We've been to the Jacaranda before, but it tends to have more kids than we'd like. Any recommendations for a great place for a romantic dinner for two near Sanibel? We're willing to go off island to Ft. Myers, but probably not all the way to Naples.

We are not overly keen on seafood; steaks or ethnic would be best for us. A place that has decent desserts and cappuchino would be good too.

Boy, you have lots of options - 1st , i'd check out the Madhatter in Santiva, then the Nutmeg house on Sanibel, There are others, but I just can't remember their names - if I remember I'll post again - or I'll ask my parents - they live there...

I second the Mad Hatter for upscale dining in a romantic atmosphere on Sanibel. It's also one of the few restaurants on the island which sits directly on the Gulf...large picture windows provide great sunset views. We celebrated our anniversary there last year, and everything was wonderful.

Thank you, we'll try the Mad Hatter, it sounds perfect. This will be off-season (June), anyone know if that will be a problem?

It's a bit of a journey, but in downtown Ft. Myers, the Verandah in the garden is one of the most "romantic" places I can think of.

rhrd...our anniversary is in June, and that's when we were there last year. It was fine. In fact, there are only 12 or so tables, so I would imagine it would be tough to get in during high season. It was nice that we were able to be seated at 7:30 and still catch the sunset...ask for a window seat when you make reservations.

One of our favorites in Captiva is RedFish BlueFish - not a seafood restaurant it gets it's name from a Dr. Seuss book. It is a small restaurant serving creative tapas portions. So you order what you want, the average is 5 courses. There is an open kitchen, excellent wine, and excellent food. While there is always a fish on the menu, it is more of an ethnic ecletic mix of wonderful food. The deserts are divine! The owner ships in the best pasta and produce everyday and buys from organic farms. It is also quite reasonably priced. The food is excellent and the service friendly and the atmosphere is eclectic. It is one of our favorites, we dine there every other night when in Captiva on vacation. I also never noticed any children there, which is nice.

Oooh, Annabel...I definitely agree with you on the wonderfulness of Redfish Bluefish. I almost recommended that one, too...we sat at the open kitchen bar when we went, so I wasn't sure if it was "romantic" enough, since I hadn't experienced table seating there. The food was the absolute bomb, though.