36 Best Restaurants in The Lower Gulf Coast, Florida

Nestled in a hidden expanse of twisted mangrove trees and flowing canals is one of the area's best restaurants for casual fine dining. Restored wooden rowboats and modern chandeliers hang from the ceiling of the main dining room, which is packed almost every night in season. The food is a serious celebration of the sea with Southern accents, like their signature coastal pan roast with fresh Gulf fish. The adjacent Claw Bar at Tierney's Tavern shares the same kitchen but focuses on chilled shellfish and other Southern delights with nightly live music and a more casual vibe.  Saturday lunches are surprisingly quiet and a perfect time to snag one of the coveted tables closest to the windows.

Since 1975, this restaurant has consistently drawn crowds of diners who occupy themselves with walking the beach and watching the sunset while waiting for their names to be called for a table indoors or out. A little Brit, a lot Florida, the menu features specialties such as barbecued shrimp wrapped in bacon appetizer, crab cakes, fish-and-chips, and frozen Key lime pie.

A casual long-timer and a favorite for a quick breakfast, filling lunch, and sunset dinner, Plaka—named after the historic neighborhood in Athens—has typical Greek fare. Expect standards like moussaka, pastitsio, gyros, and roast lamb, as well as burgers, sandwiches, fried seafood, and strip steak. It lies along a row of casual sidewalk restaurants in a pedestrian mall near the beach. There's indoor dining, but grab a seat on the porch or under an umbrella on the patio for the best people-watching and sunset view.

A favorite of business and government bigwigs, the Veranda serves imaginative Continental fare with a trace of a Southern accent for dinner. The restaurant is a combination of two turn-of-the-20th-century homes, with sconces and antique oil paintings on the pale-yellow walls and a two-sided central brick fireplace. Notable menu items are tournedos with smoky sour-mash-whiskey sauce, rack of lamb with rosemary-Merlot sauce, herb-crusted honey-grilled salmon, and a grilled seafood sampler with prosciutto cream fettuccine, all served with homemade honey-drizzled bread and corn muffins with pepper jelly. Ask for an outdoor courtyard table when weather permits.

Here Naples takes a youthful curve—island music sounds on the umbrella-shaded courtyard at this, the prototype for the national chain inspired by the Tommy Bahama clothing label and furniture line. Indoors and out, everybody's munching sandwiches, salads, and grilled seafood and meat dishes made with a tropical flair.

You'll feel as if you're dining in a home at this intimate bistro, which serves creative American-Italian-Asian fusion cuisine, and that's exactly how the owners want it to be—inviting, warm, and welcoming. The menu is full of home-cooked classics, but you'll also find chef specials that change with the season or an inspired whim. Customer service is always top-notch.