Ft Myers Food & Fun

We stayed in Ft Myers for the first time this year on our trip to Florida.

We LOVED that it was just 30 minutes from the airport, the shelling was great, the people were really friendly, we had a cozy condo with an ocean view and it was not very crowded like much of South Florida in the Summer.  The Ft Myers beaches are not fluffy white sand like a little farther south in Naples.  They are more shelly/rocky like Marco Island beaches.  We found some really cool shells every single day.  The kids collected tons and tons of shells every day.

We DID NOT LOVE the restaurant options, the shopping options (every outlet or major shopping center felt far away given the island location) and we prefer the fluffy white sand to the rocky/shelly sand.  We wore shoes when we walked on the beach to help make walking more comfortable.  The food selection near where we stayed in the Estero/Ft Myers Beach area were not great.  The restaurants are all very old.  Not like vintage/classic, more like outdated and not great.  There were no fast food or chain restaurants.  It was tricky to find delicious dinners when we would look.  Many people staying around us would go to Publix and get things to grill for dinner.  So if delicious restaurants and seafood is an important part of your trip, I would not recommend the Ft Myers Beach area.

We made the best of things and found some good restaurants.  We also had the worst restaurant experience of our lives... I'll tell you about that at the end so you will avoid that place!!  

Island Pancake House = AMAZING!

Kevin found this breakfast spot for us.  Their pancakes were fluffy and delicious.  We loved the blueberry pancakes, regular pancakes, bacon, eggs and coffee.  We ate here twice! 10/10 recommend.

Publix Key Lime Pie = Good!

This is a pretty yummy key lime pie option at the grocery store :)  They have this cute little pie that is the perfect size for 4 small pieces to share.  It was under $5 for the whole pie.

 

Doc's Boathouse = Good!

It's very close to the ocean - you can see it across the parking lot and many people walk up to order and take their food to eat on the beach.  We opted to dine in for dinner.  Their onion rings were really good.  The kids enjoyed their chicken tender meal.  My triple decker BLT was good and Kevin enjoyed his shrimp basket.  We'd go here again, but it seemed like more of a lunch place.  There are lots of fun pictures and ocean decor on the walls for the kids to look at and the staff was really friendly.  They also only take CASH and require you to use their valet parking.

Mr. Tequilas Mexican Food

We always loved going to Mr. Tequilas when we went to Naples so were were thrilled to see that there was a Mr. Tequilas near us.  The food was so good!  It's better than the Naples location and we were tempted to eat here two nights.  Their Sante Fe nachos or loaded nachos are amazing.  The kids love the chicken/rice/white cheese sauce meal and Kevin loved his enchiladas. 

Francesco's Ristorante & Pizzeria = AMAZING!!

This was near our condo and in a strip mall.  It's been in the same location for 50 years.  They have an impressive variety of items on their menu.  There's a tiny dine in option, but we always took our orders to go.  We ordered a variety of apps with our pizza.  We loved the garlic knots the most, enjoyed the generous garlic bread and Kevin really liked the Bruschetta.  Their pizza was so fresh and so good.  It was thin, chewy crust and they added in a container of fresh Parmesan cheese to put on top.  We ate here twice and wish we would have found it sooner in the trip!  10/10 recommend

Tommy Bahamas in Naples = OUTSTANDING!

We LOVE this restaurant in Naples so early in the week we made reservations here for our last night.  They fill up fast!  We got all of our favorites - star fish shaped bread, crab cakes, signature meals and live music.  You cannot beat this restaurant and location so it was worth the 45 minute drive for us.  The atmosphere is wonderful and it's a noisy restaurant so kids blend right in.

3rd Street is such a beautiful stretch of restaurants, gorgeous flowers, fountains and fun.  They have a Badass Coffee Co with Kona coffee that Kevin loves.

 

The world's best key lime pie.  Sweeter than most.  So good!  Everyone tried it this year and everyone loved it.  Next time we are ordering two pieces!

 

There are lots of souvenir shops all around Ft Myers and Florida in general and you really never knew what you would find inside!  We found everything from Christmas tree ornaments to parrots!

 

Junkanoos = AVOID AT ALL COSTS!  TERRIBLE!!!!

I'm sad to say that we tried Junkanoos twice.  The first time only Kevin liked his fish tacos.  My burger was gross and Olive said her meal tasted like throw up.  We looked around and saw that lots of other people had ordered pizza and bread sticks.  We decided maybe that was what they were known for.  That and their beachside location.  We didn't find a ton of food options so we decided to give it another try later in the week to try their pizza bread sticks.

We waited an hour for our food and only had waters.

Our waiter went MIA and then showed back up and said he'd gotten overheated and never put in our order.  It was hot, but we were beyond the point of being hungry with little kids in the heat.

The manager apologizes and promises to fix things.

He brings out garlic knots that are black and hard as rocks with fresh garlic butter on top.

We stare in disbelief.

Kevin returns them and says they're inedible.

The manager returns with freshly buttered dough balls.  I couldn't cut through them.

Then our pizza comes out - burnt crust + raw/slimy toppings.

Kevin asks me to take the kids to the car, he chats with the manager and we walk out.

We only consumed water so we left in shock of our horrible experience.

Kevin does some searching online and we find Francesco's for pizza.  He saved the day!  We saved a major dinner fail by finding one of our favorite Ft Myers restaurants.

Lesson learned: AVOID JUNKANOOS!

I hope this was helpful if you're headed to the Ft Myers area with your friends or family!