SOUTH BEACH GRILLE — Restaurant in Fort Myers Beach

We had high hopes for a nice meal here but everything fell a bit flat. We originally picked out a different place in the other direction on Estero, but ultimately came here after it was going to be a 50 minute (!) delay to go only 4 miles the other way. When we came in it was very busy, but the people at the front - a younger woman and also a gentleman who I think was either a manager or owner - treated us very kindly and were very accommodating. We came to order food to-go at the bar and then have a drink while we waited. Upon finding seats at the bar, the bartender, Douglas, seemed to immediately write us off once he discovered we were going to take food to-go. We were not deterred by the "long wait" Douglas said we would have. We got menus but had to basically flag him down to get drink menus, to order anything, and to pay. It's like we were a nuisance being there. The first round of drinks we had were fine I guess, but definitely overpriced. If it takes you 30 seconds each to make a chocolate martini and a margarita, you know corners are being cut somewhere. Regardless of this, we decided to order a second round since we were on vacation and we came to enjoy ourselves, even though the first round was average. My companion had the same thing (standard margarita), but I changed my order to an ancho chile margarita. I enunciated my order very well; I did not realize later when we got the itemized bill that I got a standard margarita as well. I figured I could just not detect the spice since I am used to spicy things. Anyway, between the two drink rounds we ordered our food. We could not evaluate the taste/portions until later since this was a to-go order. When we got the bill I noticed it said beet salad. I ordered a pear salad. Douglas did not assume any responsibility at all; I didn't even point out the error with the drink order since he was so checked out and wanting to get out of there. The pear salad was made in again - I kid you not - 30 seconds. I was impressed at first, but it made sense later when I got a whole TWO pear slivers and no feta cheese.

So, all in all, pretty lame... None of this was brought to a manager at the time, since again, we took our food to-go and did not realize much of this until we were back at our hotel room. Our main issues were with Douglas and his flippant attitude, along with his multiple errors. The drinks were "meh," and the food was okay, but the portions were small for the price. The saving grace was that this was NOT on the other (busier) end of Estero, plus the two people up front...

We ate at South Beach in Ft Myers Beach tonight and I first will say our food was very good & staff waiting on us was very good. We have no complaints with the restaurant at all & encourage people to go there for a very good dining experience. Today was a very difficult day for my husband & I as we lost a very good friend, veteran from Vietnam, who cared for my sister for many years as her brother in law. He was a quiet, kind & caring person who developed pneumonia a week ago & was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer & died this week. My husband & I decided to go for a nice dinner & toast Bill for the person he was. When my husband ordered our drinks at the bar, no problem, but the second time he ordered the male bartender proceeded to let one end of the bar know that we had not left a tip, he was quite verbal as we heard it across from the bar. I proceeded to take a tip up to the bar & confronted the bartender that I did not appreciate him disgracing us in front of everybody at the bar. I also mentioned that we are required to wear a mask but yet none of the bartenders are wearing them. At the time he did not give my husband enough bills in return to give a adequate tip. I was more upset then my husband, but we had never been treated like that. We are very kind & caring people. ]I was a nurse for 40 years & never got a tip for my great care at the bedside.He could walk in others shoes before he criticizes. I guess I needed to vent but after Covid, what happened to the be kind & caring to others. I talked to the manager after, but who knows, come on people lets be kind to each other after what we’ve just been through. Jean Rothenbach...

Another day of checking out the happy hour menus at FMB, and today we tried South Beach Grille. The happy hour only applies to the bar seating (4:30-6:00 each day), so it is limited. They do offer an early bird menu for the regular dining area, but we had already scouted the menu for what we wanted. Rance behind the bar was fantastic and chatting with our family and promptly taking care of our beverages, in addition to tending to the other folks seated at the bar.

Three of us ordered the Mahi Mahi Bites ($8), which includes pieces of fish seasoned on a skewer. We agreed that it was one of the best tasting items we have had in our tour of happy hour menus. We also ordered the Spicy Edamame ($6), which included an extraordinary amount of edamame pods in a large bowl filled with a sauce that had a little kick to it, although it seemed a bit salty. If you're into edamame, it seemed like a decent value for what you got. We also ordered the Mussel Appetizer ($8), which included a bowl of I am guessing a couple dozen mussels in their shell bathing in a sauce of white wine and garlic. Mussels don't necessarily do anything for me, but using the free bread rolls that they offer to dunk in that sauce could be a meal for me by itself, another item we agreed was one of the top items we have eaten on this trek.

They have several other items that we didn't try on this visit, including 2 types of calamari, lamb pops, and ribs that Rance says are the best item on the menu, but we definitely would be interested to try on a...