Best Places to eat on Sanibel and Captiva Island
As I’ve said in multiple other posts, my family has visited Fort Myers Beach every summer for over 20 years. We usually go to Sanibel and Captiva on my birthday, which is during the end of the last week we’re there.
Normally, we visit the Sanibel Lighthouse, look for shells, and then go to Mucky Duck. Not that this isn’t special, but Sanibel and Captiva have soo much more to offer!
This year, we made a point to try to visit more restaurants and bars. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a good bar with a great view of the beach… But I will continue this hunt!
Cielo
Cielo is by far the nicest restaurant I’ve visited in either Fort Myers, Sanibel, or Captiva. It is fairly expensive, but if you’re looking for an award-winning restaurant, with great service - this is it.
Neal and I split a summer salad and Wagyu meatballs to start, got 2 cocktails each, then I got jumbo shrimp & pappardelle, while Neal got the filet mignon. It was $200 for all of this.
MudBugs
My dad lives in New Orleans, so he is very particular about his cajun/creole food. He gave MudBugs a thumbs up! Keighlin got the crab cakes, I got a Cajun gnocchi with blackened grouper, dad got Crawfish Etouffee, and we split the boudin balls to start with. Keighlin and I also got margaritas. My only qualm is that it is weirdly expensive for the food… My pasta was $34!
Other than that, it is a great environment, we had great service, and the food/drinks were very tasty!
Mucky Duck
My first love on Captiva! An Irish pub on the beach?! Yes, please! We usually get the burger, or the popcorn shrimp… Since turning 21 I have added a Guinness to this order, even though it is TOUGH drinking a Guinness on the beach lol.
The Bubble Room
A roped-off Santa/Elf room?
This is the most bizarre bar I have ever visited. I feel like it belongs in a kitschy town like Gatlinburg… As soon as you walk up to the building, it feels like a fever dream.
We didn’t get any food, only drinks here. And naturally, we got the obnoxious pineapple cocktails and sat at the bar and just took in everything (or at least attempted to).
Mad Hatter
I personally have not been to Mad Hatter, but this will be the very first place I check out next time I visit! I have only heard good things about Mad Hatter though so I believe this is a good spot to check out.
Fun things to do
Gene’s Books
Sanibel Sea Shell Museum
Darling National Wildlife Refuge
Rent a bike!