'Watts for Dinner': Season’s best – Dishes made the biggest impressions
Easter marks the unofficial end of tourist and snowbird season on Marco Island. As each day passes henceforth, we’ll be seeing car carriers on the roadsides and a bit less traffic as we move about.
It felt like the perfect time to look back at the standout dishes we discovered during that January through March period. We picked the top dish from each review, which I usually signify with a “highly recommend” in the review.
GUAC AND ELOTES
Our first dining destination for 2024 was the all-new recently opened La Mesa Taqueria on Marco Island.
Loyal readers know that I love Mexican food (don’t we all). So, it’s an event when we get to try a new place. And we didn’t have to wait long to find our standout dish: The house-made tortilla chips with guacamole ($15) and elotes ($13).
The guac is made table side. Elotes, or Mexican street corn, is grilled corn on the cob covered in a creamy mayonnaise and topped with chili powder and Cotija cheese. Yum!
La Mesa Taqueria
- 297 N. Collier Blvd., Marco Island
- 239-388-TACO
- lamesamarcoisland.com
PRIME RIB SLIDERS
Pelican Bend Restaurant & Marina on Isles of Capri was our next stop. For my main dish, I opted for the “Prime Rib Sliders” ($16.98). You get three. The shaved prime rib is piled high. It’s served on a pretzel roll with arugula and garlic aioli. You get fries or coleslaw, but I upgraded to the sweet potato waffle fries.
These sandwiches were pure heaven. The bread was soft and added flavor and texture to the sandwich. The aioli and the arugula were offered in perfect proportion. And the fries were crispy perfection. I highly recommend this dish.
Pelican Bend
- 219 Capri Boulevard
- Naples, FL 34114
- 239-394-3452
- pelicanbendinc.com
STROMBOLI
Pizza is happiness so I’m thrilled to talk about Tony’s N.Y. Pizza (aka Tony’s Pizzeria).
The restaurant offers pies with clever names like “The Staten Island,” “The Manhattan Deluxe,” “The Bronx,” “The Queens White,” “The Madison Square Garden,” “The 5th Ave. Mushroom,” “The Broadway Chicken,” “The Park Ave.,” “Margherita,” “The Grand Central Eggplant,” and the “The Greenwich Hawaiian.”
But perhaps my favorite item this visit was the Stromboli ($13.99). It’s sausage, pepperoni, peppers, onions and mozzarella cheese folded into a pizza crust with a marinara for dipping. This dish is pure magic.
Tony's N.Y. Pizza
- 145 S Barfield Dr., Marco Island
- 239-970-002
- tonysnypizzamarco.com
MAHI MAHI SANDWICH
Stan's Idle Hour in Goodland is best known for the famed Mullet Festival, held in February. It’s one of the area’s quirkiest and fun festivals. Great live music and the annual Buzzard Lope dance contest, culminating with the crowning of the new Buzzard Lope Queen!
The standout dish this visit was the mahi mahi sandwich ($18), blackened, with sweet potato fries. This is a huge filet! It comes with lettuce, tomato and a lemon wedge. It was cooked to perfection and super satisfying.
Stan’s Idle Hour
- 221 Harbor Place North, Goodland
- 239-394-3041
- stansidlehourgoodland.com
‘FRITTO MISTO’
Sale e Pepe at the Marco Beach Ocean Resort is a beautiful place to eat with the Gulf as your view.
On the food side, the appetizer was the top dish this visit: The “Fritto Misto” ($23).
It’s light and crispy calamari and shrimp dish served with a Calabrian chili aioli dipping sauce. Lots of restaurants serve calamari, but the lightness and freshness of this dish makes it one of the best.
Sale e Pepe
- 480 S. Collier Blvd., Marco Island
- 239-393-1600
- sale-e-pepe.com
CHICKEN BACON PESTO PANINI
Mango’s Dockside Bistro, located in the Esplanade Shoppes at Marco Island, is always a solid performer. So expectations are always high.
My dining companion opted for the chicken bacon pesto panini ($20) this visit. And I must admit I was more than a little jealous.
It’s lightly blackened chicken breast, fresh mozzarella, bacon, a cashew-basil pesto and tomato on Cuban bread. It also comes with a side, and he opted for the house slaw, which, unlike most others, comes with diced mango.
Light, delicious and satisfying!
Mango's Dockside Bistro
- In Esplanade Shoppes, 760 N. Collier Blvd # 109, Marco Island
- 239-393-2433
- mangosdocksidebistro.com
We’ll have more of the season’s best dishes next Friday.
More‘Watts for Dinner’: Z’s Music Kitchen – Gulf Grouper and Philly fantastic!