Day weekend. We ordered two pricey entrees ($35 & & &26), one of which was inediable & the other was poorly and indifferently prepared. The sides that came with them were't noteworty. We didn't risk dessert.
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Did you find any restaurants worth going to while in Captiva or Sanibel on your recent trip? We had gone to the Key Lime Bistro last year & the appetizers & drinks were pretty good. The fish sandwiches(grouper & Mahi-mahi ) were also very freash & delicious.Please let me know. Thanks
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From reading some postings on other boards, it seems that eating at the Key Lime has become quite a crap shoot....some nights are quite good & then other nights the kitchen produces the slop we were served. With the prices they charge, that's completely unacceptable to me & hence I've posted our experience on several boards. It's as if the management just doesn't care.
We were only there for a long weekend. During that time, we had the dreadful meal at the Key Lime, a so-so meal at the Mexican Cantina around the cormer from the Key Lime, 2 OK breakfasts at RC Otters & a pretty good dinner at the Green Flash. We were roaming around Sanibel on a very hot Saturday & decided to stop at Doc Ford's for refreshments on the way back to Captiva. We had a pretty good Mojito, a nice choice of draft beers & split a good appetizer. This was the only restaurant that I would really like to return to & have a meal.
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