Gather — Restaurant in Cape Coral

My friend Peyton works at the spa above you and she was raving about this place and on April the 6th we met up for breakfast. The food was great and the service was great. It was an all around 5-star experience. I ordered the waffle with the Nutella, fruit, and candied nuts along with the white elephant coffee. I was literally dreaming about the waffle, lobster egg benedict, and empanadas for a week. I'm so serious when I said that I had dreams about this. I have an acquaintance who works there and I was told to come back on a Sunday for brunch so that I could have the empanadas because they only have them for lunch on weekdays. I honestly could not wait and I returned on April the 14th (Saturday). This time I was by myself and the food was still great... the service was not. There was no one at the door when I arrived so I sat myself and I browsed through the books until someone realized that I was there, not a big issue because you have some really great books. When the server/host (Not really sure?) realized that I was there she took my drink order and when she came back with my water I told her what I wanted to eat. Not once did she check on me to see if I was okay or if I needed something, it honestly was not very busy, mind you I was there from 8:45ish to around 9:50ish. When my food arrived which was at 9:30 my server didn't even bring it out, it was someone from the back kitchen. He noticed that I did not have any silverware and he kindly offered to find me some. It was taking a while and I was so hungry that I actually got up and started looking around the place for my own silverware. That's when the server noticed me looking around and she found some for me as the nice man from the back was coming out with a set for me. This was the last time that I saw the server. I ate my food and I put down enough to pay for my meal and a very small tip and I walked out. As I walked to my car I decided to call the place because I didn't want anyone to think I dined and dashed without paying. I briefly spoke to someone who I believe was the manager and I let her know that the service sucked. I have raved about this place to many people, I'm usually the go-to girl when it comes to new places to eat and knowing some of the best diners and restaurants in town. My boss and his wife actually came on Sunday because I wouldn't stop talking about the food, thankfully their experience was way better than mine. I will be back one day because I strongly believe in second chances and hopefully, you can change my mind.

Best...

We had our first experience at Gather in Oct 2020, and if we ever vacation in Cape Coral again we will DEFINITELY be coming back!

This place was perfect for an intimate date night. The marina view and ambient fairy lights created a lovely peaceful atmosphere. We went later at night because when the rest of the stores are open people can walk through the patio dining area.

Right off the bat, their bartender blew us away. I’m a light social drinker, but my significant other is sober. He enjoys having mocktails so he can still partake in the craft beverage fun. They didn’t have any mocktails on the menu but he asked for the bartender to whip one up, and our waitress Adriana seemed really excited to let the bartender show off their creativity and mixing skills. We were VERY pleased with the result!

The food - I’m not exaggerating when I say this was one of my all time favorite meals in my 34 years. It’s definitely in the top 5.

We started with salads for appetizers - IDK if it’s on the menu anymore but the salad had starfruit and candied beets. I’d never had that combination before but every single bite was just delectable.

I had the Blue Crab & Angliotti, and my significant other ordered the Bolognese. I enjoyed mine so much that my eyes were rolling back in my head, I was giggling as I took each bite and then closing my eyes and swooning. I couldn’t help it, it was THAT good. Adriana came over laughing because I was just sitting there looking completely blissed out. Portion sizes were perfect too. Comfortably full, but no need for leftover boxes.

My S.O. said his bolognese was VERY good, but I think he was legit mad (jealous) because I was so completely blissed out over my entree. We sent his brother and sister in law there the next night on their own date night and they ordered the same - his brother said the bolognese was his favorite meal in our 2 weeks in Cape Coral.

This place is a tad pricier than we typically go for date night, but it was 100% worth it. You know the experience of restaurants that were understaffed and overworked with waitstaff doing their level best to keep their heads above water? That wasn’t the case here. For the higher price point, the staff there are able to do their job very well and show off their strengths and skills. All our food came out at perfect intervals and Adriana had the ability to pay just the right amount of attention...

I had been looking forward to experiencing Gather for months. Finally had the opportunity this weekend. We arrived on a Saturday afternoon to a mostly empty restaurant. We were seated and handed 2 different menus. We decided on a few items and when we ordered, the waitress informed us that we were given the wrong menu. I also had to ask for a drink menu. I inquired about a beautiful pink hued drink with a smoke bubble on it that I had seen on social media. She told me it was an Old Fashion. I found that odd so I went with a prosecco concoction that had a seasonal fruit popsicle in it. When it arrived, my husband and I could not figure out the flavor of the popsicle, it was a brownish color.

Our food arrived and it was served hot and beautifully plated. We had to flag down our server to ask for salt, pepper and ketchup. Halfway through our meal, my husband found a hair in his meal. We again flagged down the server to tell her this. We watched her go over to what must have been the manager and tell her. We then saw the manager roll her eyes. They did take his meal off the bill. Yet the manager never came to our table. At this point, there was only one other table that was occupied in the restaurant.

I understand things happen, but the multiple let downs (wrong menu, drink menu missing, salt & pepper missing, manager rolling her eyes, etc), made for a disappointing experience. I expected more from a restaurant of this caliber. Such as shame, as the food was excellent, minus the hair in it. But the food was not allowed to shine due to all the other...