April's Eatery
2269 First St. 941/337-4004
Simple storefront serving simple budget-stretching breakfast bagelwiches from 7:30 to 11 a.m., straightforward hot and cold, full and half sandwiches, soups and salads until 3 p.m. Monday through Friday with freshly made bread pudding and pies -- all available for takeout.
Bara Bread Bistro & French Bakery
Collier Arcade, 1520 Broadway 941/334-8216
The place in town for your Parisian "petit dejeuneur" built around baguettes and croissants and continental coffee au lait. Check in for lunch and order a "croque monsieur" loaded with cheese, crusty quiche or toasted semolina bread layered with ham and Swiss cheese. Open Tuesday through Saturday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and there's nothing over $5.75.
The Chart House Restaurant
2024 W. First St. 941/332-1881
This chain has reduced its holdings by a third in recent years, but this one on the river hangs in there, packing them in nightly for huge appetizers and a better-than-average salad bar as prelude to one of the sextet of fresh fish selections prepared baked, blackened or grilled, or the prime rib on the bone, rack of lamb, peppercorn-crusted chicken or, to please the dieters in the crowd, a Vegetarian Bowl loaded with wheat noodles in miso broth. A final plus is the quartet of wine flights and the 30 wines by the glass. Dinner, with entrees $17.95 to $27.95, is served nightly.
Cool Beans & Bottles
2214 First St. 941/344-0122
A cozy little postage-stamp storefront run by two sisters who serve Cool Beans Bites, Nothin' But Beans and No Beans Allowed, covering croissanwiches and wraps, biscotti, cookies and excellent cappuccino, expresso and latte, all at prices kind to the pocket, from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Cuba Libre
2226 First St. 941/226-0059
Why not a Cuban restaurant in a town where the earliest pioneers were a Gonzalez and a Vivas? These Cubans moved in last February, coming over from Miami and spiffing up a space where the Italians failed, installing a menu that features all the classics, from empanada meat-cheese pies to tamales, beef steak, roast pork and yellow rice with chicken. Flan and rice pudding, of course, for dessert. Lunch is served Monday through Friday, and dinner, with entrees $8 to $14, is served nightly.
Peter's La Cuisine
2224 Bay St. 941/332-2228
Still the class act in town with a menu leading off with house smoked sea scallops, sauteed shrimp with a Dijon, lobster and tarragon cream sauce, and then getting serious with steamed salmon, veal medallions afloat in wild mushroom and rosemary cream sauce and pan-seared venison loin with cranberry glaze. Lunch is served Monday through Friday, and dinner nightly, with entrees $26.95 to $36.95. There's private dining space on the second floor, a blues and martini bar on the third and an open-air Sky Bar on the fourth.
Shooter's Waterfront Cafe USA
2220 W. First St. 941/334-2727
Fantastic waterfront location with wide decks and long dock on the mighty Caloosahatchee, so you can watch the boat parade from dawn to dusk and beyond, listening to the live entertainment in the Tiki Bar, getting ready for the best Sunday brunch in town. Luncheon salads and sandwiches are real pleasers, and at night you can feast on chicken cordon bleu, roast pork with caramelized onions, steaks and prime rib, plus a variety of pastabilities, with all kinds of special discounts and holiday observances. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, with entrees $12.95 to $37.95 (for twin Florida lobster tails), are served nightly.
Varian's
33 Patio de Leon 941/461-2727
The patio pulsates on Thursdays, when the Tropical Jazz Band entertains from 6 to 9 p.m. On most weekends the patio's packed, but you can view all the action from the safety of this dressed-up bistro blessed by executive chef Niels Dilger's outstanding menu. Start with the best of salads. Follow that up with potato-crusted lamb, filet mignon in a port wine reduction and mashed brussels sprouts, ahi tuna and softshell crab combo with thyme potato pancakes, or something really different -- sauerbraten steak with red cabbage. Lunch is served Monday through Friday, and dinner entrees range from $23 to $26.
The Veranda
2122 Second St. 941/332-2065
The most historic of all local restaurants, with origins that go back to the trading-post beginnings and a pair of homes built in 1902, then joined together 70 years later by Peter Pulitzer, who installed his fishing and hunting guide, the legendary Fingers O'Bannon, as manager, and filled the bar and lounge with wonderful photos of Fort Myers' past. I usually start with Oysters Casino and Oysters Rockefeller or the artichoke fritters filled with blue crab before proceeding to the mains -- medallions of filet soaked in sour mash, pork tenderloin tickled with rosemary and complemented with a wild berry-port wine sauce, or chicken breast jambalaya with shrimp and andouille sausage. For lunch I like "Mother's Spinach Salad," the mouth-bending Carpetbagger sandwich or the one labeled "Sorority Egg Salad." Lunch is served Monday through Friday, and dinner, with entrees $13.95 to $28.95, is served Monday through Saturday.
Restaurants Around the State
SOUTHEAST: Miami Beach
Baraboo
7300 Ocean Terrace 305/867-4242
Oddly enough, this Argentine-owned delight is named for the Wisconsin town famous for its circus museum and parades, and there is a certain circus-like decor as staffers perform table-side tricks while Brazilian chef Paulo Barroso de Barros works his own wonders with giant shrimp, sauteed sea bass and lamb chops bordelaise. Lunch, $7.50 to $18, and dinner, $13.95 to $33.95.
SOUTHWEST/TAMPA BAY: Clearwater
Bob Heilman's Beachcomber
447 Mandalay Ave. 727/442-4144
The Heilmans must be doing something right -- like providing piano music and keeping the back-to-the-farm chicken dinner on the restaurant's menu, enlivening it with more modern culinary departures. Lunch, $4.95 to $12.95, and dinner, $11.95 to $22.95.
CENTRAL: Orlando
Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House
729 Lee Road 407/645-4443
There's top-quality prime beef backing up all the hype as well as Down Under lobster tails and a good wine selection in this classic high-energy All American winner. Dinner, $16.95 to $29.95.
NORTHEAST: Ponte Vedra Beach
The Augustine Grille
Marriott at Sawgrass, 1000 TPC Blvd. 904/285-7777
A super-luxe resort and golf greens galore provide the backdrop for a class dining room with a skilled staff and a back room able to handle the challenges of bringing New World cuisine and California cuisine to northeast Florida. Dinner, $22 to $34.
NORTHWEST: Destin
Beachwalk Cafe
2996 Scenic Highway 98 East 850/650-7100
Executive chef Timothy Creehan executes to perfection his credo: "Secure the best and freshest. Prepare with style, simply." But that doesn't mean there's no room for Asian, French and Italian accents or time for successful catering or frequent TV appearances, cooking classes and book promotions. Lunch, $7 to $9, and dinner, $17 to $35.