Fort Myers and Sanibel Island - Places to Eat
Places to Eat at Fort Myers and Sanibel Island
Wisteria Tea Room and Cafe, Downtown, Fort Myers
Wisteria Tea Room and Cafe (2512 Second Street, Fort Myers 33901 (239) 689-4436) is a 30-minute drive northeast of the Fort Myers beach area, in downtown Fort Myers. It is a southern-style tea house serving salads, soups, and sandwiches for brunch. Their specialty is the Tea Time Menu, where they serve sweet and savory dainty delights.
Their Tea Time specials are beautifully presented on a layered plate holder. The orders also include an endless pot of tea where you can order multiple pots of tea of different flavors.
We ordered the Royal Tea and the Savory Tea with a pot of chocolate cherry tea and caramel tea. We also ordered homemade mac-and-cheese for the children. The portions are small but filling.
The restaurant is open from 11AM-3PM daily. Reservations are recommended for the weekends.
 |
Wisteria Room Menu, detail
|
 |
Beautifully served on tiered serving platters
|
 |
Tea is served with fine British bone china
|
 |
Chocolate cherry scones served with sliced strawberries and clotted cream
|
 |
Creme Brulee with fresh blueberries, chocolate cheesecake, and a lemon pound cake
|
 |
| Crostinis with cucumber and goat cheese spread, and sun-dried tapenade, egg salad in pastry, and a hearts-of-palm and mushroom quiche |
Doc Ford's Sanibel Island Rum Bar and Grille, Sanibel Island
After our visit to the Bailey-Matthew Shell Museum, we drove 1 mile east to Doc Ford's, a restaurant recommended by the museum staff.
Doc Ford's is a large seafood restaurant and bar located in a large strip mall with parking. It has both indoor and outdoor seating. The portions are large and the prices are surprisingly low; best of all, the food is expertly prepared and cooked. My son's breaded fish was still moist in the center and our steamed prawns were perfectly cooked. We are planning on a second visit to Sanibel so that we can eat at Doc Ford's again.
Doc Ford's address is 975 Rabbit Road, Sanibel Island, FL 33957 phone: (239) 472-8311. After the Causeway, turnRIGHT onto Periwinkle Drive.
 |
Doc Ford's
|
 |
| Doc Ford's Menu |
 |
| Doc Ford's One pound of peel and eat shrimp |
 |
Doc Ford's Grilled grouper sandwich with black beans for $13.95.
|
 |
Mixed Salad with honey mustard dressing and breadsticks for $5.95
|
Gatorbites Tail and Ale Restaurant, Fort Myers
This restaurant was across the street from our hotel, but we had avoided it since we thought it was just a bar. Our last night in Fort Myers, we decided to try it out since it was getting late and we were tired. To our delight and surprise, Gatorbites serves its namesake, Alligator! We smiled all the way to our table.We ordered a beer recommended by the server, Yuengling, which I presumed was a Chinese brewery. I learn later that it's an old Pennsylvania brewery (established in 1831) that has been operating since before Prohibition. I ordered a pint and my hubby ordered a glass. Despite my small stature, I can drink! :)
The beer is a sweeter variety that's a bit on the heavy side with no bitter aftertaste.
We order the "Bloody Mary Seared" alligator, grilled scallops (an amazing $9.95 for 6!) and a hearts-of-palm salad. The alligator was juicy, tasting a little like chicken. The scallops were large, sweet and "just-cooked."
 |
| Gatorbites Menu |
 |
Gatorbites Menu, detail
|
 |
| Gatorbites Blood Mary Seared Alligator |
Grilled Scallops
 |
| Gatorbites Hearts-of-Palm salad |
Gastronomic Disappointment in Fort Myers
Like most tourists, we conduct some research on the area we are about to visit, especially places to eat. We usually start with TripAdvisor and then if we are not satisfied with the info, we refine with Yelp or Urbanspoon. For most places that we've been to, TripAdvisor has been very helpful with hotel and restaurant information. However, in Fort Myers, TripAdvisor has failed miserably.
Since we were heading to a seaside town, and the fact that were-were coming from the Midwest, we were very interested in seafood. TripAdvisor only had 30 seafood restaurants in Fort Myers; Doc Ford's and Gatorbites were not listed at all. A search for "restaurants" in Fort Myers comes up with a selection of local favorites, including Ruby Tuesday at #25! Gatorbites was #51, and Doc Ford's didn't even register because it is categorized at Fort Myers Beach or Sanibel Island.
Another frustrating fact about Fort Myers is that most restaurants close at 8 PM on weekdays. We tried to eat at a Clambake, another TripAdvisor top 10 recommendation that was a 25-minute drive from our hotel, only to be turned away. We had made an 8 pm reservation, but we arrived at 8:25 PM. They failed to inform us that we would be their last customers. We were so angry, we were speechless.
We sat in our car for the next 15 minutes Googling for a restaurant that would be opened. We found that the rib place, Rib City, we had lunch two days before was opened until 9 pm, so we called and ordered take-out. Their ribs are nicely smoked, with tender meat that falls off the bone and the prices are very good, with children 5 and under eating for free. However, we wanted a change from the red meat meals we are accustomed to in the MidWest.
Rib City Restaurant, Fort Meyers
 |
| Rib City Restaurant Menu |
More Reading:
