Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (buffetbuster)

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 10:02:16 GMT

HDtravlr1-
It looks like you will beat us to the area, since we aren't leaving until February 28th. If you happen to find some good places, I would appreciate you reporting back. I have a list of places that seem worth checking out, but you never know until you actually get there. Have fun!

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (HDtravlr1)

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:23:52 GMT

I am going back to Ft Myers and Skip One in February. Let me know if you find any other good places. Sorry to hear about Flora and Ella's.

Thanks
Johnny

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (buffetbuster)

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 15:09:59 GMT

While doing some research for an upcoming trip to Fort Myers, I found out Flora and Ella's in LaBelle, which I visited in this trip report, has closed. They were known for their fried chicken and wonderful pies. They appeared in 1992 edition of Roadfood. Very disappointing!

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (buffetbuster)

Mon, 21 May 2012 11:06:32 GMT

IndianaPete-
Thanks so much for the reply. Glad you liked your food. Crunchy Grouper and conch chowder sound so good. I really need to revisit this place and write a formal Roadfood review.

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (IndianaPete)

Mon, 21 May 2012 10:56:07 GMT

On the basis of this thread and others, I made a stop at Skip One Seafood on my way in to Sanibel. It easily rivals anything I can get on the islands.
I had the Crunchy Grouper and Bahamian Conch Chowder. Both were among the best I've ever had.

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (buffetbuster)

Wed, 09 May 2012 07:22:54 GMT

Another great review for Skip One Seafood in Fort Myers.....

My cousin Mark recently started a new job where he has to travel a lot. So, everywhere he goes, he has been asking me places to eat. Last night, he texted me, saying he was driving from Tampa to Miami and wanted to know if there was anything good in Fort Myers. I told him to hit Skip One Seafood. Three hours later, here is the text I received:

"All 4 of us agree that this is the best seafood we've ever had. Thanks for recommendation! We're coming back to Tampa in July and were gonna make the hour and a half trip back!"

Another Roadfood convert!

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (badart)

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 16:44:01 GMT

I just booked my flights for Bonita Springs for the 20th through the 27th. I am sure Skip One's will be on the agenda at least once. The Fish House will get a visit as well, probably Grouper & Chips in North Naples. Going to St Pete for the IndyCar race on the 24th and 25th but probably won't have much dining time except at the race.

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (buffetbuster)

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:40:40 GMT

HDtravlr1-
Four times at Skip One Seafood? Wow! So glad that you liked it as much as you did. You list so many shrimp there, I feel like I am watching Forrest Gump! My mother has been asking me to take her back to Fort Myers for a while and it looks like we will be there in May. Needless to say, at least one trip to Skip One Seafood is a must. If I get some good photos, I will write a real Roadfood review. Thanks so much for reporting back.

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (kevincad)

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 09:19:13 GMT

buffetbuster

If I had time for a third breakfast, I would have checked out The Island Cow. The place was packed, so they must be doing something right. Anybody ever eaten here?

http://www.sanibelislandcow.com/index.php

They have a seafood omelet that is VERY good! My wife, not a seafood fan, had a frittata of some sort, it was very good, but not fantastic like that seafood omelet!

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (MetroplexJim)

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 08:07:14 GMT

Sorry about the Shrimp Shack. It was quite good - especially for their price point - the last time we visited Ft. Myers 6 years ago.

At least I didn't steer you wrong about the Carolina BBQ sandwich at Weenie Beenie (Arlington, VA)! Next time you're there pop a Lipitor and also try their grilled cheese with bacon. Wash it all down with Mountain Dew.

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (HDtravlr1)

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 22:29:05 GMT

I couldn't break Janicks record of 5 times at Skip One Seafood. I only got there 4 times. My mom and brother went with me 3 of those times. It was that good. Our hotel was nearby and we had meetings in the day. We tried the spicy shrimp, fried shrimp, grilled shrimp, boiled shrimp, blackened grouper, fried grouper, and fried clams. For sides we had french fries, coleslaw, baked potato and rice pilaf. All the food was great! I got to give the edge to the fried shrimp and grouper. Thanks for the recommendation Buffetbuster.

Johnny McClanahan

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (THAYWARD)

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:31:42 GMT

We just returned from our annual 2 weeks in Captiva @ South Seas. Won't give all the details, but these are the places we ate at and didn't have one bad meal or service. The Green Flash, RC Otters, Island Cow, Doc Fords, The Hungry Heron, Biddles Bucket, and take-out desert from the Bubble Room. We had at least one seafood item at each plus various other things, just to make sure we were on "Island Time".

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (buffetbuster)

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 08:27:59 GMT

Janicks-
Five times at Skip One Seafood? Wow, you really did love this place. What do you ecommend there the most? Glad to hear you tried Farmer's Market, too. What did you have? Is it hard to be home, now that vacation is over?

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (janicks)

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:49:32 GMT

Okay Cliff and friends, tonight is our 8th and last night in FT.Mters and we didn't make it to the ice cream place.We did eat at Skip One 5 nights.One night we went to the Fish House on Bonita Beach rd. Not as good as Skip One. Very busy!!But not great.Also, an Italian place in Coconut Point Mall it was very good but cannot remember its name.Also at California Pizza its a chain but needed a change from seafood. We had lunch at the Farmers Market and we loved it.Thanks Bufffetbuster for all the tips.Great trip report.

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (buffetbuster)

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:01:01 GMT

i95-
You are on to me. I was so disappointed they don't have the liver smoothie anymore.

AHI MPLS-
That must have been really, really pulpy orange juice.

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (Ahi Mpls.)

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:55:30 GMT

how in the world did you get the oj to stay halfway up the straw?!! spooky....

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (i95)

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:35:56 GMT

buffetbuster
To drink, I started off with a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice and a fruit smoothie.

buffetbuster, who are you kidding? I know a Pork Smoothie when I see one and that strawberry isn't fooling anyone.

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (buffetbuster)

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:14:34 GMT

Brad Olsen-
Needless to say, I love Rocky Bleier! Skip One does seem to have much fried seafood on their menu, but it is certainly a place to get fresh seafood done just about anyway you want.

janicks-
It sounds like you are having a great time down there. Sorry if I let the cat out of the bag on Skip One Seafoods, although I am glad to hear you like it as much as I do. How crowded was Lighthouse Cafe? I remember they can get mobbed during the season, which is one of the reasons I was there when they opened. If you get to the ice cream place, please report back and let us know how it was.

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (janicks)

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:28:50 GMT

I am in FortMyers this week for vacation so we went today to the Lighthouse in Sanibel and I tried the eggs benidict on the croissant it was wonderful .Hubby had the smoked sausage with eggs and potatoes. I talked to the owner and told him about this trip report. he was very happy to hear his place was on Roadfood!!
But the real kicker is I didn't read your last post until after dinner because the first dinner I have every year for this vacation is Skip One!! My favorite of all the places we have tried.Oh NO.. I said I wasn't going to tell another soul about this place because we waited 55 minutes to have dinner.It was well worth it!!I will be sure to try the ice cream place, but tomorrow we go to Cape Coral and its ou friends choice.But we will be back to Skip One at least 1 more time this week

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (ScreamingChicken)

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:17:03 GMT

Skip One is my kind of place! It looks like most of the hot food is fried with a few grilled items thrown in; is this the case?

If you'd headed west from Manitowoc during your recent WI visit you would've wound up in Appleton, hometown of Rocky Bleier.

Brad

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (CajunKing)

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:56:26 GMT

I will have to get you to a skyline here in Cincy.

The buffalo shrimp looked good, and I love the murals

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (Nancypalooza)

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:46:23 GMT

What is it with the cute shrimp murals over there? Huh. I don't think I've ever tried buffalo shrimp.

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (buffetbuster)

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:34:56 GMT

Of course, I couldn't go to Florida without trying a couple of seafood restaurants. One of the ones that was recommended by posters here on Roadfood was Shrimp Shack, so I ate there on Friday night.

As it turns out, it was located just two minutes from where I used to live, although the restaurant opened after I had left. Even though it was a Friday night, the place was empty. The place was decorated with a Jimmy Buffet/shrimp shack theme and several of the murals on the walls were amusing.

Lately, I have really been craving buffalo shrimp, so I made that my appetizer.

Not nearly as hot as it looks, the sauce worked really well with the fresh tasting shrimp. Fried shrimp was the main entree choice.

A delicate, lighter than usual breading, this was good but nothing special. All of the sides, especially the hard hushpuppies were below average or worse. This place wasn't bad, but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat here again.

Shrimp Shack
1400 Colonial Boulevard
Fort Myers, FL
239-237-5100

The last meal before I flew home on Sunday was at Skip One Seafoods.

A nondescript box-like building south of the city on Hwy 41, the emphasis here is more on the food than the decor. Still, I did get a kick out of this mural on the side wall.

When you walk in the front door, the first thing you see is the cases with the fresh seafood for sale.

The menu

has a fine list of seafood, but I was happy to see my old friend Buffalo Shrimp on the menu again.

There was less sauce on this dish, but it was actually hotter, more flavorful and with a heavy, rugged crunch. Big thumbs up! The surprisingly spicy conch chowder was also a winner.

Three different types of grouper sandwiches are available, but I settled on the fried.

Lean, firm and very fresh, this was a wonderful sandwich.

Skip One Seafoods would be my go to place for seafood in Fort Myers. And not just because the owner is a Steeler fan from New Brighton, PA.

Skip One Seafoods
15820 S. Tamiami Trail
Fort Myers, FL
239-482-0433

Thanks again to everyone for reading my trip report!

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (buffetbuster)

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:14:59 GMT

Nancypalooza

Oh I love a good raspberry, and a good mint. I'm glad you're an adventurous flavor-mixer.

Although I have no problem mixing any flavors, I wish I was more adventurous. I seem to stick to the mint and fruit flavors. Cake batter just doesn't sound appealing at all.

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (mar52)

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 12:01:15 GMT

Ice cream is my downfall.

I love ice cream with a good dense base, texture and flavor that makes me shout out YUM!

That looks like it fits the bill.

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (Nancypalooza)

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:27:22 GMT

Oh I love a good raspberry, and a good mint. I'm glad you're an adventurous flavor-mixer. I'm thinking cake batter might be a southern thing--it's nearly ubiquitous around here and I don't recall ever seeing anything like that from Chris/Amy/Stephen's ice cream tour last summer.

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (buffetbuster)

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 08:41:25 GMT

I really need to finish up a couple of other reports before I go starting others.....

A couple of stops for snacks were made. On Saturday, I stopped at the Skyline Chili,

located in a shopping center on busy Hwy 41 in Fort Myers. With all the times I have been to Cincy, I have never been to a Skyline Chili. Too busy eating at the independents, like Blue Ash Chili, Price Hill Chili and especially Camp Washington Chili. The inside was very clean and decorated with banners and photos from the Cincy area.

I asked the waitress if there were that many retirees from SW Ohio in Fort Myers and she promptly pointed out a half dozen sitting around the room. Good for them that they can get chili down here. If I lived in SE Florida, I would certainly visit Primanti Brothers.

Unfortunately, I was unimpressed by the food. The 5-Way chili

seemed to lack the strong flavor of the other places up north I have visited and was too watery. The coneys

were also lifeless and bland, although they sure don't cheat you on the amount of cheese you are given. I still plan on trying a Skyline Chili in Cincy one day.

After the chili, I needed a palate cleanser and drove the 25 miles down to Bonita Springs for an ice cream place I read that was being given high marks. The name of the place is Royal Scoop.

Located on an out of the way side street, the place was absolutely mobbed. They have a decent sized parking lot and people were still having to park on the street and down the road. It took a while to wind through the long line, which gave me plenty of time to check out the available flavors.

I ended up with a scoop of peppermint stick over top a scoop of the black raspberry.

I can't remember the last time I had such good ice cream. The black raspberry was especially very fresh tasting, not overly sweet and with a hard texture. Still, it was very light on the tongue. BTW, sorry about the bad photo. Since the place was so crowded, there were no seats, so I had to eat (and take pictures) in the car.

The ice cream was so good, I had to go back the next day. Not nearly as many people in the middle of the afternoon.

This time, it was a scoop of mint chocolate chip over top the black cherry.

I didn't get the burst of flavor in the cherry like I did with the raspberry, but this was still really top notch ice cream. The larger than usual misshapen chocolate chunks in the mint ice cream was another highlight.

If I lived in Fort Myers, I would definitely drive down here at least once a week.

Royal Scoop
15 8th Street
Bonita Springs, FL
239-992-2000

http://www.royalscoop.com/

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (Nancypalooza)

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:41:23 GMT

No, I gotcha. It would make a fine new Olympic sport. ;)

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (buffetbuster)

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:57:30 GMT

I'm glad you asked me that Mar52, because I was a little surprised by the complete absence of any bananas in the pie. It was nothing but banana filling. While it was dense, it was not nearly as much as the butterscotch pie from the day before.

To compare the two Southern lunches I had, the desserts were better at Flora & Ella's, but the rest of the meals were clearly better at Farmer's Market Restaurant. I was hoping that I would love one of these two places nough to write a formal review for the site, but both of them came up just shy.

CK-
I think pineapple upside down cake is one of those things that just about everyone's mother made and that makes it such a comforting dessert to eat. I wish more restaurants carried it.

Nancypalooza-
There is something about the textures of these dishes that makes it difficult to get a good shot. The camera loves things with strong definite lines and these dishes (corned beef hash & squash casserole) don't have that!

Re:Weekend in Fort Myers/Sanibel (mar52)

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:41:18 GMT

I understand having the sides in their individual bowls but I sure miss the look of a plate full of comfort food.

The macaroni looks like it came out of a can but that pie looks heavenly. Was it as light as it looks or does your description of thicker mean what I would call dense? Were there anyfresh bananas in it? I need fresh bananas!