Ft. Myers Beach, FL before May 2 Please

[cheereeo70]

Will be going to Ft. Myers Beach Florida May 2 - 6. Any ideas? I've bookmarked the link to Ft. Myers News-Press from Z28 Racer and will do some research there, but if anyone can offer any quick suggestions, I would be much obliged. I will be traveling with my husband, mom, mother-in-law and well-dined 1-1/2-year-old son. We love good food and will travel to Bonita Springs if it isn't too far. This is our first time ever to go to Florida so logistically, we are going site-unseen down there. We will be staying at the Pointe Estero on Estero Boulevard.

[suzilightning]

We wanted to try out Dragonfly Bistro which is a small, storefront restaurant that had good reviews and was a french bistro. unfortunately they don't begin service until 630 pm. when you have been out birding all day and you are hungry at 5 pm that don't cut it.

we ended up at The Channel Mark. it was ok though when we walked in we were asked if we had a reservation and there is mandatory valet parking that john hates.

john had some questions about prepartion of the crab cake and our server made an assumption that worked in our favor. she assumed we wanted to have small plates and put in our orders as all appetizer plates instead of the 2 appetizers and 2 entrees we had thought we were ordering. it worked out well since we were full and there were no leftover to take back to our shoe box room.

john started with a cosmo. with our food i had a red strip and john had a glass of scarlatta pinot grigio.

since she assumed we were having only appetizers no bread was brought to the table. we ordered crab cake, thai chicken sataty, honey bacon shrimp and shrimp cocktail we were also thinking about ordering stone crab claws. the crab cake was extremely fresh and not overly breaded served with a mandarin rum coconut sauce and red pepper coulis napped with some kind of sour cream sauce. the thai satay was served with a peanut dipping sauce and a bit on the overcooked/dry side. the shrimp were wrapped with bacon and baked after being drizzled with honey. both the shrimp cocktail and the shrimp wrapped with bacon were not over cooked and very, very fresh. the stone crab claws can be served either hot or cold with appropriate dipping sauces. appetizers run 5-12; entrees average 15.

we spent 42 for 4 appetizers and three drinks plus tip and 5.00 for the required valet parking.

[cheereeo70]

UPDATE:

Returned from our trip to Ft. Myers Beach. We dined at the following spots. I must say that I absolutely adored the Bonita Springs, FL area and hope to venture more into Naples on my next visit. Unfortunately, one of our vacation partners does not have discriminating taste and became a real annoyance and truly interfered in our selection of dining spots, which is truly unfortunate as the dining down there is incredible.

1.) Snug Harbor Restaurant - Ft. Myers Beach - Very good. Large outdoor dining area.

2.) Rib City Grille - Bonita Springs - Good but very very family casual. Not sure I would go again. This is a chain. We went at someone's recommendation on a night that we felt kind of grubby after beaching all day. Ribs were decent and fell off the bone with three different styles of BBQ sauces served on the side.

3.) Roys - Bonita Springs - This place was absolutely incredible. A little pricey but so worth it. Creme de la creme. Excellent hawaiin cuisine, top-notch service. Awesome atmosphere. A must-do place whereever you are. I understand it is a chain as well, but oh so good. A very nice dining experience with excellent place-the-napkin-on-your-lap service.

4.) The Watermark Grille - Bonita Springs - Very good. We really liked this place. The food was very good and the surroundings were very nice and comfortable. I liked this place because of the very unpretentious type atmosphere. They actually have a magician on some nights--sounds cheesy but the kids like it. I would definitely go again. Excellent stuffed grouper special and all the staff were extremely friendly.

5.) University Grille - Ft. Myers - Just OK. Not sure I would dine here again. Did not like the chain-like atmosphere and our waitress, although very nice, was kind of stupid in the way she spoke that drove me kind of crazy.

6.) California Pizza Kitchen at the Ft. Myers Airport just before our flight home - Surprisingly very good--especially coming from someone who lives near New Haven--the pizza capital of the world????!!!

There are so many excellent dining choices in this area. I could not believe how many good places there are. All are better than the next. I would have liked to have tried a Chops City Grille in Bonita or Naples, Bistro 41 in Ft. Myers, and Zoe's in Naples (a local's suggestion). It is funny how a lot of the restaurants are kind of store-front in these huge Florida outdoor malls. They may not look like much from the outside but are incredible. And. . . compared to prices in the Northeast, everything is so affordable and well-priced for the quality of what you get.

[Varmint]

Thanks, C. Could you tell us a bit more of what you ate from the places you liked? We always want more details here on eGullet!

[cheereeo70]

I'll try to remember. (Keep in mind; my boring, fussy MIL was with us, and she loves the Red Lobster, so need I say more. . . ) we couldn't go to the very fancy places we wanted to go to. Next year, we are definitely vacationing without the grandmas. I'll also give you guys the websites, so you can see the menu. I ordered off special menu whenever possible.

Snug Harbor - Grouper Matanzas (egg-battered, with blue crab and lemon butter sauce; MIL had fried shrimp!) Snug Harbor's site

Rib City - Babyback Ribs (MIL had fried shrimp!!) Rib City Site

Roys - I had a special fish; cannot remember the name. (cannot remember how it was cooked, but they have a special menu every single day I believe. I also got the chocolate souffle, which you must order in advance. My husband had calamari appetizer with wasabi sauce which appeared to me to be the lightest I have ever tasted--I believe it was breaded with panko if I had to guess. I remember my mom had mahi mahi as did my toddler son. (MIL had skewered shrimp--no fried shrimp here; so she sat there with a puss on her face!!!) After this night, my MIL made us (without saying it directly) check to see that places had "plain" food! (what a pain) Roy's site

Watermark - Stuffed Grouper special - very good (MIL had fried shrimp!!!!) Watermark's site

University Grill - Red Snapper with capers, etc. My mom had grilled salmon with fried spinach, onion crisps and plum ginger sauce - very good. Here I had the best key lime pie. (MIL had prime rib on the grille and complained of a stomachache after so I was kidding to my husband that it was her body going into withdrawal from not having a freaking fried shrimp in it for 24 hours!) University's Site

[niv]

Thanks for the recommendation of the Watermark. I've driven by the place on Tammiami a bunch of times but thought it looked kinda corporate. I'll stop next time I'm in town.