Matanzas on the Bay

Great atmosphere, love the bay view!
Good food excellent service. Come at sunset and watch the shrimpers head out.

We sat outside and the view was nice. Service took forever, drinks got to our table 10 mins after we ordered. We were not impressed with the food. The meals we ordered were just okay. For the okay’s food we were served the price was a little bit High.

Loved it we visited after a long drive to spend 3 hours just hanging out and enjoying the view of the water, boats and wildlife (Birds, fish, dolphins) the food was great we had the chimichanga which was fantastic. We will be returning.

Excellent dinner date.
The view of the restaurant is just wonderful.
The crab dip was fantastic.
They offered buns that were warm with a garlic butter.
Drinks were very good, the special was a watermelon one with cherry vodka.
The grouper came covered with shrimp and basil, just wonderful!

I could not be more pleased with Glen Petrarca and his team. My husband booked our wedding rehearsal dinner at Matanzas. It was last Friday, May 13 — and it was perfect. We told him our group would be about 55… but people kept arriving. Glen’s team was on it. They kept coming with more chairs and tables. They were kind… never complained and moved quickly. They are all complete professionals. One waiter, Dan, made amazing eye contact — and seemed to know each time I needed him. Thank you, Dan. Glen is a hands-​on general manager who checked in with us a few times (not too much) — to make sure we were okay.
Matanzas is right along the bay and the outdoor area is lit with twinkling white lights. It’s absolutely picturesque. Our guests flew in from all over the country and they all remarked how beautiful the space was — and how GOOD the food was.
It’s tough having a destination wedding and not knowing the restaurant. Matanzas made it easy. I would trust them with any event — and I will be suggesting them to anyone getting married or hosting any event on Fort Myers’ Estero Island.
Thank you again, Glen and team.
Love,
Ted & Kathryn Wright
Newlyweds :)

Wonderful waterfront location. We ate outside and watched the boats come and go, watched the pelicans dive for their dinner and enjoyed listening to the sounds of the live music from the location upstairs.
My meal was very good… piña colada, shrimp cocktail and spinach-​strawberry salad with homemade poppy seed dressing. I switched out the spinach leaves for romaine lettuce — yummy!

Great atmosphere and great food! We went upstairs and had amazing views, even caught a couple dolphin sightings. we ordered the blackened chicken Alfredo although it’s only on the downstairs menu and our waiters gave us each side salads for free. Salad was nice and fresh with amazing homemade dressing. Loved it!

This place is a MUST go to! If you’re looking for a beautiful atmosphere, and a step-​up from the usual beach place, this is it! Gorgeous views of the bay. Our bellman recommended we try it, and boy was he right! Be prepared to park at a lot next to the restaurant for $ 5. We sat outside and had the lobster, crab, artichoke dip for an appetizer which was FANTASTIC. For dinner my boyfriend had the seafood platter and I, a shrimp and crab stuffed haddock special in a white wine sauce; AMAZING! Drinks were good too. Service was a bit slow but they were swamped. All in all a must try for sure!

Pizza is freshly made fresh and delicious. Like to come here for drinks and food when I can afford it. Expensive

In one word — AMAZING! My husband and I came to fort Myers for 7 days, eating out all but 1 night and this was our favorite dinner. The view is incredible, staff very attentive and pleasant and the food was outstanding. I had the Mahi which was perfectly seasoned and tender and my husband had the stuffed shrimp, holy cow. We went upstairs after and enjoyed a few drinks and awesome live singer! Don’t skip this gem!!!

The view is great! Your right on the harbor. They make a really good Key Lime Colada.
Just go there and relax watch the boats go by, I got there around sunset.
I ordered the fresh catch of the day, Swordfish with pineapple cole slaw and baked potato. Swordfish wasn’t on the menu because it was the special that day, I wanted to try swordfish while I was in Florida so I was all about it and it was great.
Just get the Key Lime Colada for dessert it’s delicious!
Heads up their open bar called Petey’s Upper Deck is directly upstairs but you have to go all the way around the building in the back to get in so you can get your dinner at Matanzas and go upstairs for live music and more drinks overlooking the water, come here and watch the Pelicans!

We ate here for the first time, and it was a Sunday night, so it was dark outside and only about 60 degrees so the view was only of lights on the water. The service was OK. We got seated next to a loud group of 5 who seemed to have too much to drink.
I was glad to find the Unilocal check in coupon!
I ordered the grouper, and the asparagus. It was OK, but seemed to be a very small portion for $ 28. I am comparing it to the other 4 times I ordered grouper at other Florida restaurants in the same price range during my week vacation. My dinner companion got the stuffed shrimp and she enjoyed them.
I decided to order the chocolate decadence dessert, and it was nothing special except the vanilla ice cream that came with it was so good!

I have the Lobster Tail Stuff Seafood and my wife have the Seafood Quesadilla was delicious. Our waiter was a nice lady name Carol thank you. if at some point we are in the area will definitely come back again.

The staff is great the food is great and beautiful view of bay. People come in on their boats for dining. Daily specials are creative and best of southwest Florida.

I give this place five stars because the staff is friendly, the menu is solid and the location on the water is just so, so nice. Not everything on the menu is a hit, but the place has a great vibe and I love an old school kind of place that does its thing and does it pretty well.
For instance, the seafood platter and the stuffed shrimp are excellent choices here. When we’ve had steak or prime rib those dishes have also been prepared very well and at a quality level in line with the pricing. A few things that aren’t executed so well are the vegetables which are always overcooked or undercooked.
I think the only dessert I’ve ever tried here is the key lime pie and it is very tasty. It’s a sweet and satisfying end to a nice evening out.

Our dinner at Matanzas on the Bay was one of the best on our trip to SW Florida. It was a beautiful evening and we enjoyed sitting on the deck and watching the boats and birds.
I had two skewers of blackened shrimp. Generous portion and I finished it all! For my side, I chose the conch soup which was in a tomato base. Nice bite of spice to it.
DH had the special of the day: red snapper in a Veracruz sauce and a side of potato fritters with sour cream. Not low calorie but deemed delicious.
Rolls with sweet garlic butter were a good addition to the meal. Wine selection was nothing remarkable, but fine.
DH and I shared an excellent key lime pie which we were told was made «in house.» It was creamy and delicious.
Carleton, our server, was personable and professional.
Hope we can have a return visit.

Beautiful setting on the outdoor deck. All staff was pleasant and accommodating. Music was nice, not too loud, which allowed us to still have dinner conversation.
We had the crab lobster artichoke dip and the queso. Both were delicious, plenty to share with homemade chips!
The entrees we had were the scallops, broiled seafood platter, coconut shrimp, and crunchy grouper. Everyone was satisfied with their meal. Overall, very good experience, no complaints!

Opted for a table on the deck, overlooking the marina. This is a pull up dock, so the arriving and departing boats and their passengers were a nice diversion while waiting for an order. I had corn flaked crusted grouper. The fish was very thin, but the batter very satisfying. I like the cole slaw made with pineapple — the third part of lunch for which there was a $ 3 up charge. Service was very pleasant; but waitresses handle the bar too, so it was a wait for the check. Good place to be on the water while visiting funky Ft Myers Beach.

I love water view drinking. I love water view dining. So it comes with no surprise that I love this location. This is such a beautiful waterfront dining location on FMB! However it is well hidden, so you would not see it just by driving by. Parking can be difficult to find if it is season.
Pricing is reasonable for the type of restaurant it is. Food is delicious so worth the price tag it carries. Apps, sandwiches, salads, soups, steak and seafood– you will find something that sounds good. There are some great shareable plates making it a wonderful option for drinks and light meal. The dinner I can remember the most we went heavy not light… we started with the Lobster, crab* shrimp artichoke dip which is served with some amazing homemade tortilla chips. It was a very filling dip but we did not stop there. I had the drunken coconut shrimp. And I must say it is some of the best coconut shrimp I have had in SWFL! (didn’t take a photo because it was so dark outside that it wouldn’t show up well enough to give it the justice it deserves). My husband had the blackened mahi with side salad and veggies. He enjoyed every bite.
The most outrageous menu items made me smile– ’ Dave’s Bathtub of Con Queso’ This is a dip for 100 of your closest friends! Gather your group and we’ll prepare a bathtub full of Dave’s darn near perfect dip and a Jeep full of flash-​fried chips– — $ 300. It would be an awesome touch to a special event!
This would be a great date night, special occasion dinner or even cool place to start a night out with the girls on the water with drinks and apps. Sometimes they have live music too! Give it a try

We went for a late dinner on a Saturday night and enjoyed everything about this place! First there was a singer who sings every Thursday and Saturday night. All of the covers she had performed were great!
This was also the place where we tried the Gator Tail bites. I expected it to taste like chicken and my boyfriend was so scared to try these, but once we did, he was hooked! And the spicy sauce that comes with it is amazing that you could pretty much put it on anything! Gator tail bites are a bit chewy (since its mainly a muscle) but they definitely worth a try! Also, we shared the Margherita pizza and added bacon to it. And coming from someone who doesn’t crave pizza ever, this was one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had! It was probably because the crust tasted like pretzel bread and it was a thinner pizza. And we even put some of that spicy sauce that came with the Gator Tail bites on top of the pizza! Great food and atmosphere!

Aus meiner Sicht ein wirklich gutes Restaurant in Ft Myers Beach. Ich habe zumindest kein besseres gesehen und es wurde mir auch zusätzlich als das beste von Ft Myers Beach empfohlen.
Tolle Lage direkt am Meer, manchmal sogar mit Delphinen. Im ersten Stock ist eine Cocktail-​Bar mit Live-​Musik, die man auch draußem in Matanzas Inn hört. Toll!
Die Essensqualität ist durchweg gut, Seafood sehr zu empfehlen, z.B. Stuffed Shrimp mit Salat und Reis. Dazu «Pink Lemonade».