Izzy's Fish & Oyster — Restaurant in Fort Myers

This review is specifically for the disappointing "Fried Bay Scallops" dinner. I have been to this restaurant many times and have always had a five star experience. This time, my wife ordered the Fried Bay Scallops. What a major disappointment! If you are seeking scallops, go somewhere else. First of all, I know my shellfish well. As a teenager, I fished extensively for clams and scallops in my local bays. When the dish came out from the kitchen revealing perfectly round, uniform pieces of fried "scallops," I knew without even tasting them, they were not natural scallops. Once tasting them and detecting a texture other than scallops, I knew this wasn't going to be a good dish. After questioning the server about the origin of these scallops, she checked with the chef who told her they were indeed bay scallops. I asked again about from where they came, and she said, "They are Bay Scallop Medallions from Cape May, NJ." That is a direct quote, as she exclaimed she read that on the bag. But, was adamant she was told by the chef they were Bay Scallops, and would not budge from that concrete determination. Not the server's fault, but the chef should know better, but didn't come out from the kitchen to address the issue. (Nor was there any manager who came to the table.) The sheer fact they came from a bag suggests they were frozen, not fresh. (Not that I have anything against frozen ingredients.) Furthermore, the designation on the bag as "Medallions" confirmed the fact they are not natural scallops, but rather processed pieces of chopped scallops combined with other fish, beef protein, etc., and then reformed and glued together into perfect circles. Izzy's is a first-class seafood restaurant in the Downtown Fort Myers area. I came to expect first-class quality from their dishes, except now for their scallops. This experience won't prevent us from eating at Izzy's again, as their other dishes are excellent. Thus, still a recommended restaurant in my opinion. Just steer clear of the scallops. Because of this experience, I hope the Management of Izzy's sees this review and adjusts either the ingredients for this dish to actually be "Scallops," or change the menu description to reflect they are not 100% natural scallops out of the shell, and are Scallop Medallions. This action might help other diners when considering ordering the dish? My wife was unable to eat these scallops. Everyone at the table had a taste of one of them as well, and all agreed on...

1st time at this place. Worst experience EVER. My friend spoke highly of this place as she & her husband frequented there several times, so I took her word for it. She ordered the shrimp salad and veggies. I ordered the fried shrimp and fries. She said her shrimp tasted old and not fresh. Mine wasn't the best but it was doable as I hadn't eaten all day and was hungry. She informed the waitress who offered to make another salad but my friend told her to just make it without the shrimp. A nice gentleman came over and offered her 15% off her salad for the inconvenience. They hadn't brought her veggies back out with the salad. She reminded him and he told her he'd take the veggies off the bill. When The waitress brought the checks my friend noticed the 15% had not been removed for the salad. She tried to tell my friend that it had. The original price was $11.72. The bill was $11.72. My friend tried explaining this to her but this chick catches an attitude, walks off saying "Just Don't Worry About It". Walks away, throws something down and walks in the kitchen mumbling in anger. We were completely dumbfounded. I had my card out ready to pay my bill, thinking she would come back. We sat there for almost 7mins in disbelief waiting for her but she never returned. At this point we're thinking she was so angry she included my bill as well in her "just don't worry about it rant". So we left. This was during The Music Walk and our friend just so happened to be performing right outside the restaurant, we went over to her telling her and other friends what had transpired. I went back inside to the bathroom. When I come out someone from the restaurant is talking to my friend. So the angry waitress told her that we walked out without paying either of our bills. WTH???? We began explaining to her EXACTLY what happened. She informs us that she's had to talk to this waitress before about her attitude and that she's snappy and has anger issues and they've had complaints about her before. Are you Serious??? Then she apologizes and asks us to give them another chance. Nahhhh I don't think so..... That 1st visit...

We have come here countless times as the spinach dip is our absolute favorite. But twice now, back to back to be exact, Lynn/Lynne has ruined our experience. Not only does she walk away fast from the table to not hear a word you say, but we ordered all our food at once after sitting outside for 15-20 min waiting for a server; and the appetizer didn’t come out til 5 min after our dinner! We had to remind her we even had it after she said “oh it didn’t come out yet?” Obviously not. She came to the table to ask how we were doing after finally getting our old spinach dip which tasted like it sat in the window for 10 min (I’m a server and I’m sorry but the spinach dip has never tasted that dry). And my husband said “fine, could we please get our check?” I’m pretty sure she only heard fine and walked away immediately to start chatting with the BOH kitchen staff right at the breezeway between the restaurant and the kitchen. I sat there in awe watching her talk as we sat there waiting for a check. Mind you the ENTIRE experience, there was less than 10 patrons in the restaurant dining and this includes about 5 at the bar when we went in at about 4:30. I told the head host who was kind of enough to bring my drink and apologize for this terrible experience. But overall this is the second time we’ve dined with Lynn and the first time we brought friends to show them “how great” this place was and we were beyond embarrassed as her service was lackluster. They asked us “why do you even like this place?” which made us wonder the same thing on this visit. She acts like she does not want to be there and we feel it. It’s truly sad as we initially loved this place when we first moved to the area, which is why we expect better. The 2 stars are for my husband’ halibut and my espresso martinis which were wonderful! We most likely will not be dining for a while from this disappointment and I hope Lynn can get her attitude together and hopefully muster a good smile rather than runaway...