OT: Orlando/Sanibel Restaurant Recommendations

[Grace]

Hi All,

My husband and I are going to Florida for our anniversary the first week of October, so we're still a ways off, but I'm trying to collect all the information now. We have our tickets and hotel reservations, etc., and I'm trying to find good places to eat while in Orlando and then on Sanibel Island. I've been to Orlando several times, but it always seems we eat in chain restaurants. Yuck. I would really like some suggestions for something better. Fantastic food is what we like, atmosphere is not real important to us. We will have a car, so it won't matter where they are located.

Also, we spent our honeymoon on Sanibel (we loved it - which is why we want to go back for our anniversary - same hotel and everything!), and we need some new restaurant suggestions. We did eat at the Jacaranda one night, and my husband was wild for their grouper, so I know we will go back there one night. But the other restaurant we hit (an Italian one - I don't remember the name) was GROSS and we don't want to eat there again. So, if anyone has any great ideas/recommendations, I would be very grateful! TIA.

[beacooker]

I moved to Orlando a year ago, and I have to say that overall I am not too impressed with the restaraunt selection. One fantastic restaurant, assuming you like ethnic foods, is called Ali Baba. It is a Middle Eastern buffet (don't let the buffet thing turn you off, it really is good!). On Friday and Saturday nights, they have a show - belly dancers, flamenco dancers, etc. The food is excellent, and the show is a lot of fun. If you are going on a weekend night, I would definitely recommend reservations. The show starts at 8, and most people come and stay until the show ends at 11. This one is in northern Orlando.

Another restaurant that I have heard really good things about (but never been myself) is the California Grill. It is one of the restaurants in a Disney resort (can't remember which one), but I have heard that the food is excellent, in spite of that! If you go around 9, you can watch the Disney fireworks while you eat.

Have you tried the zagat site (zagat.com) for recommendations? They have an Orlando section.

Good luck!

[growlingbelly]

The Mucky Duck is a favorite with my family members who visit Sanibel every year. I believe it is on Captiva Island. It is very casual, if I remember correctly. I think we even took a boat out to get there from Sanibel. Have a wonderful time!

[Beth Y]

The best restaurant we went to in Orlando last year was Wolfgang Puck's. It is in Downtown Disney and is a chain, but it was really good. I would also recommend going to Cirque de Soliel. It was amazing and worth the high price of the ticket (it is right next to Puck's). We also went to a great sushi restaurant in some strip mall off I. Drive, but do not remember the name off the top of my head. We also went to Gloria Estefan's restaurant in Downtown Disney ..its called Bongo's, or something, I think. It is Cuban food and was just okay, BUT the salsa band was great! I would recommend going there for drinks and music/dancing.

[beejayw1]

Sanibel... Sanibel... Sanibel...!

I really need to go back there, and soon. October is just about perfect: you'll love it. The island is fairly flat, so you can rent bicycles and go all over it. People are pleasant, scenery is as close to Hawaii (minus the mountains) as you'll get on this side of the Continental Divide, and it's just lovely.

Sanibel and Captiva are connected by a causeway, and you can drive from one to the other. Both have wonderful beaches for shelling, walking or just sitting and daydreaming. I went there in 1996 for a seminar for work, and fell in love. I've been back twice since, and it's been too long...

Here are some suggestions, though you have to look pretty hard for a bad restaurant there. Just a word of caution: don't pay an arm and a leg for a slice of Key Lime Pie there. If you're staying where you have access to a refrigerator, the local grocery store, off the main drag, sells the pies, fresh made, for about $8.50, and sitting and watching the sunset while eating a piece of pie is well worth it, and a whole lot cheaper than getting nailed for $4 per slice elsewhere.

Mad Hatter Restaurant
6460 Sanibel Captiva Rd
Sanibel, FL 33957-2016
Phone: (941) 472-0033
This one's a four-star restaurant, and a small one, so reservations are strongly suggested. I can't recommend them highly enough. Unusual, delicious food - mine involved chicken and a mango salsa, with desserts to die for. Charming staff! Just before the causeway to Captiva, on the left side of the road heading toward Captiva

Hungry Heron Eatery Inc
2330 Palm Ridge Rd
Sanibel, FL 33957-3278
Phone: (941) 395-2300 Plain, family food (though you must have the deep-fried artichoke hearts! Reservations are also suggested.


On Captiva, we have a good restaurant famed for its desserts:
Bubble Room, The
15001 Captiva Dr.
Captiva, FL 33924
Phone: (941) 472-5558
I've never eaten here, basically because I was busy eating at The Mad Hatter's. It is highly recommended, however. Again, get reservations.

Also on Captiva is:
Green Flash The
15183 Captiva Dr
Captiva, FL 33924-0000
Phone: (941) 472-3337
I love this place - nice view, and they have a 'crunchy grouper' sandwich (I think you can get it without bread, too) that is wonderful.

If you go back toward Ft. Myers, just over the causeway is the Sanibel Harbor Resort and Spa, which looks out over the two islands. Very fine hotel, with some restaurants that serve excellent food. (Stop in their gift shop, if it's open, and get some Mango Mist soap and body lotion...)

[Grace]

Thanks everyone for your replies and suggestions. I am printing this thread and will take it along with us when we go!

Bea, the middle eastern place sounds like a lot of fun, and we do indeed love ethnic food! I had read about the other places too (Gloria Estefan's and Wolfgang Puck's places), but I'm glad to get some first hand feedback. I like Spago (we have one here in Chicago), so I would imagine we'll like his place in Orlando.

I guess I'm pretty darn spoiled living here in Chicago, with the PLETHORA of good restaurants, the majority of them not being chains. So I guess I want to have that luxury while on vacation too, but have found, sadly, that a big part of America is devoid of any restaurants except for the chains!

And Beejayw1, thanks for the thorough rundown on Sanibel/Captiva. As I mentioned, we've been there before (once for our honeymoon, and my father lives in the Ft. Myers area, so we've made plenty of daytrips there from his house), but we were kind of lost when it came to finding good restaurants. While there on our honeymoon, we were without a car (the hotel we stay at has complimentary bikes you can just take and use anytime you want), so we did a fair amount of biking, but we stay on the far end of Sanibel (by the lighthouse), so biking to Captiva for dinner was not something we were going to do. This time though, we will have a car, so driving over there in the evening will be wonderful, and no problem at all. The traffic on Periwinkle Way can be horrific during high season, but in October, it's pretty quiet, and traffic is no problem.

So again, thanks everyone, and we WILL be trying your suggestions! I'm looking so forward to it.... I NEED a vacation! :D

[katygirl]

ahhhhhhh, I would love to go to either of those places. On Sanibel I would go to the Bubble Room. We didn't eat there we just got dessert and ate them out side on picnic tables. I believe we also went to the Jacaranda one night. As far as Orlando goes, We went to the California Grill the last night of our Honeymoon and we Loved it It is on the top floor of the Contemporary Hotel, so I don't think you would have to pay admission to the parks or anything if you just wanted to eat at the Restaurant.

Have fun!!

[trodman]

Here are my comments on Captiva! I've been there about 17 + times, and I think it's a fun place to visit! Unfortunately I think everyone is starting to discover the Island!

The Mucky Duck is a fun place since it's on the water, and you can sit out to watch the sunset before you get called in for dinner.

The Bubble Room, has always been a popular place, but I have to say that it's not my favorite. A lot of times we would fix dinner at our place, and walk over there to get cheese bread and a wonderful dessert! You can always eat somewhere else, then stop there to pick out a dessert to take back hoem to eat later. Just remember that one serving of a dessert is enough for about 3 people!

One of my favorite places would be Bellinis'! It's on Andy Rossy Lane. The last time I ate there I was in Ft. Myers on a business trip, and we drove over for dinner. We sat 2 tables away from Willard Scott! He has a place on Sanibel. Anything you order there is wonderful!

My other favorite place would be Tween Waters. They have wonderful food, and a great brunch on Sunday's.

I can't say that the Green Flash is my favorite because they tore down a favorite "local" fish sandwich place to build the Green Flash, so we do not support that place. We miss the old "Timmy's Nook" instead! I've only been there for dinner once just to check it out!

Have fun!!!

[Grace]

OK all, I just want to say a great big thanks to everyone for their tips and suggestions.

My husband and I just got back last night from our weeklong trip to Florida. We had a great time - not a drop of rain anywhere!! It was the perfect time to hit DisneyWorld - the parks were empty and there were no lines anywhere. We spent 2 days at Epcot, and I was so surprised at the quality of the food! We ate at Norway (OUTSTANDING), Germany (wonderful), UK (surprisingly good, and great beer!), Morocco (also OUTSTANDING), and lots of little snack stops all over the place. It was really magical place. We also ate dinner at the California Grill at the top of the Contemporary Hotel. It was wonderful too. They had a Spaetlese wine by the glass that was to die for. And we had a window table that overlooked the Magic Kingdon. The castle was all lit up and it was beautiful. I would recommend going there. My husband enjoyed it too, and he prefers simpler places, but he really liked it.

But I wanted to thank Beejayw1 especially for your suggestion of the Mad Hatter! WOW!! We LOVED it!!! FANTASTIC food! Best place we ate all week. I had a pan fried piece of goat cheese that was covered in a strawberry sauce as an appetizer (sounds weird, but O-M-G it was positively orgasmic!!), and my husband had the Seafood cakes which blew the Jacaranda's crab cakes away!! For entrees, I had some sauteed scallops with spinach all floating in a lovely, light wine/cream sauce, 2 incredible stuffed shells and something else on my plate which I can't remember right now??, and my husband had a hazelnut crusted grouper with red cabbage, rice and roasted vegetables. He was blown away and gave his meal a 9, a rating nothing has ever gotten (not even my good CL cooking I don't think!). Everything had so much flavor. We split a berry sorbet for dessert because we were stuffed.

We did get desserts at the Bubble Room, but were non-plussed over those. CL desserts blow those away any day of the week. And we did stop at the Green Flash, but only sat at the bar and enjoyed the view while I drank a virgin Mango Daiquiri and hubby drank a beer and watched some of the Tampa Bay game on the tv above the bar.

The other restaurant we found (and must be new, because it wasn't there last time we were there), is called Matzaluna. It's across the street from the Jacaranda. WONDERFUL. Brick oven pizza, and a huge menu of other very nice Italian dishes. We went to Portofino's last time and hated it. Very stodgy - I call it an old man restaurant. Matzaluna was much more our style - more casual, more updated Italian, not just the old spaghetti and veal dishes. We had the BBQ Chicken Brick Oven Pizza. YUM!!

Anyway, I just wanted to report that I printed out all your suggestions and schlepped them with on vacation, and we took every suggestion into consideration! Thank you all so much for taking the time to give me your wonderful ideas and suggestions. We enjoyed ourselves very, very much. And we WILL be going back to the Mad Hatter again!! :-) Thanks again, Beejay!

[Grace]

I just want to bump this up to make sure Beejayw1 sees this!!

[Lchiles]

Just got back from Sanibel over Thanksgiving Weekend. Thanks for all your suggestions on eating places. Thought I would relay where we visited. On Thanksgiving evening tried a new restaurant in Captiva called KeyLime Bistro. The owner of Madhatters had recommended them to us. It was very good, although they had a fixed menu for the holiday. My husband had duck and it was delicious, I had the Snapper and it was good, but pricey. The following night we went to Madhatter's. It was phenomenal. Had the escargot for appetizer, then I had the special-Chilean Seabass, yummy!!! My husband had the Scallop entree that was mentioned here. We also split the Chocolate Torte. Definitely would go back again!! The last evening we wanted pasta, and the girl at the front desk at SeaSide where we were staying suggested La Vigna. It was wonderful as well. I had Penne with shrimp in a tomato-vodka sauce. My hubby had the linguine w/clam sauce. Mine was better, but his was very good. They had fresh clams! Also split a tiramusu for dessert. I want to go back just to try more restaurants. Great Place-Sanibel, everyone seems to be laid back, and no fussy dress codes, even in the nicer restaurants. We really like that. Also went to several places for watching football games. Tried the Bungalow off of Rabbit Road, then the Sanibel Grill, which was the best sports bar on the Island. Also went to Lazy Flamingo, which didn't have the best TV's, but did have one of the best caesar salads I've had in years. Will definitely go back for that!! LaurieC

[CindyWeightWatcher]

Just a note --- I've worked out at the health club
on Sanibel Island --- they are known for spinning ---
and it was fun! Not at all a snobby place.