The food and service defines the experience. Blue dog never changes. Daily printed menus of fresh…read moreofferings, friendly familiar faces of staff and customers every day, the only downside is trying to find parking during peak times. This place thrives on volume and pure mayhem. But quality never suffers. The food is always amazing. I wish they had liquor, be aware all alcoholic drinks are beer based. A minor complaint which doesnt even effect my five star rating. The food speaks for itsself.

Blue Dog Bar & Grill is another local "must do"! Daily specials based on what is fresh, Friday…read morenight Prime Rib, and a fantastic everyday menu. The food is always super fresh, hot and delicious! Any choice from the "Fish of the Moment" is guaranteed to be amazing and I LOVE their Prime Rib! Staff is always friendly and quick but can become overwhelmed at peak hours. We tend to "stagger" our orders to prevent our entrees arriving while we are still eating our appetizers. Matlacha charm and Island Time feel will melt your day away, especially with a frosty Blue Dog lager in hand. Grab a seat at the bar if possible. Parking can be crazy during season. Cheers!

The crab cakes are my favorite! I have to eat gluten/wheat free and these are perfect! There's no…read moreflour! They are the best with so much crab and flavor. Please don't ever take them off the menu. The fish food by the dock is an extra bonus too.

I ordered the MD style crab cake sandwich (I was warned by my fellow Maryland friend not to but did…read moreanyway).... it was not MD style on any level. The cake was smashed flat (who does that?), did have filler, and these weird green chuncks. I couldn't figure out what the green stuff was. That is now how a MD style crab cake is made..... The crab cake had zero flavor!!!!! Again, I was born and raised in Maryland, have had many great crab cakes there and I have made my own.... This was like WTH..... your claiming MD style crab cakes and totally missed the mark.....

We eat here often. Love the vibe and food. The staff is always fun and welcoming. Great value…read moreand right next to great coffee and ice cream stores so we always have an after dinner option if we have room left after that pretzel!

Nice little outdoor patio with TVs. Inside is a bit dark…read more We sat outside and the server was very nice. Food was slow.... At least two tables who were sat way after us got their food first. By the time we flagged a server down the food was right behind. A bit disappointing now follow up for server and seeing the same dishes be delivered to others. We were there over an hour before our food came (yes we ordered an app but still). The food was good but not great. Big portions and loaded sandwiches.

We had visited this restaurant over ten years ago and we're excited to see they reopened after the…read morehurricane. With reservations for a birthday dinner we were a little early but seated right away in a busy dining room. I ordered a Shrimp Livornaise with housemade pasta. The dish was tasty and the shrimp were large but the pasta was minimal and just ok. We split a Cedar salad and saw a $5 charge on our bill for the kitchen splitting the salad, of which we were not informed when ordering. Also our bill included a 3% "COST OF DOING BUSINESS" charge when first presented, not knowing if we were paying by Cash or Credit card. Not the same experience as our first visit.

We had a decent dinner here. They've remodeled since we were here last -- over 10 years ago…read more Luckily, they didn't suffer much damage at all from Hurricane Ian. But as we left, we both said to each other that something was off and we wouldn't be back. I can't put my finger on it exactly. It didn't help that they charge an extra fee for doing business (!) that was on the bill presented to us --even before they knew whether we were going to pay with cash or a credit card -- and that they had a splitting dish charge of $5 (which I had them remove; as it was never explained, only offered). Or that they never acknowledged my husband's birthday. But they did have our reservation correctly and we were seated immediately. The room is large and airy and open. But it's also without any warmth or personality. The large loud table of young couples seated next to us -- who didn't know what most of the menu items were -- didn't help. Our service was okay, too. But here again something felt a tad off and fake. We started by sharing a caprese salad. We added extra balsamic glaze. For our main dishes, my husband had the shrimp Livornese. Large shrimp served with olives and capers in a tomato sauce. The pasta was skimpy and he doubted that it was housemade. I had their salmon. It came with mashed potatoes and a couple asparagus spears. It was good. For dessert, we had the berry cobbler without the ice cream. It was disappointing. And would have been better served hot -- not barely lukewarm. I'm glad we came back to try them. Now we know.

We arrived by boat with some friends for lunch on a weekday. The place was very busy but we had a…read morereservation so were able to get seated within 10 minutes. The atmosphere is casual and pure "old Florida", with a funky vibe including hundreds of dollar bills taped to the ceiling and walls. There is seating outside, at the bar, and in a large dining area. We sat in the dining area which has a jungle-like tangle of trees right outside the windows. Service was quick and friendly. The food was just average but pretty on par for this type of restaurant. I had the garden salad with the catch of the day on top which was black grouper. It was decent but didn't blow me away. Overall it's a fun place to stop if you're out boating in the area, but fining dining it is not.

The music they were playing was unbearably loud. The burgers were just ok. A very cool setting. Had…read morean hour wait to be seated. Won't be going back.

Recently my wife and family when to Doc Ford's Rum Bar and…read moreGrille, on Sanibel Island. This restaurant is simply an institution on the island. It is without question a must do, when you're here. My family and I have been coming here for many years, and it only has gotten better each time. This location has two floors of seating, more importantly two bars you can sit at. After checking in with the hostess, our wait was only about twenty minutes. Once seated at our table all of us were ready to order. For drinks we ordered two rounds I got the Dark and Stormy for both rounds(Gosling's Black Seal Rum mixed with Gosling's Ginger Beer & a squeeze of lime) my ordered a mango and coconut mojito; my sister in law ordered a rum runner. We all loved our drinks. Drinks here are always made perfect. For an appetizer we shared the calamari. The breading was light and the calamari was tender. For entrees my sister in law and I ordered the Deep Water Mahi Mahi(Hand-cut mahi-mahi seared in sweet soy sauce, placed on a jasmine rice stir fry with a tropical vinaigrette) This dish is my favorite meal here. The mahi was tender, the sweet soy sauce and the tropical vinaigrette ties everything together. My wife ordered the Yucatan Shrimp with a side of jalapeño cheese grits. She gave me two thumbs up. My father in law Grouper Sandwich (Fresh grouper grilled, blackened, or fried. Served with Doc's tartar sauce on a freshly baked roll) He ordered his fried. He loves the grouper sandwich here and usually gets it. Again, this is another place we will always comeback to.

Before I get into the entrees that were great, let me first acknowledge MARK our server. The four…read moreof us were here 4/21/26 on Table 105/1 for Lunch. MARK was very professional, personable, brought everything over in a timely manner, helpful with the menu choices and a great sense of humor. He's a great asset to the restaurant. Once again, thanks Mark! Great talking with you as well...... Doc Ford's is always great over the many years and comfortable sitting outside on the patio. We all enjoyed everything we had. Will be more descriptive later but wanted to get this review on time as I promised it to be.

Local diner. Great for breakfast. Food and service A+. Tried the crunchy French Toast. Yum.read more

We enjoyed our experience at the Sanibel Cafe. Staff were very friendly and attentive. We tried the…read morebreakfast quesadilla and steak omelet. The jams are fresh and they sell them at the counter too. The restaurant was clean with cute local decor. Overall I would recommend!

This is sorta weird, the place is not really open but it's serving customers next door at the…read moreOmelet shop while finishing up construction work on the bar. You enter at the front door, they have a small bar and what looks like restaurant seating. Very nice waitress told me that they expect to have the bar side open in a couple of weeks. Food was good, prices were fair, waitress was nice! They were having bingo night, which is new to me, never been a bingo person... (Not once ever!) It was kind of weird but a little fun, it seemed like everybody knew everyone, older crowd joking around in the omelette, Shop restaurant bar place thing. have fun it'll be different

What on earth happened to this place? We were regulars for a long time, and have stuck with them…read morethrough all of their changes over the last year or two, but our last visit will be our last for a while. New bartenders/staff every week or two, nobody can stick around. Bartenders drinking on shift, trying to memorize orders instead of using the handheld POS system - what arrived at the table was not what we ordered. My husband's refire on his wrong meal took 20 minutes to arrive, and was cold, as well as fried to a black crisp; when he asked about it at the bar (because the bartenders weren't on the floor), he was told "I don't know what happened. I'm a bartender, not a food runner." I don't think we'll be back any time soon. I miss the great staff they used to have. This used to be a favourite neighbourhood hole in the wall.

The food and services are always excellent! We go there regularly, love the view and Atmosphere!read more

Wonderful place! Food, atmosphere and everything!…read moreI recommend this restaurant to everyone!!!!!

First time going there, it was a wonderful experience. Very nice servers, very patient and…read moreexplained the menu, me and my family were very satisfied with this place. It was kinda pricey, but worth the price. Food was freshly made and very delicious. Our server Anais was very helpful and gave wonderful service. Definitely worth the trip and money. Will be coming back.

Wow! Everything about this place was great! The food, the drinks, the ambiance - It was a great…read moreexperience and I don't know why I haven't been here before. A couple things to know - go with an appetite, and make sure you get desert! I had the filet mignon with Risotto and the Red Velvet. The husband had the Prime Rib and cheese cake.