The Veranda — Restaurant in Fort Myers

The Veranda has always been a "special occasion" place for myself and my family. Recently my boyfriend took me out for a surprise dinner prior to my surgery because he knew I would be in a leg cast for an extended period of time. He made a reservation for Friday October 17 and told me we were going someplace special. So I had on a dress and heels and he was in a suit and tie. I was very excited when I found out we were going to the Veranda. The valet parking was was great and we were seated right way. Our waitress seemed "new" but was very nice and we ordered a bottle of wine while we looked over the menu. Well; our server had an extremely difficult time getting the cork out of the bottle (my boyfriend offered to do it for her- but she declined and kept at it). Finally success. We decided to share an appetizer, have the Caesar salad made tableside, and split a dinner. The first issue is that I'm extremely heat sensitive and the stuffed mushroom caps that we ordered had either sriracha or a hot sauce drizzled all over the plate. I wish they would have mentioned that in the description but I let him enjoy the appetizer. Next was the tableside Caesar salad. When we asked our waitress to skip the anchovies; she replied back to us that she could NOT. This salad HAD to be made using anchovies. Now I make Caesar salad all the time and I never use anchovies. She told us that she would use the least amount of anchovies that she could to make this salad. So she proceeded to make the salad and served us each a bowl and moved the cart away from the table. Since I was not able to enjoy the mushroom appetizer, I thought I would give this a try. Well- it tasted like fish sauce on romaine. We both took a few bites until my boyfriend pulled a very long black hair off of his fork... that was it for the salad. Yes our waitress had long black hair but it was pulled back into a ponytail. So we waited quietly expecting our waitress to return to collect the salad. During that time is when I noticed how overdressed we were. Most of the clientele were in shorts, jeans, flip flops, and tennis shoes. Very few people were dressed up. The more people were seated at tables; the more I noticed ripped jeans, flipflops, and shorts. Yes; I realize we live in SW Florida and our society is very casual when it comes to going out to dinner. We showed the "hair" to our waitress and she apologized and said she would remove the salad for our check. Thank goodness for the bread basket that they provide; having wine with very little food would have made matters worse. Finally our meal arrived and they were kind enough to split it for us. We had the Red Snapper with the orzo and it was good. Could have been a larger portion for $41 but we were splitting it thinking that we would have gotten filled up on the appetizer, salad, and bread. The restaurant was very busy for a Friday evening and getting our waitress to come back with the check took awhile. Needless to say this Fort Myers restaurant icon has changed with the times. It was (in my opinion) a very pricey place to celebrate special occasions but now its more of a "come as you are" and bring the grandkids to enjoy a historic restaurant at...

All I can say is… Wow. In our three winters in Florida, we had not experienced this exquisite place. Tonight was the night we first tried it - I’m kicking myself that it took us so long. The place is one block off of downtown Fort Myers First Street. It consists of two old homes, conjoined, with a valet parking lot. Though we consulted the menu before heading there, we were woefully Ill prepared by the enormous wine list and their multiple specials for the evening. Starting at the bar with a pre-dinner drink, we were met by a lovely young lady who gave us the history of the place. Drinking our drinks, she was a delight to speak with. As it was midweek and preseason, we were able to get a table quite easily. Reservations are highly recommended though! Robert was our waiter, and he was an absolute gem. Gave us the rundown of his favorites on the menu upon our request, and gave us ample time to review the menu. We opted for two different steak entrées, and had the table side spinach/hot bacon salad prepared. First course: bread. Yummy rye with cornbread muffins…. They got our taste buds roaring! Next was the tableside salad. Brought out on a wheeled cart with a small gas stove, Robert created a complete masterpiece for us in front of our very eyes. Highly highly highly recommend the spinach/bacon dressing salad for 2. Finally, our entrées! Husband had the ribeye and I had the tenderloin. Disclaimer: We are Wisconsinites who love our beef, and are not fond of Florida’s grass fed beef. We were told by Robert that the steaks were beyond reproach, and he was absolutely accurate. Perfectly prepared at medium rare, both steaks were some of the best we’ve ever had…. And we are foodies! The steaks were very ample for the price point, and included a house salad, whipped potatoes, and vegetables. For the quality of the food, this was very reasonably priced. After attacking our meal, we decided to check out the dessert menu. Decided to split a Keylime pie piece, and it was completely wonderful. All desserts are homemade in house. Overall impressions: this place is an absolute must do for special occasions. If you love good food and are OK with paying a fair price, this should be a frequent stop. I’m embarrassed that we have not tried it before, we will become regulars after this visit. Staff was wonderful, the atmosphere is gorgeous, the wine list is extensive, the atmosphere is upscale yet not pretentious. They do offer valet parking, and after 5 PM parking on the street is free. Thank you,Veranda, for an absolutely fabulous...

My sister and I went to The Veranda last night for a belated birthday celebration. We have loved this restaurant since our first visit in the early 1980s. The irony is that, when we first sat down, we were discussing how there are so few restaurants that provide really elegant service any more. We also discussed that the prices had gone up considerably, but understand many restaurants are forced to make that choice during these times. Things went well until our meal arrived. We both ordered the Broadway Street Filet which came with the lyonnaise style potatoes. The very first bite of the potatoes was a bit surprising when we discovered that they were, literally, still frozen. We waited while our waiter finished making a tableside salad for two other patrons, then informed him of the situation. He initially started to take our meals back, but we told him everything else was ok, just deal with the potatoes. He asked if we would prefer mashed potatoes. We said no, we really would prefer those potatoes, just not frozen. He went and got side plates and took the potatoes away. We continued to eat our steaks and, around the time we were finishing them, the waiter returned with potatoes that were obviously the very same order that he had taken away, just (probably) microwaved to warm them. A little surprising that a restaurant of that caliber would not bring a fresh order of the potatoes. The waiter then never checked back to see if things were better. We finished eating and sat for quite some time with our dirty dishes in front of us, something that is a real pet peeve of mine. Meanwhile, the waiter was quite attentive to the tables around us that were occupied by couples and groups. He finally returned to ask, in a very uninterested manner, if we would like dessert. We passed and he brought the check. He never asked about coffee, after dinner drink, etc. The entire experience was quite disappointing. The tragedy is that many servers still provide inferior quality service to women, believing that women do not tip. Speaking for myself, if I am COMPLETELY unhappy with my service, I leave a 15% tip! If service is wonderful, considerably higher. It does become a self-fulfilling prophesy when servers assume women don't tip and so provide inferior service. While I have loved this restaurant for quite some time, it will be a while before I...