My wife and I had a really relaxing and peaceful visit at Periwinkle Cottages. The cottage itself…read morewas cool, clean and comfortable. It had clean linens, towels and various beach accessories. There were bicycles on the property to use, a charcoal grill, laundry room and a shell cleaning station. We had the pleasure of meeting the owner and she was very kind and sweet. We will definitely be back and be reccomending this location to our family and friends!

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS! We stayed here for our honeymoon. Mark and Kathy are relaxed, laid back, and…read morehave a lovely place for the right price! We stayed in the Sandpiper. It has a single bedroom with a queen bed, a living area, kitchen, and bathroom. The kitchen had all the necessary equipment so we were able to eat in and save a lot of money on our trip. The decor is beachy and welcoming. Mark paints and did a lot of the artwork in the cottage. I can still remember the koi picture in the bedroom. Very nice touch! There is a private gazebo out back that overlooks the pond. There were many birds, turtles, and a small alligator in the pond, though the alligator left after a couple of days. There was a cardinal bird that came to the sliding glass door every morning and would tap on it with his beak. There is a grill out back by the gazebo, laundry on-site, books that they have available to borrow, and a shell washing station. There are also bikes that are available to borrow so you can bike around the island. There is private beach access at the end of the block. Sanibel is famous for its shelling and the beach at the end of the street by far had the best shells we found on the island. You get a card so you can park your car at the end, but it's so close you can just walk down there. It's quiet, clean, and was the perfect place for us to stay. Thank you, Mark and Kathy! Next time we come to Sanibel we will be staying again!

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.

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.

The menu is heavy in seafood. Excellently prepared and seasoned…read more The Fish Stew is 5*, mussels were best I have had, plump, tender. Shrimp were very good. One scallop. Fish was firm and flaky. Sauce was rich and full flavored. Wife had 5 Shrimp and coarse stone ground grits coked to perfection. Theside of bread was crusty and tender inside. The seasoned butter was a bit over. The olive oil could use more spices. The bread serving was a bit frugal. Service was smooth and attentive without hovering. Nice guitar music. Gotta go back for more.

This is the best Happy Hour in the area. Great food. The best mussels I have ever had for $9!…read more Flat bread was terrific too. Prices were very reasonable and service was delightful. They may have moved off the island but it's well worth the short drive to Sweet Melissa's

MudBugs -- 5/5…read more Every year when we come to Sanibel, we HAVE to eat here! It's become one of our favorite places and is always a must-stop for us. Everything is so good, but you absolutely have to try the beignets -- they're SO good! Definitely a Sanibel favorite that we look forward to every year.

What a cool place. We spent the morning on captiva beach and spotted this place coming…read more We had an amazing lunch for $60. The bartender was great. Service was fast

I picked up some chicken here on a trip to Sanibel it's a very small place with no tables inside…read moreso I took the food home. Before leaving I loaded up on a bunch of sauces they made in house. The chicken had a nice crunch which is what I really want. Juicy inside and no complaints from me. The biscuits were pretty normal. Where they were able to stand out was when you added their spicy maple sauce. Nice sweetness and a real big heat kick at the end. The Mac was nice and creamy with a cheddar flavor. Probably the best side I had there.

Bridgit's pies are being sold at Island Gifts @ 1609 Periwinkle (in front of the store). The…read moresweetest ladies have set up shop. Please stop by! I tried a mini key lime pie. It was DELICIOUS! I hope to visit Sanibel Island again. What a beautiful place & what kind, sweet, resilient people.

I've been staying at the Island Inn since before I could walk, as my mom and cousin have been…read morecoming since before I was born. We were so sad that the Inn was destroyed during the hurricane and are happy they've been able to rebuild. We stayed in the Matthews Lodge on the first floor. The room is beautiful and comfortable. The staff are friendly, helpful, and accommodating. We arrived after the front desk closed. They reached out to us in advance, sent us all the information we'd need by email, and had our room keys ready for us in a lock box. The location is great, with gorgeous views of the Gulf. We lucked out and saw a pod of dolphins one morning!

Another successful stay at the island inn. This is our…read morefourth time over the last year. The staff is friendly and helpful. The beach is right here. There are grills and chairs and umbrellas. Rooms are clean. Come and enjoy!

We were there in July and totally enjoyed eating here. Shrimp was excellent, service was great…read more Place was great to sit and enjoy a meal after a day on the beach

The Sanibel Grill is a sports bar through and through. It has lots of random sports memorabilia and…read morefun Sanibel-related license plates all over. There's numerous tv screens to watch all the games - some booths even have their own screen. Aside from the sports decor, The Sanibel Grill has a very similar menu to Timbers Restaurant next door - I'm pretty sure the two are one and the same and share the same kitchen. I ordered the Grouper Fish tacos. You can get them blackened, fried, or grilled. I opted for fried. Note that the Sanibel Grill is known for their signature cornflake crunchy batter - but the grouper fish tacos are the lightly breaded bites and not cooked in their signature batter. The grouper was nicely cooked - tender and delicate bites. They used corn tortillas, which didn't fall to pieces while eating, but they were pretty flimsy (it was easy for a grouper bite to roll out). The tacos are served with rice pilaf topped with black beans which was on the bland side (nothing to write home about). I would've liked a hit of lime to add to my tacos, but the waitress never came back to check on us. Service is minimal. This is bar service all around. My friend ordered the combo basket (Grouper and fried shrimp) and comes with a side of fries and cole slaw. You can hear the crunch - I can see why it's their signature. My sister ordered the shrimp scampi with rice pilaf (she was hoping for pasta but that was not a side option - it's either rice pilaf or potatoes - smashed, French fried, or sweet potato fries). It also came with fresh green beans. The shrimp were nicely cooked and super buttery. She also ordered the crab bisque which was creamy and had good crab flavor, but I wouldn't say it was overloaded with crab meat. We finished the meal with a slice of Florida's signature key lime pie. The slice was small but had giant key lime flavor. It was very sweet but this was my favorite key lime pie slice from our whole trip. The Sanibel Grill gave us average food and average service. No military discount here.

Wonderful pizza and great service!! A single guy working his tail off to run a business! That's…read morewhat hard work and dedication produces!! Thank you for being there!! I look forward to eating your delicious pizza again!!

Pizza after the beach? Yes please! Captiva Island Pizza is a great option for a meal while on the…read moreisland if you're okay with a bit of a wait. It's definitely a hard-working small business, so they're very traditional in how they work. You can walk in and order at their window, or call in an order. They don't deliver so you have to come pick up- they're on the main road in Captiva where most of the shops are, but up on the second floor. There's no true seating inside, it's truly just to walk in, order, and then wait elsewhere. We found the literal one table outside downstairs to eat at, but other than that you figure out in your own what to do once you have the food. But let me say, I really enjoyed the pizza! The wait was worth it. It had plenty of the toppings we asked for, and the crust was the perfect thickness. We also got cheesy bread which was lovely on thick Texas toast, and dipped in marinara it was chefs kiss. Though they're small, they're a great business and it's always better to support local! Plus, great pizza!

What a great spot. Super colorful and interestingly decorated. Great vegetarian options. Food…read morewas delicious. Our server was amazing. On top of it, generous, and so nice. We loved our meal!

This was a mixed experience. We had terrific service. The ambience was really perfect for a beachy…read moredive bar type place. Chips, salsa & queso were good. The food was lackluster. The fried fish tacos were very very fishy, & the grilled fish dinner was full of bones. Everyone else said the food was ok. The sangria was also ok. Not the best, but good enough. There was no fresh fruit in it which was disappointing. But the servers were very nice & efficient. It was close to where we were staying, so at least we didn't have to go far.