Eating in Naples

[RagallachMC]

I'm going to be in Naples, FL next week, and since food is my life, I always try to reconnoiter a few good places to eat before I go somewhere. I've been looking at the local newspapers' websites, and perusing all kind of restaurant review sites, but nothing is jumping out at me. Any locals or past visitors want to tip me to some good spots?

[RagallachMC]

Anyone?

[richw]

There's not much exciting food there IMO, sorry to say. Believe it or not, The Tommy Bahama (CHAIN) restaurant is surprisingly good. There'a strip mall place called Grouper & Chips that is good for well, Grouper & chips. Campanile is worth a visit as is D'amico & Sons for take-out.

CORRECTION - Campiello not Campanile - http://www.campiello.damico.com

Edited March 25, 2004 by richw (log)

[bushey]

There are several restaurants along 5th Avenue that are owned by the same group, and they're pretty decent. We enjoyed Bistro 821 and another, more casual restaurant in the group but the name escapes me now. We also loved an Italian restaurant in the Bayfront condo complex where we stayed, Bellagio, and ate there twice. Reasonably priced, delicious, very tony crowd. The Lambata (sp?) Milanese is a popular dish -- it's a breaded veal chop tropped with arugula salad -- very yummy. Mel's Diner has an outpost nearby and they have excellent breakfasts and lunches. Campiello, on Third St. is very popular and has a lovely terrace for dining -- you'll need a reservation here. Specialty is wood-fired pizza and rotisserie meats.

Enjoy your trip!

[BetsyinKY]

My family has been vacationing in Naples for over 20 years. Some of our favorites include:

Tommy Bahama-3rd Street-It is a chain, but it is quite good. The food is Caribbean style and there is outdoor dining.

Chops City Grill-5th Avenue-I had one of the best red snapper entrees ever the last time we ate here.

Mangrove Cafe-5th Avenue-My parents especially love this restaurant.

Bleu Provence-Crayton Cove area-French

Kelly's Fish House-Ok...not the most outstanding culinary experience ever, but it has become a family tradition to eat here at least once per vacation. They have really great coleslaw and hushpuppies, and if you are in the mood for good fried seafood, this is the place.

We haven't had a chance to eat at Roy's yet, in Bonita Beach, but I've heard nothing but raves about it. Yabba's on 5th Ave. also gets really good comments.

Hope this helps a little!

Betsy in KY

[RagallachMC]

Thanks for the tips. I leave the day after tomorrow. When I get back I'll post where I went and how it was.

[bushey]

Yabba and Chops are the other restaurants owned by the Bistro 821 and Zoe folks. We ate at Chops -- it's a bit more casual than Bistro 821 but the food was just as delicious (I had miso glazed cod, which is one of their house specialties). Yabba is more "Floribbean" style.

[RagallachMC]

Well I've been back from Naples for a week now, so I should report on what I saw/ate.

First, I have to agree with richw: The restaurants in Naples aren't that exciting. I think it's all the old people that vacation there. Alot of restaurants with menus that are WAY out of date. Also, how many Italian restaurants does one town need? The town is named after Naples, Italy, but that doesn't mean you have to have 10 Italian restaurants. Oh well, on to where I ate.

Catch 22

A little restaurant in the condo complex I was staying. We ate lunch there twice. Their She Crab soup was good, but that was about it. The only reason I ate there twice was because it was so close to where we were staying. Very Average.

Cafe Lurcat

Ate lunch there with my wife. A nice space with decent service. Maybe it was just because we were eating lunch, but the portions were tiny. The plate presentation was very stark. My wife had Tuna with preserved lemons and I had Sea Bass with cucumber slaw and miso. The tuna was served on a small rectangular plate: Tuna, Lemons, some Cilanto. That's it. Ditto for my Sea Bass. We each had a generous glass of wine (OK I had two :) ) which was served in beautiful Riedel stemware. $60 for two really small salads, two small fish entrees, and three glasses of wine. Not a value, IMHO.

Vergina

Lunch with my wife, Mother in Law, and 11 month old son. My mother in Law chose this place and I wish she hadn't. This is the worst kind of restaurant. It tries to sell itself as an upscale Italian restaurant, but fails to live up to this in execution. Slow service by a waiter who barely spoke english. foil wrapped butter packets (Hello!!). Cheap bread. Poor wine list and service (I had beer because there was nothing I wanted to drink from the wine by the glass list). The food was mediocre and about as good as something you could get at Olive Garden or Carraba's.

Campiello

Lunch again with my wife, son, and mother in law. A very nice space with plenty of seating outside. We sat in their courtyard in the rear of the building. Very quiet and tranquil (despite the rambunctiousness of my son). The wine list was very nice, focusing on Italian wines. My wife and mother in law had wine, I had a beer (I was in the mood for a Peroni). The lunch menu was nice and offered many things that looked good. I chose a flank steak salad with potatoes, wild mushrooms, and onions. My wife had pasta, and my MIL had a salad as well. Service was good, and everything was very tasty. The only flaw was the long, black hair I found in my salad. They took the salad away and replaced it in less than 10 minutes. They did not, however remove it from the bill. Overall, a good experience and I would recommend them.

Chops

The 'Big Night Out' with my wife. I tried to get a reservation on the morning we planned to go, but they would only offer 9:30 or later. Since we didn't want to be out that late (my in-laws were babysitting, after all) we decided to 'wing it' and see if we could just walk in earlier. We arrived at the restaurant at 6:30 and asked if we could sit outside. We were seated immediately (sometimes it pays to screw the reservations). The place filled up fast after we were seated, and they were turning people away by 7:00. My wife and I ordered some cocktails from Jeff our server (who was awesome). We were never pressured to order and we lingered over our drinks for awhile. We ordered some appetizers to start, Lobster Roll and Duck Potstickers. I also ordered a glass of Riesling. The Lobster Roll was very good, but the Duck Potsticker was a little unbalanced. The potsticker itself was a little bland and was overpowered by a sweet pineapple sauce. Next we ordered salads. My wife had their 'house salad', which I can't remeber anything about except that it was good. I had a salad with bananas, goat cheese, and strawberry-balsamic vinaigrette. Very good. For entrees, I had the Seared, Triple Cracked Peppercorn Encrusted Sirloin Strip Steak with a Blackberry – Cabernet Sauce, Au Gratin Potato and Crispy Onion Hay. I ordered an Australian Shiraz as an accompaniement. It was good, but didn't blow me away. My wife, on the other hand, had the Asian Barbecue Glazed Pork Porterhouse. Served with a Caramelized-Spring Onion-Marsala Wine Sauce, Smoked Gouda Potato Cake and Sautéed Spaghetti Squash. She chose a Gewurtztrameiner with dinner. Her entree was fantastic! I was very jealous, but she was kind enough to share with me. We didn't get dessert, since we were full. Overall, a great place with the most interesting menu in Naples. Highly recommend.

Besides those places, I ate some good ice cream and some great gelato in places whose names escape me.

[niv]

There'a strip mall place called Grouper & Chips that is good for well, Grouper & chips.

I've heard this place mentioned but in all the times I've been to Naples (several dozen by now) I've never seen this place. Could you tell me a little about it?

[Terim]

I m in Florida now, just outside Ft Myers and bored to death!!!

need some ideas on more than just where to eat ....got any suggestions ?

thevactioningone

[niv]

I m in Florida now, just outside Ft Myers and bored to death!!!

need some ideas on more than just where to eat ....got any suggestions ?

thevactioningone

The suggestions above are good ones. Also, there are some fun shacks in Ft. Myers Beach overlooking the ocean on Estero that are worth checking out (I have a favorite but can't recall the name - only how to get there). If you have kids with, Cheeburger is a chain that they will like (and I like for the shakes).

If you can drive North there are some decent places in Sanibel and Captiva. The Mucky Duck on Captiva is famous for their (overpriced but tasty) barbeque shrimp wrapped in bacon. I don't know the places North and well as South of Ft. Myers.

[orenlund]

I just moved from Dallas to Naples two months ago and have been hungry ever since. Please, are there any holes in the walls where I can find a good burger. I found an asian market, but I haven't been able to find ANY not-just-for-white-people asian restaurants. Im wasting away. Need good cheap food (Im a poor cook at the Ritz). Please help me...

-oren

[orenlund]

By the way I would suggest The Dining Room at the ritz. I haven't had dinner there yet, but Michael Voltaggio is doing some interesting things. I'm interested in finding out how the whole experience is. Sadly its only open thurs-sat until the end of summer.

-oren

[niv]

There's a Thai place on Tamiami near Blockbusters between Park Shore and Coastland Mall. Ate there a couple years ago and had a good meal but as it was only once and awhile ago...

There's a place on Isles of Capri called Backwater Nick's that has decent casual food but, to be honest, I go for the view (and my kids like to feed the catfish that swim in the waters next to the place.

Naples isn't a hotbed of cheap ethnic or casual food. It's primarily residents are retired Midwestern suburbanites who seem more concerned with the quality of a restaurant's bar than its food.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Dining news from Naples, Florida

Where else can Neapolitans find reasonably priced food and drink? Meal and drink deals abound at this time of year, and the following list of suggestions should serve only as a basic guide. If your favorite restaurant doesn't appear, give them a call and ask if they offer discount dining options. Chances are, the answer is yes.

and there follows a marvelous, long list of Naples restaurants.

[BetsyinKY]

Just got back from a family vacation in Naples and made one new food discovery that I thought I'd share. We ate dinner one night at Bha!Bha!, a Persian bistro. We all really enjoyed this restaurant. It is located in the Pavilion shopping center, heading north of town on the Tamiami Trail. My father was a little worried about eating there until he saw it, because he was fearing a cheap-looking, strip mall ethnic food joint. However, once he saw Bha!Bha!, he was more excited about the meal. The restaurant interior was decorated by the owner/chef, who is apparently a man of many talents. The space features a small fountain in the middle of the floor, surrounded by hassocks, comfortable banquettes lined with pillows covered in exotic fabrics, and tapestries and other woven hangings on the walls. Our waitress told us that they even have bellydancing on the first Saturday of every month. The menu features both traditional and innovative Persian cuisine. We started with a mango/pear salad that has to be one of the best restaurant salads I've ever eaten. The salad featured 5-6 slices of fresh pear and 5-6 slices of ripe, juicy mango, on a bed of mixed greens sprinkled with feta cheese and dressed with a pomegranate vinagrette. It was absolutely delicious! Entrees for our group included a spicy apricot chicken, duck with an orange, pomegranate, and walnut sauce, and another type of chicken off the traditional Persian menu. All of the entrees were wonderful. Desserts were an almond custard with caramel sauce, which looked a lot like a creme brulee, a flourless chocolate cake that my parents really loved, and then a jeweled squashcake that I had, which was very good and not too sweet. As we were paying the check, my grandmother asked our waitress what Bha! Bha! means in Persian....turns out it means, "Yum! Yum! Good! Good!" I would say that this is a restaurant that the name truly describes! Oh...I forgot to mention the prices....The salads were around $7, most of the entrees fell in the $14-$20 range, and all of the desserts were $5.50. All in all, a good value for the quality of the food.

[chefdg]

I just moved from Dallas to Naples two months ago and have been hungry ever since. Please, are there any holes in the walls where I can find a good burger. I found an asian market, but I haven't been able to find ANY not-just-for-white-people asian restaurants. Im wasting away. Need good cheap food (Im a poor cook at the Ritz). Please help me...

-oren

As a former employee of The Ritz one of my favorite places is Pastrami Dans, on the east side of 41 just about 1 mile north of 5th. There is also a very good cuban place on industrial blvd near Radio rd. More often than going out we cook at home. Ritchies vegetable stand is the best I have found, Airport rd. just north of Pineridge.

Which outlet are you working in?

[chefdg]

There'a strip mall place called Grouper & Chips that is good for well, Grouper & chips.

I've heard this place mentioned but in all the times I've been to Naples (several dozen by now) I've never seen this place. Could you tell me a little about it?

Just north of 4th ave N. on the east side of 41. In a little strip mall. Expect to wait.

[niv]

Just north of 4th ave N. on the east side of 41.  In a little strip mall.  Expect to wait.

Thanks Chef.

I'm heading there to enjoy the cool Florida August weather, so I'll check the place out. Nothing beats the combo of hot, humid weather and fried foods!

Edited July 1, 2004 by niv (log)

[orenlund]

I am really looking forward to trying those places.

Thank you,

Oren

oh yeah, I'm in the dining room.

[chefdg]

oh yeah, I'm in the dining room.

Very nice, I hear Michael is doing some really good stuff. I haven't seen any menus lately, the Ritz web page doesn't have any posted.