RDG: Ruths Cris may be overrated but they sure are packing them in. Went there last friday night, earliest reservation we could get was 9:30 and it was mobbed. On the way stopped at COZZE which is 2 tenths of a mile before Ruths Cris and business was not booming, believe me. As far as steakhouses go, being a NYer who winters in Florida I'll taker Peter Lugers or Mortons over Ruths Cris anyday, but you take what you can get. Here is the review of Sanibel Palms:
Dining Review Sanibel Palms Steakhouse Steak lovers may have a beef with Sanibel Palms
Originally published on August 04, 2006
SANIBEL PALMS STEAKHOUSE 13401 Summerlin Rd., Fort Myers • Price: Entrees over $20 • Hours: 5-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 5-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. • Credit cards: Major cards accepted. • Call: 437-8325 • Noise level: Low • Etc.: Full bar; reservations accepted.
Food: 1 star (out of 4) Atmosphere: 3 stars Service: 2 stars
The former Sanibel Steakhouse in Fort Myers has changed hands and morphed into Sanibel Palms Steakhouse.
The name isn't all that has changed. The quality of the dining experience has gone downhill — while the prices remain upscale.
My first outing proved so unsatisfactory that I waited a few weeks and returned to make sure it wasn't a fluke. (Our policy calls for a second visit if the first rates fewer than two stars for food.)
Almost every dish in both dinners presented some kind of problem. Presentation was haphazard and unsophisticated (think orange slice and maraschino cherry as garnish). And service was not as smooth as it should have been considering the traffic and the cost of dining.
More important, the pricey steaks were inconsistently cooked. A steakhouse that cannot grill its beef properly soon will be lost from the herd.
Things look promising when you enter Sanibel Palms. The brick-and-tile dining room contains cozy booths and elegantly appointed tables.
The menu offers a surprising number of seafood items for a steakhouse.
Take the oysters Rockefeller, for example — please. The four shriveled oysters on the half-shell were blanketed with bitter-tasting spinach and a yellow viscous substance that might have been some kind of melted "cheese product."
The French onion soup was too beefy, not oniony enough, and the kitchen substituted a dinner roll for the usual bread crouton.
On the previous visit, I had better luck with the jumbo shrimp wrapped in smoky bacon but thought the $13 price was too steep for just two shellfish. We also tried a spinach salad during that dinner; it was overdrenched with dressing, turning the greens soggy.
On both occasions, appetizers took surprisingly long to arrive. Server No. 1 blamed it on the bacon taking too long to crisp.
No excuses arrived with our entrees, but they were warranted. Here's the rundown on both dinners:
• A New York strip steak ordered medium-well — which by the restaurant's own guidelines means a warm, pink center — was gray through and through. That's well done.
• A filet mignon ordered medium arrived medium-rare. Apparently, the kitchen staff has not read the guide on the menu.
• A buffalo rib-eye was cooked medium-rare as requested, but the $38 slab of meat needed seasoning, a marinade, a sauce — something to enhance its bland flavor.
• The best of the lot: a flavorful, well-cooked veal chop. But even that appeared to be missing the roasted garlic demi-glace the menu promised; the only flourish I tasted was juice from the orange-slice garnish.
The side dishes? Julienned au gratin potatoes overwhelmed by cheese, bland mashed potatoes and a melange of waterlogged carrots, broccoli, green beans and red pepper.
Still, we soldiered on.
For dessert, I can recommend the creme brulee and cheesecake; steer clear of the mushy apple pie and overpriced $9 chocolate mousse.
In the high-stakes stampede of premium steakhouses, Sanibel Palms appears to be eating the dust of its competitors. If the quality doesn't improve, it should at least lower its prices.
— Jean LeBoeuf is the nom de plume of a local food lover who dines at The News-Press' expense. Send comments to Le Boeuf in care of Lifestyles, P.O. Box 10, Fort Myers, FL 33902 or fax them to (239) 335-0265. Send e-mail to jleboeuf@news-press.com.
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