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Published: February 12th 2012
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Good eating is an important part of our travels. Our most recent dining adventures here on Pine Island have included a few new (to us) spots and a few old favorites.
Let’s start with the fruit and vegetable stand on the left just as you head for Pine Island. The BEST fresh squeezed OJ and MOST amazing Cuban sandwiches beckon at this modest welcoming gateway to Pine Island. A very hard working, mostly Spanish speaking family, owns and operates this thriving business. We make it our first and last stop in Pine Island!
Matlacha
Micelli's --- Gotta be the BEST Italian food on the island. There's a tiki patio and music many nights. AND, if you're lucky enough to have a boat here you can dock in front of the restaurant. Wes had a great rigatoni with homemade sauce (Momma Miscelli stopped by to tell us she made it herself) with sausage, meatballs, paper thin elegant eggplant and roasted peppers. I had linguini with white clam sauce. We both ordered Caesars with anchovies...yumbo!
Toucan --- Great setting for sunsets. This place has changed hands a few times. We really like it
– will get back soon!
Bert's --- Bert's, in Matlacha on the bay, was the first place we ever ate in on Pine Island. I think it was grouper sandwiches, fries and Coronas for a late lunch out on the deck about 6 years ago. Ever since then, Pine Island has been a perennial stop. It has to be the most popular bar/restaurant in Matlacha. Cars park across the street where Bert’s owns the gallery and pull to the side of the road for a half mile in each direction. Cars are the great barometer of restaurant popularity.
The Fish House --- This fresh fish shop and very casual outdoor fish shack (hard to call it a restaurant) is in Matlacha on the canal near the smaller bridge. We stopped in for lunch - you order at a walk up window and are served at picnic tables alongside the canal. Wes had a snapper sandwich; I had an oyster po' boy! I loved the sauce on the fried oysters (which were amazingly fresh). Our server said it was "red neck oyster sauce!" We both loved the coleslaw (secret ingredient coconut) and liked the lattice cut
fries which we found a bit greasy and didn't finish. A fellow was playing a barely audible and of so mellow guitar with a tip jar in front of his stool. A bunch of local men had gathered to bust on each other and dig the dirt. I think we are going to rent a tandem kayak from Mel who has set up business in the ship yard behind the store. More on that later!
Great Licks --- The BEST homemade ice cream in Matlacha! And the attached gallery has a little sitting area to lick your great licks cone, people watch and take in the gallery!
St. James City – (turning left at the four way stop)
Dairy Queen --- A real Dairy Queen, beloved from our own childhoods and that of our children, has become a rarity up north. It takes us back! I know, I know, chains are in violation of my food snobbery … but this is a tradition!
VFW --- Great for Tex Mex lunch on Thursdays at noon. Clubs are popular on Pine Island. You don't seem to have to be a member to partake in
Cheeseburger in Paradise
Iconic Cabbage Key Lodge is the setting for Buffet's famed song!
the food specials. Smoking can be an issue. The VFW allows smoking in the bar - so just sit further away.
Red's --- Reds is north of the four-way stop; a meaningful direction if you've been to Pine Island where there are no traffic lights and one four-way stop. We're loving Red's more and more with each visit. We didn't partake in the early bird special - entrees for $10 if you are seated before 5:30PM. My very rare ahi tuna salad was delish and Wes loved his short ribs on mashed potatoes.
Pork Bellies --- Wonderful when one gets a little bored with all the wonderful seafood. We do take out from here - pulled pork to die for.
Ragged A_ _ Saloon --- This joint sometimes has music. We like to sit at the bar and order pizza.
Low Key Tiki --- We sat at the bar sipping a beer and noshing on delish shrimp tacos and a huge order of wings (mild please) amid what seemed like a fun, local crowd at the Low Key Tiki on the Monroe Canal on Stringfellow Road close to St. James City.
We had stopped in to hear music when we were in PI in November and were glad we came back for appetizers that turned into supper. The main room is essentially outdoors with a huge grass roof. A big, uncovered deck sits squarely on the canal. You can glimpse sunsets between the million dollar "doublewideboataminioms" sited on the opposite shore.
Woodie's --- Great, casual, and good food. Love to go to Woodie’s on Monday evenings. Charlie from the Yard Dogs presides at the keyboard and mic for "Mardi Gras Mondays." Zydeco / Cajun / swamp music at its most original.
Hobo’s Canal View --- Jackie’s cooking is legendary and we finally gave it a try! Amazing breakfast! Think we’re trying this place for Valentine’s Day. Going for the food and the value. There isn’t a great view; but oh that food!
Waterfront --- fun to nibble seafood as the sun goes down from the Waterfront’s deck.
Bokeelia & Pineland – turn right at the four-way stop sign
Bokeelia Cracker Café--- On our one and only visit, we sat in the yard listening to a very
nice benefit concert and sipping beer. My burger and Wes’s Philly steak sandwich satisfied.
Cabbage Key - You need a boat (water taxi from Pineland Marina) to get to this old Florida lodge where Jimmy Buffet is said to have written "Cheeseburger in Paradise!" You know what we ordered!
Tarpon Lodge --- This is our special occasion restaurant on Pine Island. Love to eat in the bar on nights when the fireplace is on (yes, in Florida) and an acoustic performer is set up in the corner. Great place to take a pre-dinner walk and catch a splendid sunset.
Lazy Flamingo --- Waterside at the Marker 8 Marina, you can count on this for great raw bar offerings. It’s fun to watch the comings and goings of the Marina.
Capt’n Con's --- Well worth the drive to Bokeelia, the most northerly point on Pine Island, especially for the perfect New England clam chowder. Love Cross Palms Gallery just down the road.
The Schooner --- this is real home cookin' as "Schooner" is the nickname for our 34' RV motor home on the road. We mostly
cook outdoors as we find cooking odors to linger unappetizingly inside the rig. The exception would be microwaveable pizza or something like baked potatoes and a newly discovered Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich that nukes up well. We have a convection option on the microwave but haven't found a use for it yet. A small electric skillet, a propane camp stove, and a small gas grill suffice for al fresco cooking. Truth be told, we don't eat in too often.
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Wes DeVoe
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Breakfast at HOBO's - St James City - Pine Island
Consisted of Chicken fried steak tender and crispy smothered in gravy and lots of chunks of sausage - along side 2 overeasy eggs. Coffee and OJ - Outstanding breakfast