Reviews for Thistle Lodge Beachfront Restaurant in Sanibel, FL

What a lovely & elegant dinner we enjoyed at the scenic Thistle Lodge Beachfront Restaurant at the Casa Ybel Resort on Sanibel... Island! From the reservation process through dessert, everything was perfect! We started with cedar grilled octopus served overgarlic fingerling potatoes with a blueberry compote. This dish is tender and layered with flavors that enhance the seafood. TheMediterranean Pompano, grilled and served with spinach, olives, cherry tomatoes and plated with a creamy risotto was out of thisworld! The Seafood Provençal was full of fresh shellfish, in a delicious, light, creamy garlic wine sauce served over angelhair pasta. Oh, the Caprese Salad was so wonderful I forgot to photograph it! The sea salt caramel cheesecake was excellent andthe birthday brownie, ice cream, strawberries and cream decadent! The online reservation process was super helpful as Iindicated my seating preference with a waterfront view and desire for a birthday surprise. Everything was perfectly & discreetlyarranged and ready when we arrived, thanks to the experienced Maitre’d’ and Tanya our excellent server! If you enjoy finedining, this is the place for you on the Island. Reservations strongly suggested as restaurant filled quickly, in spite ofSeptember “off season.” Easy and plentiful parking. Read more

Oh so disappointing! We thought this would be a nice way to spend the 4th of July for our friend saying it was her birthday. On... arrival for lunch we where seated by the window right next to another table that has a party of four. The restaurant was emptythere was no need to have us close to this other table. Then the waitress Jazmyn comes with the menu we give our drink order ittook exactly 9min to receive the drinks (weak drinks) very little alcohol in them. We proceeded to order our starters 10minlater they came out and I must say very tasty however on one of the starters we ordered chicken Quesadilla and on the plate wasthree small quarters, where did the four one go? So cheap of them. The male server came to the table and starter to take ourplates while we where still eating the starters. I was like excuse me as you can see we are still eating and please do notremove anything unless we are finished. He made a huff and walked away. Very rude and unprofessional of him. We continued toorder our main lunch meal and 15 min later out it came. Pictures will show on the grouper sandwich is was dry over cooked andtasteless. The lobster roll tasted like canned lobster and the bread over done. The tuna plate was fine. Now back to thebirthday girl! You would think knowing it was her birthday the waitress would of made some fuss over her or offered a bdaysurprise dessert but no all she got was after we paid the bill of $207.62 while walking away. Oh have a good birthday. We wherelike what!!! Never ever again will I ever return to this place and I think an explanation and apology from any manager should bea follow up reply to this. One more thing as we walked in the ceiling due to obviously water was falling in and the smell ofmold was high. Read more

Absolutely delicious 5 star. Jennifer was exceptional. Thinking of just coming back to Sanibel to visit and have dinner. It... would be worth the 2.5 hour drive it was that good. Thanks for a great experience. Read more

Our table had a view of the pool and the water. It was not busy yet when we went at 5:45 and we enjoyed that. Only one other... seated table near us. The food was amazing!!! Read more

The service was wonderful. The food was delicious. We had the red Snapper special, chicken fettuccine, the beach salad and the... ceasar, and shared a key lime pie. And the views... Read more

Best scallops I ate in my life! The lamb was also outstanding. The view from our table was beautiful. It’s not cheap but... it’s so worth! About the deserts, one was very good (creme brulee), the other one was ok (granny apple crisp). The cake partof the granny desert should be hot or warm to contrast with the cold ice cream. But that doesn’t take away points from thisplace since the dinner which matters the most was simply delicious!!! Highly recommend this place Read more

Had a wonderfully relaxing dinner here our last night on the island. We sat outside where you can see the pool and ocean. It’s... covered with fans so it was very comfortable. It’s a beautiful setting. The service was very nice. We were never rushed. Thefood tasted great. Be sure to try the seafood cake appetizer. It’s a pan seared “cake” with different seafood in it. Thinkcrab cake but even better and on top is guava jam. The entrees were just as good. I had the scallops with lobster on top andthey did not disappoint. They were worth every penny and the jasmine coconut infused rice was moist and tasted so good that Ialmost wanted to ask for more. For dessert I had the sea salt caramel cheesecake - it was probably the best cheesecake I’vehad in a long time. It was topped with caramel and had a layer above the crust that was caramel and salty - really really good.Highly recommend eating here! It definitely lived up to its rating. Read more

Our visit was for brunch and we were a party of 6. We were seated in what was referred to as the gazebo but it wasn’t where... our friends thought we would be. The room was really a private party room with no view of the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. Therewere other tables available but our server seemed annoyed because this was the room we requested. Rather than cause a problem westayed in the non-view room. As we began to order we asked for separate checks but was urged to have one and split it 3 waysbecause it was easier to divide the check into 3 at the end. Our service was quick and we were not rushed. Water and coffeewas refilled frequently. There were gluten-free options and our server was very accommodating to that fact. Our meals weregood but the presentation was a bit sloppy as you can see from the photos. The poached eggs were a bit over cooked. Thus the 4star rating. I would dine at the Thistle Lodge again but would request a Gulf view on our next visit. Read more