Lah De Dah Beach Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Fort Myers Beach

We had family in town for the holidays who wanted to see the sunset, and we all wanted to check out the new resort. After a beautiful, but chilly sunset, we stopped by the Lah De Dah bar. It was not packed and had a nice menu with a variety of food and drinks.

We were met by a friendly hostess staff who said there was a table for 5 available. I think we had the best indoor table in the place! Near the big open doors with an amazing view of the beach.

Our server arrived in decent time for drink orders, which we received quickly enough. Prices are high, expected for the beach, but the size of the cup was crazy small. A few of us asked for water, too, which was served in a normal sized cup, making the drink look even tinier. High drink prices on the beach are fine for the view, but a normal sized cup is expected. Thankfully, they were tasty.

Food order placed in reasonable time. Server was friendly and had a shadow trainee who was even friendlier. And after this, things went downhill quickly.

As we waited for the food, a couple in our party asked for refills of soda. One received, the other had to ask again. Server apologized nicely.

We noticed the restaurant was emptying out as people who came for sunset were leaving. Server stopped by to let us know food was almost up.

After several more minutes, someone brought us the food. Wait time wasn’t horrible, but longer than expected since place was emptying out. And we knew it was all new. But, the food was lukewarm at best. All five dinners. Grouper sandwich had no taste. Lobster roll was meh. Crab cakes would have been much better warm. Short ribs were good, as was the wagyu steak sandwich, even if not hot.

We told our server about cold food and she apologized several times, saying she heard it often! She was able to give us a decent discount, which was nice, but she stated it too many times.

At this point, she pretty much disappeared. We had asked for a couple more drinks, which we never got (one alcohol). We had paid for parking which was almost up, so we were anxious to leave. But, we waited and waited for the bill.

We finally got that, but then had to ask the hostess to send the server over to get our credit card to process the order.

To add to this, restrooms are up a dark set of stairs, outside the restaurant. Perhaps this will change when the pool is finished. Oddly, there were store bought soap bottles. Very nice auto soap dispenser fixtures had been installed, but were not plugged in under the sinks since there were no visible outlets. (Did this even pass inspection?)

We all agreed the atmosphere was amazing. And after some more time, when the pool is open with great weather, it will be packed! So, we’re glad we came to experience it now.

But, they definitely need to get their staff up to speed and work out the kinks. I’m sure it’s hard to find help willing to drive to the beach and not many are back living there. It was very refreshing to see some older staff members, too, and not all young people.

So many locals are excited to return to the beach and want to spend money to bring the beach back. In time, this will be THE place to be on FMB. But for now, it’s...

I now see that I can't review the Margaritaville resort itself. Probably the resort has blocked the review and a pictures option.

That's a pitty since it does help future guests to make the decision to stay easier. Yes it isn't all finished yet but I certainly is a nice place to stay.

I had some more 360 images of the resort but since they aren't from Lah De Dah i won't be posting them. Maybe when the review option is available in the future I will.

We just checked in on a rainy Christmas Day. Google Maps didn't show the entrance but we found it. When you get on FMB over the bridge drive around the resort and go to the left when you pass the resorts walking bridge to the beach. A little up the road there's an entrance that says no passports needed and valet parking only.

Here they'll let to park the car and help you with unloading and putting the luggage on a trolley.

When checking in you'll get a small margarita the kids get a non alcoholic drink.

They need to see an ID and a creditcard on which they charge a $ 100 a night for incidentals.

After that they bring you up to the room and show you around in the room.

Offcourse everything looks fresh and new. First impressions.

The room is a reasonable size, the beds look nice and comfortable and are high. There's small fridge and a safe.

Our room had no direct ocean view unfortunately but we could see it when we we're on the balcony and looked to the left.

As everyone else we are curious about the different room types. I think we have a standard room and I've made some 360 pictures of the room. Hopefully it helps you a bit in making a choose to stay here on your future trip. We would have liked to make some 360 pictures of any other type of room but we don't have access to them ;) maybe on another trip.

We will put up some more 360 and regular pictures during our stay.

I will update this review when we experienced more.

For now we are happy and hoping for more...

We are locals. Our family spends Christmas on the beach every year to eat local. This was our first trip to La De Da Beach Bar. There is indoor seating and also picnic style on the beach. It was raining and the garage doors facing the beach were open and felt very drafty indoors, bring a jacket. There are several TVs and there was live entertainment. The tables are mostly high top with comfortable cushions. The staff were friendly and attentive. Our drinks were never empty. Only accepts credit cards. No cash. Parking lot on the beach entrance $5 per hour between Lani Kai and outdoor pool area , La De Da Beach Bar Starters: 4/5 stars beach fries: white cheese sauce, cheddar & Monterey Jack cheese, chopped smoked bacon, sour cream with ranch dipping sauce. These were a small batch but adequate to share and not be too filling before a meal. Shrimp Tacos: 2/5 : grilled shrimp( seasoned well and chopped) cilantro lime cabbage( I could not taste ANY lime , it was very dry and unflavored) with matcha sauce ( bland not spicy at all) There were 3 tacos in a soft Gordita like shell served with what appeared to be bagged typed tortilla chips and a small ramekin of salsa. I would not order this again because it was so dry and flavorless. If you are wanting to order this I recommend asking for a lime and extra salsa for it. Wagu Steak Sandwich: 3/5 sauce was great on the sandwich, came with French fries. Beach Burger: 3/5 typical burger and not asked about how we wanted it cooked , which it appears well done. Came with French Fries and a pickle spear. We would dine here again and try other items on the menu, as we are local due to the service was outstanding and atmosphere is scenic and...