As the island returns to business as usual, we do get a lot of questions from guests and one of them being, “Is my favorite restaurant open?”
As of August 2024, we have over 40 restaurants open on Sanibel and Captiva! We have many new places open and we bid farewell to several others that will not be returning. FYI, you can view a current list of open restaurants on the Sanibel Captiva Chamber of Commerce web page
I’ll start with who we had to say goodbye to:
George & Wendy’s at the Bailey’s Plaza was destroyed beyond repair and the owners have called it a day. The owners did not want to go through the process of rebuilding a business from the ground up. I personally will miss the music, Beef-On-A-Wick and Carmine’s Chocolate Martinis.
Lazy Flamingo on Santiva. What can I say? This location was an icon, and it was standing room only from January-April. The restaurant and the owner’s residence behind were literally swept away. Thankfully the Sanibel location will soon be remodeling, and you can still get your smoked fish sandwich and oysters at the Fort Myers location on McGregor. Along with The Lazy, Santiva also lost Mad Hatter and Sunset Grille.
Other losses include, The Sandbar, Tipsy Turtle, The Fish House, Traditions On The Beach, The Clam Shack, Schnappers, DQ, Rosies & The Paper Fig.
Now let’s say hello or welcome back to a few places:
Many favorites are building back and hope to be ready for business in 2025. They include The Island Cow, which burned down a month before the hurricane, Sweet Melissa’s. Chef Melissa also owns Island Pizza, so you can often find her cooking up some of her famous entrée’s in the kitchen!
The Dairy Queen is being transformed into a “burger place that sells ice cream”. The rebuild was delayed due to the eagle’s nest behind the store. The eaglets recently left the nest, so construction has begun.
The Lighthouse Café moved to its new location that was the former Sanibel Fresh next to the Lazy Flamingo on Periwinkle.
The old Lighthouse Café is now home to Wickie’s Lighthouse, a collaboration of the former owners of The Island Cow and Mad Hatter. Wickie’s is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and if you go, you must get the lobster “cargot”! They also turned the former Sanibel’s Homemade Ice Cream into The Magic Bus. The Magic Bus sells Ice Cream delights, coffee & teas, smoothies and homemade sweet treats.
Another newcomer is Rosalita’s Cantina which opened after 400 Rabbits chose not to reopen after the hurricane on Rabbit Road. You will find top-notch Tex-Mex food, margaritas in every flavor, and endless bowls of fresh warm tortilla chips!
Also worth mentioning is the Bailey Family is putting the final touches on their grocery store with an elevated building and retail stores with a restaurant where George & Wendy’s once stood. We can only ponder what this new restaurant will be!
Open Sanibel favorites: Huxter’s, The Over Easy, Jerry’s Café, The Sanibel Café, CheeBurger Cheeburger, Gramma Dots, Sanibel Sprout Food truck, Cielo’s, Doc Ford’s, MudBugs, The Shack, Traders, Tutti Pazzi, Sanibel Deli, The Bean & Great White Grill and Timbers, Sanibel Grill.
Be sure to pack your appetite when you come for your next stay on Sanibel!