Local Cuisine refers to the cooking and serving of dishes typical of the culture of the area. Many of the dishes contain food that has been produced within that area. So for Southwest Florida that of course means seafood. But that’s not all. There’s a lot of other fresh foods produced right here in the Sunshine State. Like oranges, tomatoes, watermelon, grapefruit, strawberries and more. Those locally grown crops are found on the plates in Florida restaurants that want the freshest foods possible. There’s also cattle ranches. Places like Beach Bistro on Anna Maria Island serve steaks from a ranch just north of North Port. Local. Southwest Florida restaurants that serve food from Florida. That’s what we mean by ‘local cuisine’ restaurants.
As a local, I know about these places. I can personally vouch for several of the rankings on the list. But rather than talk about my favorites, we’ll defer to the reviews on Tripadvisor. By using keywords and the site’s algorithms, I was able to pinpoint what they would consider the top 10 local cuisine restaurants in Southwest Florida. As a way to show my work, here’s a direct link to what I’ve done. Sure, there may be some places that you think should be on the list, but I don’t think you could say any of these places shouldn’t be mentioned.
If you’re from out of town, good, I’m glad you found this list for the best local cuisine.
It’s actually embarrassing how many people go to the chain restaurants when they come to Southwest Florida to visit. You can go to those places anytime. Also, this list stretches from Sarasota to the south end of Naples. So, some of these places won’t be very close, depending on where you are. Now let’s take a look at the best local cuisine restaurants in Southwest Florida. I’ll drop a couple a couple of links at the end for even more options.
1. Dixie Fish Company
I can’t believe we almost lost this place. The Dixie Fish Company on Fort Myers Beach was almost wrecked by Hurricane Ian. There was a boat on their front steps. Seriously.
Thankfully, they were able to put everything back together, and according to Tripadvisor it’s the number one spot for fresh local seafood in Southwest Florida. It’s an open air bar/restaurant and has everything you could possibly want from a waterfront restaurant on an island. It’s an absolute must for anyone visiting the Fort Myers area. Us locals love it, too. This is true original Southwest Florida.
