I really enjoy going to Fine Wines and Tastings on Main St in Lakewood Ranch. Scott and his mom…read morehave created a wonderful atmosphere for buy wine by the bottle or by the glass. They have a revolving selection of well known and under the radar wines for you to enjoy. They also offer a small selection of fantastic light snacks to eat while sipping good wine. Additionally, they have a couple of beers and seltzers. If you find yourself wanting a nice glass of wine, please give Fine Wines and Tastings a chance. I promise you will love it.

We went in after a full day of working on our boat and we were headed to Trader Joe's to do our own…read morecharcuterie board. I hopped on yelp while on the way to Home Depot and this place popped up. We love charcuterie and thought for the price point we would give it a try. The sommelier was extremely helpful and after our food order, recommended this fantastic French wine which pared perfectly. We will be back as they also had Justin Isosceles in stock on shelf next time we are cooking steaks on our boat

jR's Old Packinghouse is a decades old mainstay with a "old Florida" feel in Sarasota, Florida. I…read moredropped in after trying to find a local sit-down restaurant for lunch for a party of four on an early Saturday afternoon. The down home digs were homey and inviting and we chose to eat outside in the covered patio out front. The menu is interesting and varied; I'd state some of the food is county-style and some has a Cuban flair. My shrimp entree, which I chose to have, accompanied by rice and beans was very good. My daughter selected the chicken fingers and the portion was hearty and she devoured it. JR's has a special brunch menu and live music regularly so check out their website for information. Check this place out if you like charming-go frills places with great food.

I love dive bars and Packinghouse is the epitome with excellent food, drink and entertainment. It…read moreis old Florida out by I75 and near UTC mall. Great burgers and Cuban sandwiches but this time, I opted for the Basa Reuben. Initially disappointed when it arrived on a bun and not rye but it worked. The cup of seafood chowder preceding my basa Reuben was large, thick and with very good corn bread. Staff is friendly and seasoned. This was our first visit this season and will not be the last.

Fun for Everyone! Looking for a place where everyone can have a blast? Livingston's Amusements has…read moreit all arcade games, billiards, bumper cars, and even indoor go-kart racing. On our last visit, we kicked things off with a go-kart race (I'll admit, I'm a "safety-first" driver... came in last place ). Afterward, we grabbed some food and drinks, then hit the arcade where I redeemed myself by taking first place in Mario Kart. The atmosphere is lively, with families, kids, and couples all enjoying themselves. The food service can be a little slow due to the open seating setup, but our server was warm, attentive, and apologetic for the delay. Other perks? Plenty of parking and a wide range of activities to keep you entertained for hours. Whether it's a date night, family outing, or a casual hangout with friends.

This is a pretty cool spot. They have arcade games, pool, and a bar. I really loved that they have…read morea separate area for pool for just 21+. However, a group with a toddler did manage to come in and that kinda ruined the vibe. We had a waitress in that room ask if we wanted a menu for food/drinks and then she never came back......so we just would walk to the bar and place our order and drinks. Honestly, the pizza here was pretty good! I was surprised. This is a great place to hang with friends. Can't believe I didn't know about it when I lived here!

Took two colleagues to dinner…read more Was my first time and found this to be a beautiful restaurant. There is a retail area along with a tasting area that was pretty busy. The wait was very short and once seated we had an amazing server. I wasn't sure what I wanted to she brought out 2 wine tasters for me to decide. She took excellent care of us and was not over the top. We ordered 1 app, 3 meals and 4 glasses of wine. Our total was $170. This is an upscale dining so have your wallet ready.

We love that Cooper's Hawk is right down the road from our place in Sarasota. A great happy hour…read moreand a wonderful selection of wines. They have a lot of really great small plates to share as well as solid entree options. We enjoy it so much that we joined their wine club that includes monthly tastings and monthly bottles of wine. If you're a frequent visitor the club pays for itself. Great lively atmosphere and service.

We love visiting ARCADEbar when we are in the area. The food is great! Remember to bring cash for…read morethe change/coin machines.

Food was amazing and they even have an amazing selection of non-alcoholic beers. Our server, Jenna,…read morewas fantastic! And Mark, the bartender, was able to make some great drink recommendations. We got the fried goat cheese appetizer which was so melty and creamy and SO good with the fig jam. I got the Kona burger and my friend got the lobster grilled cheese special. The grilled cheese was amazing! We would absolutely come back for another good time and amazing service.

Starts early in the evening, and you're out before dark (written in May). You must make…read morereservations for this dinner and a show, but it wasn't sold out on a Saturday night with just a few days' prior calling in for tickets. The food was SO GOOD! Salad bar and rolls started us off; when the warm buffet was served, a row of tables was asked to come forward. The dinner course was amazing! Tonight we had green beans, mashed potatoes, rice pilaf, meatballs, salmon (with a delicious sauce on top), fresh carved ham and/or roast beef. I think there was chicken too, but it was temporarily not available when we went through the line. I'm sure it was great, but we were too full to return for more. Dinner is also served with a dessert. Now the play... it was adorable! We saw Becky's New Car, which was a delightful comedy. All the actors did a superb job, even Steve's understudy. Lots of laughs. It was fun how they involved the audience! I'm sure whatever play they choose to put on at this theater would be fun to see. Thanks for a wonderful evening!

We had a fabulous time where they had a live show with Elvis impersonators, and we got to sit near…read morethe front of the stage, it was great!!!

Excellent food, atmosphere, and service! Eaten here twice now and it doesn't disappoint!read more

The grouper and coconut shrimp was the bomb! I can't wait to come back again. Sophia was our server…read moreand she was very good.

It is so fun that there is a murder mystery train here in Fort Myers! It seems a bit expensive…read morethough you are getting a train ride, dinner, and show. I felt the train ride itself was a bit unnecessary. There was one nice section of the train ride over water, otherwise there wasn't much to look at. Also the train was swaying back and forth causing me to get a bit nauseous. The food itself was all pretty good! The cheese and fruit plate, potato and leek soup, pretzel roll, and salad were all great starters. I was satisfied with the meal before my entree even arrived! My family and I tried all of the different options (prime rib, salmon, and chicken) and thought they all tasted good. Though I could have done without cranberries in my rice... The dessert was small and light for a cheesecake. Food was surprisingly better than we thought. As for the show, I definitely didn't get how we were supposed to deduce the killer. But the actors did a great job and it was overall a fun night.

My friends and I wanted to try the murder mystery train after seeing some of their billboard…read moreadvertisements along 75. We were able to get individual tickets online but still make note that we wanted to sit together, and that all worked out really well. The tickets are expensive (makes sense...you're getting a show, a 5-course meal, and riding a train) and being able to buy separately was really helpful for us. Everything the night of the event ran like clockwork. Boarding the train was easy and fun. We had a table in the Gasparilla train car with lovely servers who took care of us all night. Drinks are pretty reasonable (ice tea and water are included, but you can purchase soda, beer, wine, cocktails) and you can even get a full bottle of wine for your table which you can take home if you don't finish onboard. The meal was better than I expected. It started with a fruit and cheese plate, then we had hot pretzel rolls an butter, a delicious potato leek soup, a salad, and then the appetizer. Our choices were prime rib (friends said it was delicious), chicken francese (I loved it) and salmon. Dessert was a cheesecake. The performers were very animated and enthusiastic. These murder mystery shows are always hard for me to actually follow and figure out. I appreciate all that goes into it, but I wish I was a better sleuth. My only issue is that the train ride itself is VERY long at 3 - 3.5 hours. I love a nice train ride, but I wonder if they could shave a little time off the ride.

Another staple of our time in siesta key is hitting up the siesta key oyster bar. Ironic cuz I…read moredon't eat oysters I'm simply there for the smash burgers. Skob is always packed. Always. But there's a reason behind this. The owner is on site quite a bit it's nice to see him. While the place certainly has quite a few miles on it mostly because it keeps getting beat up during hurricanes it bounces back. Feel free to bring a dollar and staple a dollar to the ceiling or if you're a copper firefighter bring your patch and they will hang it proudly. When I'm on vacation I like my food very simple. A simple double smashburger and fries 100% does me in. For servers are definitely all smiling another staple and not really an expectation but I'm so glad to see it. My wife got a chicken quesadilla not really adventurous again for the same reason. The beers are cold the servers are beautiful and everything is right with the world when I can sit down at siesta key oyster bar.

If you could only hit one restaurant in all of Florida, you would HAVE TO go to this one. The hype…read moreover this place is real. Plus who doesn't like cheaper raw oysters from 3-6PM EVERYDAY??! Servers were friendly and efficient. I like how you can nail a written on dollar bill on the wall. It's a cute, interactive idea. Raw oysters 10/10: Juicy, flavorful. Fresh. Everything oysters should be. I could've easily slammed 2 dozen by myself. Po Boy Oyster 10/10: This was fried the best considering we went to other restaurants and ordered the same dish. We'd be happy to have this meal again. Seafood quesadilla 8/10: Can't go wrong with this! I have a small appetite but still almost ate the whole thing.

Our family had a great time at the Venice Shark Tooth Festival!…read more We found this event last minute on Sunday and decided to drive out to the Shark tooth Capital to see what it would be like. It was very busy and a little tough to find parking but once we did we couldn't believe our eyes seeing so many shark teeth! Big and small from all types of sharks and there were some beautiful wall art made with shark teeth some dipped in resin with beautiful colors it was amazing to see how celebrated these teeth were. The live music was great people were dancing having a good time. I didn't see very many food vendors maybe because venices strip has restaurants up and down but they definitely had drinks non alcoholic and alcohol. I got myself a really cool branded coconut from surfing coconut that they crack open and you can drink fresh coconut water that was cold and refreshing. And the Kids Zone was great my kids got to find their own shark teeth offered by the Venice Lions Club which they got two minutes to find as many shark as they could and when they were done they had about 10/20 shark teeth each! This was a great festival filled with very talented vendors and amazing fossils and Shark teeth I will definitely be attending next year's event!