So we’ve been to Fort Myers Beach several times and we always have wanted to try Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille. The last time we walked around forever and couldn’t find it. This time we got smart and put it in the GPS.

Put it in the GPS, drove across the bridge, turned left, then left then left again, then left then a right and suddenly – boom! There we were ! It was so easy!

Once we got there we found a huge complex. There’s indoor seating, outdoor seating and there’s a great bar. There also are facilities for special events, there’s even a little tiki hut for a band to play.

The good news and the bad news is we were there on a Monday afternoon. That means we did not get the full Doc Ford’s experience – but we did get a window seat with a panoramic view of Matanzas Pass. This provided a wonderful water show that complimented our lunch perfectly.

Watching water traffic from our table at Doc Ford’s.

Our group was myself, Mrs. Funmeister, our son and granddaughter. This was the best of all worlds. A vegetarian, a seafood connoisseur, a child and myself. We had an opportunity to try everything (except the rum, sadly) with people uniquely qualified to test them.

The Seafood

The calamari appetizer was, in a word, wonderful.

The seafood got high marks. The calamari was tasty and crispy without being greasy. The subsequent Seafood Paella was even better. As we were told, the blend of jumbo scallops, shrimp, mussels and fish medallions was a “perfect taste combination. That was highlighted by the sauce which he described as “Cajun in nature.”

The Doc Ford’s Seafood Paella

The Vegetarian

Mrs. Funmeister had the Margarita Flatbread. It’s a compendium of Buffalo mozzarella, roasted garlic, tomatoes with fresh basil. It’s all drizzled with aged balsalmic and aged olive oil. “Delish” was her assessment.

Vegetarian and “delish.”

And The Rest

I had the Sanibel Cheese Steak. It was piled high with shaved beef, caramalized onions, peppers and mushrooms. It was covered with melted cheese and so voluminous, I ended up eating the bulk with a knife and fork (not that that’s a bad thing).

The cole slaw, by the way, was actual slaw – not the mayonnaise-soaked chopped to smithereens fare which comes at other places.

Sanibel Cheese Steak with Cole Slaw

The granddaughter did not verbally review her grilled cheese. Suffice to say there was virtually nothing left and she ate her way into some of the longest french fries we have ever seen.

She did leave the pickle….

In the end, lunch was great. We also found several other menu items we wish to try on subsequent visits. Finally, the idea of a rum bar, and trying different brands of rum is intriguing. We will investigate this further (with a designated driver) and report back at a future date.

There are other locations, but it’s hard to beat Doc Ford’s at Fort Myers Beach.