mikewalsh

I've looked online for restaurants on Marco Island and dinners average $20-$30 each!

Are there no value family restaurants on Marco Island? Our family is there during February vacation, and all we can find are over-priced ourist traps.

Where do the locals eat?

help

Budman

Lots of places, including Burger King. http://www.marco-island-florida.com/dinedir.htm

mikewalsh

thanks Budman, I'll check out the link.

(does Burger King qualify as a 'restaurant' though?)

rizzo0904

You can try Susie's Breakfast and Lunch or Kahuna Restaurant (less than $15 per person).

rizzo0904

And there's always pizza!

Does your hotel have a kitchenette? You could always cook in one night...just simple burgers or pasta.

mikewalsh

thanks Rizzo.

Yes, we stay at the Charter Club on Collier and there's a kitchen and we'll likely cook in once or twice-I'm sure with kids whinng all the way but too bad for them!

Juldie

mikewalsh - I would not miss The Snook Inn. It's a lot of fun and a great place kids will enjoy. It's outside seating or inside. Ouside there is live music. If you look on their website you will see they have a Kid's Menu and they also have Dinner Sandwiches so you can definitely eat reasonably.

escargot

I would also look at menus for Stans in Goodland, definitely the Snook if you love seafood, and check out Bubbalini's Cafe - italian restaurant (and portions are huge so you can absolutely share them), Breakfast Plus, there are also a few mexican restaurants, and i think a light meal (burger, etc) at Quinns on the Beach at the Marriott is always nice at sunset - they have music, you eat outside, can go on and off the beach, etc.

We also used to enjoy grabbing sandwiches at one of the deli's or pizza from one of the pizza shops and / or grabbing some things from Publix market, take it down to TigerTail beach and have a picnic for dinner, arriving an hour or so before sunset - I believe they still close the beach somewhere around 30 min after sunset, but the sign will say.

There are about 4 or 5 pizza/sub parlors on the island too.

You can also go o nline and look at Marco Island movie theater - you can eat while you watch a movie and they have everything form burgers and nachos and meals, there menu is online - I think they are still open, although I have been on island last year, I haven't gone here for a few years, and you just never know what closes in the meantime....but we used to enjoy that and you have a choice of seating styles

you will find affordable places when you get there, they may not all be dining room 'dining' but you can make it work ! have fun !

mikewalsh

Juldie and Escarot, thanks much. I'm much more encouraged now! Now, if I can only make it to Feb 17th...

escargot

I don't know how I missed that you had a kitchenette - b/c many of those places, like Bubbalini's , does take out - and last year we grabbed some appetizers, a salad and two main courses and split it between five of us on the deck - I am sure you can work it out with a night or two out, some take out, and maybe a picnic!

Also, I don't know if they have BBq area availble for you to use at the Charter Club, but used to be that the parks on Marco had picnic areas, some including barbecues (like the picnic area at the entrance to Tiger Tail beach has) you can brin gin your own and bbq one night and be right at the beach for sunset.

check out these links for more info on parks, etc.
marco-island-florida.com/parks.htm

marco-island-florida.com/4book.htm

www.marcoislandonline.com/

nlg

We love the Snook Inn-the grouper sandwich is great(about $11) and it
includes the salad bar.

NeoPatrick

With all due respect, if you have never been to Marco, how do you judge all the places to be "over-priced tourist traps", or is that just your way of saying "we're cheap and anything more than $10 is over priced and only for tourist?" If a meal is fantastic quality and the place is filled with locals but the meal is $40 and worth every penny, I'm guessing you would still call it over-priced and a tourist trap?

So what are you saying -- you don't care about quality, just so long as it's cheap?

mikewalsh

Yes, Escargot, I should have mentioned the kitchenette. Actually, I think it's a full kitchen, and right now I think we'll cook in 2 nights out of the 7, with one being a barbeque/grill night, as they provide grills poolside.

My initial reaction to the restaurant listing was wrong, apparently, the more expensive places tend to have their own websites.

Neo, I was hoping to provoke responses and should not have used the term overpriced tourist traps. I'm happy to pay more as long as it is worth it, and having traveled to Florida each February over the past decade or so with the kids, I've learned that it can be hit or miss. Dinner is an important part of our vacation which is why I'm investing so much time on trying to find the places we'll all like.

Thanks to everyone for their help!

NeoPatrick

Well, I guess my rant was more about "why not tell us the names of the places you've found so we can comment on their value?" The idea that from a long distance you automatically assessed them as overpriced or tourist traps just didn't make sense to me, unless you already knew something about them.

And to be honest, I've found that the cheapest places are the ones that often tend to be the most overpriced and also rely on tourists who will come in because of the cheap prices.

escargot

No Mike, you DID mention the kitchen/kitchenette before in this thread - I was the one who missed it ! - you have lots of good options now - have fun -

Ackislander

Where would you eat at home? That way we can tell you if you can find something comparable in Marco.

mikewalsh

Eevrything does seem set now, all we need to do is survive the next month of Boston-area weather. So far, so good as we've gotten lucky weather-wise.

Our flights were of course changed--we paid extra for direct non-stop flights but the airlines changed and now we leave earlier, arrive later, and go through Miami. Oh well...

As for the food, I think we'll let the boys eat whatever they want one night so my wife and I can have a dinner alone. Heck with it!

My (over) reaction to some of the places came from looking at thir menus online and comparing to restaurants in the Boston area. I was seeing high-end Boston prices and, having been to Sanibel, Captiva, Naples, West Palm, Sarasota, etc several times over the years, I assumed Marco was a similar-type area with similar restaurants.

I have a lot of choices, and we'll also do what my wife and I do when we travel abroad: ask the locals for recommendations.

I know I've made more of a big deal about this than is warranted, but the mistake my wife and I made when we first started traveling was to 'wing it' when looking for restaurants. This usually resulted in being turned away from the best places or told it would be a long wait. Talk about a buzz-killer. Now, we have it down to an art, and arrive where we want when we want, and don't waste time bouncing place to place.

NeoPatrick

I guess I'm still confused by some of your comments. Are you suggesting that somehow the dining choices seem more expensive or even more high end in Marco than in all those places you have named? General opinion here in Naples is that Marco is the land of the cheaper dining. And I'd think that overall there are as many family type or lower priced places in Marco -- perhaps more -- than in places like Naples, Sanibel/Captiva, etc. People living in Marco tend to head up to Naples for their "higher end" dining experiences and remain on the island for their more "everyday" ones.

mikewalsh

Hi NeoPatrick,

It sounds like you're familiar with the Marco area. If Marco Island offers better value options than its neighbors as you suggest, than I have nothing to worry about.

I wish you'd lighten up a smidge though. Instead of feeling obligated to dissect and over-analyze my questions/ comments, how about we go back to my initial question of 1/14: Are there no value family restaurants on Marco Island? I didn't think this initial question would require so much explanation.

My thanks to Budman, Rizzo, Juldie, escargot, and nlg for 'getting it' and for their helpful feedback!

NeoPatrick

It sounds like we're on totally different wave lengths, and I'm not the one to offer suggestions. Good luck. Yes, there is decent eating in Marco -- just not much upscale dining, which would be much more of a problem. Sorry I took your post literally, I didn't realize that you just used that "over priced tourist traps" line for effect.