A beautifully decorated restaurant in a great location, but the food is of mixed quality and service was slow and inattentive. The bartender is clearly an expert, because the cocktails were fantastic. Bread service was excellent, with tasty fresh rolls and multiple dishes of seasoned olive oil around our large table. Appetizers were disappointing--the prosciutto-wrapped jumbo prawns sounded delicious, but the bone-dry and flavorless dish I was served was anything but. The escargot is a bizarrely unpleasant version of a classic dish that includes a noxiously thick red sauce instead of the garlic-drenched morsels we know and love. The entrees my party ordered were a mixed bag, but my grouper was perfectly prepared, and the lobster risotto it came with was also pleasant. Desserts were excellent, with the key lime pie being a stunner, and the "bread pudding" being delicious despite being simply zhuzhed-up banana bread. Our waiter was pleasant, but inattentive--he would take incomplete orders and we'd have to call him back so other members of our party could order. We hoped for a leisurely-paced meal, but wound up sitting for nearly three hours (with three kids in our party, mind you), and the restaurant had empty tables everywhere. We wound up waiting for 45 minutes to receive our check, and then we only received it because a member of our party went and found the waiter and asked for it. A decent option for drinks and dessert in post-Ian Captiva where restaurants are limited, but they'll have to up their game to get our dinner business again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Key Lime Pie, Grouper, Roll
Ken Washuta
Dinner was amazing! We started with a couple different appetizers, and they were very good. Dinner was their grouper over lobster risotto that was exceptional!We'll definitely be back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
MARK G. KANTZLER D.O.
OK place. We would go again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Laura Davis
Great choice for dinner. Enjoyed outdoor dining. Nice wine selection and some inventive specialty cocktails. We enjoyed the Chicken Gruyère and Cedar Plank Salmon. Very attentive service. Had to circle around a few times to find a parking spot but we were successful! Highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We arrived early and were initially not acknowledged by the host. Eventually the host did acknowledge our party of 4 and she was pleasant enough, but not overly friendly. Our waitress was wonderful, sweet and the shining star of the night. Unfortunately we waited a great deal of time for our food and waitress came to tell us that our food accidentally got knocked over and fell on the floor etc. back in the kitchen. Ok we understood that, but when food did come it was disappointing! My Triple-tail was overcooked, my daughter's pasta was very thin/watery and I had to send my Watermelon Flower cocktail back as it had way too much simple syrup in it. My son-in-law ordered coffee at the end of dinner and it was old tasting and cold! Yes another further disappointment!!! How hard is it to make a hot cup of coffee, seriously! We were so excited to drive from Fort Myers to the Old Captiva House for dinner and it fell flat! However , it is located in a great area and has cool ambiance! In the front entrance was a strip of toilet paper on the floor, which was not attractive and so the staff needs to do a better job of keeping check on cleanliness. I am bummed about this place as it did not hold up to our expectations and don't feel the need to go back. I travel the U.S. and Internationally extensively for work and will give great credit/positives when earned for fine dining! I hope this restaurant can fine tune its shortcomings as it has location, location!!! Again our waitress was great!
oandw
First visit after reading reviews. Loved the Old Florida feel to dining room area. Wait staff was very pleasant and good service. Party of four and all enjoyed their entrees. Meals were snapper special , duck entree, filet, and clams and chorizo. All met expectations. Would return snd will recommend
LauraD
Excellent choice for dinner. We enjoyed outside dining. Nice wine list along with specialty cocktails. We enjoyed the Cedar Plank Salmon and the Chicken Gruyère. Attentive service, thank you! Only draw back was finding a parking spot!
Mary
Food was luke warm at best and the ribs were over cooked. I beleive the cooks need better taining or they are under staffed so they can not cook the food as needed. The luke warm food is because they do not have enough waite staff. Would not go back to this place for expensive food that is just so so.
JoanneM
What a disappointment! We were told some other party had checked in under our name already...what? It made no sense, and hostess kindly told us she could seat us anyway. We were brought water and rolls in a timely manner, and then waited and waited and waited. We finally received our wine. Waited more for our Caesar salad. Reservation was for 6:30. Our entrees came about 8 pm with apologies from our waiter. Meanwhile, a party of two next to us received their drinks and salad within minutes of being seated, then received their entrees 5 mins after we got out. We literally waited an hour longer! They ordered identical meals to us: clams and chorizo and the filet. It was our 10th anniversary and what a disappointment !
KEVINV
The food atmosphere and location are excellent. The server was indifferent and could not care less about us We know that if you order more than one glass each of wine that a bottle is cheaper. We don't need a math primer by our server. Earlier in the week we had Shelly ( Shelby?) and she was delightful! We will return and hopefully have a less indifferent server! Overall a pleasant place to have a wonderful dinner.
Last night was our first time eating at Old Captiva House and our last time. It's beautifullydecorated. Unfortunately, that was the only good thing for me. Our server seemed to be a nice person but we hardly saw her. After she served our entrees we never saw her until we asked another server to get her for us.My $58. lamb chops were so tough I had difficulty cutting them. Chewing them was a realchallenge. I gave up and couldn't eat them. Plus, we needed water. Our server forgot about us.Of course, the lamb chops were taken off our check. It was very disappointing.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
Sarah Wilson
Food was great and service was very good. The place has a bit of a mold smell but it’s a great spot to eat. They accommodated a large group. (Begrudging booked by the staff but the servers and kitchen did a phenomenal job)
It is a lovely spot. Good service and good food. A real treat to go there and we appreciate the high level of service and exceptional food. It's nice to have a white table cloth restaurant option on Captiva!
I waited more than 45 minutes for my entree (more than an hour from being seated). The grouper was beautifully seared but underseasoned (no salt or pepper on the fish or on the table). The lobster risotto had nice sweet chunks of lobster, but the rice itself was simultaneously crunchy and runny, suggesting it was maybe undercooked?
Foodiemom
Very poor service. Our server seemed to be actively avoiding our table. We were willing to give him a break because they were busy, but he seemed to be concentrating on a table of six adults, and avoiding our table that had two children. We even wanted dessert, but gave up and almost had to chase him down for our bill.
A beautifully decorated restaurant in a great location, but the food is of mixed quality and service was slow and inattentive. The bartender is clearly an expert, because the cocktails were fantastic. Bread service was excellent, with tasty fresh rolls and multiple dishes of seasoned olive oil around our large table. Appetizers were disappointing--the prosciutto-wrapped jumbo prawns sounded delicious, but the bone-dry and flavorless dish I was served was anything but. The escargot is a bizarrely unpleasant version of a classic dish that includes a noxiously thick red sauce instead of the garlic-drenched morsels we know and love. The entrees my party ordered were a mixed bag, but my grouper was perfectly prepared, and the lobster risotto it came with was also pleasant. Desserts were excellent, with the key lime pie being a stunner, and the "bread pudding" being delicious despite being simply zhuzhed-up banana bread. Our waiter was pleasant, but inattentive--he would take incomplete orders and we'd have to call him back so other members of our party could order. We hoped for a leisurely-paced meal, but wound up sitting for nearly three hours (with three kids in our party, mind you), and the restaurant had empty tables everywhere. We wound up waiting for 45 minutes to receive our check, and then we only received it because a member of our party went and found the waiter and asked for it. A decent option for drinks and dessert in post-Ian Captiva where restaurants are limited, but they'll have to up their game to get our dinner business again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Key Lime Pie, Grouper, Roll
Dinner was amazing! We started with a couple different appetizers, and they were very good. Dinner was their grouper over lobster risotto that was exceptional!We'll definitely be back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
OK place. We would go again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Great choice for dinner. Enjoyed outdoor dining. Nice wine selection and some inventive specialty cocktails. We enjoyed the Chicken Gruyère and Cedar Plank Salmon. Very attentive service. Had to circle around a few times to find a parking spot but we were successful! Highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We arrived early and were initially not acknowledged by the host. Eventually the host did acknowledge our party of 4 and she was pleasant enough, but not overly friendly. Our waitress was wonderful, sweet and the shining star of the night. Unfortunately we waited a great deal of time for our food and waitress came to tell us that our food accidentally got knocked over and fell on the floor etc. back in the kitchen. Ok we understood that, but when food did come it was disappointing! My Triple-tail was overcooked, my daughter's pasta was very thin/watery and I had to send my Watermelon Flower cocktail back as it had way too much simple syrup in it. My son-in-law ordered coffee at the end of dinner and it was old tasting and cold! Yes another further disappointment!!! How hard is it to make a hot cup of coffee, seriously! We were so excited to drive from Fort Myers to the Old Captiva House for dinner and it fell flat! However , it is located in a great area and has cool ambiance! In the front entrance was a strip of toilet paper on the floor, which was not attractive and so the staff needs to do a better job of keeping check on cleanliness. I am bummed about this place as it did not hold up to our expectations and don't feel the need to go back. I travel the U.S. and Internationally extensively for work and will give great credit/positives when earned for fine dining! I hope this restaurant can fine tune its shortcomings as it has location, location!!! Again our waitress was great!
First visit after reading reviews. Loved the Old Florida feel to dining room area. Wait staff was very pleasant and good service. Party of four and all enjoyed their entrees. Meals were snapper special , duck entree, filet, and clams and chorizo. All met expectations. Would return snd will recommend
Excellent choice for dinner. We enjoyed outside dining. Nice wine list along with specialty cocktails. We enjoyed the Cedar Plank Salmon and the Chicken Gruyère. Attentive service, thank you! Only draw back was finding a parking spot!
Food was luke warm at best and the ribs were over cooked. I beleive the cooks need better taining or they are under staffed so they can not cook the food as needed. The luke warm food is because they do not have enough waite staff. Would not go back to this place for expensive food that is just so so.
What a disappointment! We were told some other party had checked in under our name already...what? It made no sense, and hostess kindly told us she could seat us anyway. We were brought water and rolls in a timely manner, and then waited and waited and waited. We finally received our wine. Waited more for our Caesar salad. Reservation was for 6:30. Our entrees came about 8 pm with apologies from our waiter. Meanwhile, a party of two next to us received their drinks and salad within minutes of being seated, then received their entrees 5 mins after we got out. We literally waited an hour longer! They ordered identical meals to us: clams and chorizo and the filet. It was our 10th anniversary and what a disappointment !
The food atmosphere and location are excellent. The server was indifferent and could not care less about us We know that if you order more than one glass each of wine that a bottle is cheaper. We don't need a math primer by our server. Earlier in the week we had Shelly ( Shelby?) and she was delightful! We will return and hopefully have a less indifferent server! Overall a pleasant place to have a wonderful dinner.
Restaurantji Recommends
Last night was our first time eating at Old Captiva House and our last time. It's beautifullydecorated. Unfortunately, that was the only good thing for me. Our server seemed to be a nice person but we hardly saw her. After she served our entrees we never saw her until we asked another server to get her for us.My $58. lamb chops were so tough I had difficulty cutting them. Chewing them was a realchallenge. I gave up and couldn't eat them. Plus, we needed water. Our server forgot about us.Of course, the lamb chops were taken off our check. It was very disappointing.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
Food was great and service was very good. The place has a bit of a mold smell but it’s a great spot to eat. They accommodated a large group. (Begrudging booked by the staff but the servers and kitchen did a phenomenal job)
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Escargot, Orange Mango Glazed Duck, Prosciutto Wrapped Jumbo Prawns, Key Lime Pie, Pomegranate Glazed Lamb Chops, Carrot Cake, Lobster and Crab Crusted Scallops, Caprese Salad, Filet Diane
It is a lovely spot. Good service and good food. A real treat to go there and we appreciate the high level of service and exceptional food. It's nice to have a white table cloth restaurant option on Captiva!
I waited more than 45 minutes for my entree (more than an hour from being seated). The grouper was beautifully seared but underseasoned (no salt or pepper on the fish or on the table). The lobster risotto had nice sweet chunks of lobster, but the rice itself was simultaneously crunchy and runny, suggesting it was maybe undercooked?
Very poor service. Our server seemed to be actively avoiding our table. We were willing to give him a break because they were busy, but he seemed to be concentrating on a table of six adults, and avoiding our table that had two children. We even wanted dessert, but gave up and almost had to chase him down for our bill.