In The Neighborhood | Cabbage Key Inn & Restaurant

Where to eat, stay and play in Fort Myers, Florida

Posted on July 1, 2025
By Roshae Hemmings, St. Louis Magazine
Cabbage Key, Dining, Recreation

Located in southwest Florida, Fort Myers is accessible via nonstop flight from St. Louis. The popular destination is comprised of 100 islands, 50 neighborhoods, and 50 miles of beaches.

Silhouettes of three kayakers on the water at sunset in waters of Fort Myers, FL. A lovely gradient of blue and orange.

Paddle activities such as kayaking are a common way that locals and visitors explore the wildlife and nature of Fort Myers. – Photography courtesy of Cape Coral Kayak

PLAY

To visit Florida, especially Fort Myers, and skip the beach would be a missed opportunity. Island hopping is a popular way to explore the geography and natural beauty of the islands off the coast of Fort Myers. Several companies in the area offer private boat tours, including Captain Brian on the Water. Captain Brian Holaway has been a beloved fixture in the Fort Myers community since 1995. Tour options include trips to Cayo Costa, known for its shell-covered beaches, and Cabbage Key, where guests can stop for lunch at the iconic Cabbage Key Restaurant. Paddling is another great way to get up close to nature and wildlife. Cape Coral Kayak offers several guided and self-guided excursions, including dolphin-spotting tours. If leisure is high on your priority list, then try Fins Up! Beach Club at Margaritaville Beach Resort, where paradise awaits for visitors who yearn for long days by the pool. Fins Up! Beach Club features a 15,000-square-foot heated pool, live entertainment, and various dining options, including 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar & Grill. Access to Fins Up! Beach Club is included for Margaritaville Beach Resort guests; visitors can also enjoy the fun by purchasing a day pass. Lynn Hall Memorial Park, located in the Fort Myers Beach neighborhood, is a popular option among locals and visitors, as it’s within walking distance from local shops and restaurants. Among other stops to consider: Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum and Aquarium, Dunbar-McCollum Hall mural wall, First Fridays at Downtown Fort Myers Art Walk.

Cabbage Key Restaurant patrons enjoying a meal in the dollar bill bar at Cabbage Key. A sea of thousands of individually signed dollar bills hang from the walls and ceiling.

Patrons of Cabbage Key Restaurant enjoy their meals surrounded by dollar bills. -Photography courtesy of Cabbage Key

EAT

Fort Myers offers no shortage of stunning waterfront views, the best of which are enhanced by a delicious meal. High Tide Social House serves up a bit of everything, from comforting classics such as shrimp and grits to fusion dishes like a Thai-style pizza—not to mention fresh seafood. Marker 92 Waterfront Bar and Bistro is a convenient, flavorful choice for guests at The Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village. Marker 92 takes pride in its seafood offerings and rotating seasonal menu, which are inspired by global cuisines. Summertime offerings include jerk-spiced salmon bites, grouper piccata, and steak au poivre. Try authentic Italian dishes at Bruno’s of Brooklyn in downtown Fort Myers. Inspired by summers spent in Italy and his father’s dream of owning a restaurant, chef Cal Bruno runs the kitchen alongside his wife, Genevieve. Dishes at Bruno’s are prepared fresh daily from recipes that are more than a century old. Must-try dishes include the meatball speciale, shrimp scampi, and long-stem artichokes, as well as veal parmigiano with house-made pappardelle and cavatelli sausage and broccoli rabe. For those stopping at Cabbage Key Restaurant during a boat tour with Captain Brian, you’re in for a one-of-a-kind experience. Adorned with signed dollar bills on its ceilings and walls, Cabbage Key has been a mainstay for boaters and fishermen for more than 60 years. Today, Cabbage Key is known for its fresh catch of the day, Island salad with house-made honey citrus vinaigrette, and Gulf shrimp cocktail. Don’t miss the frozen key lime pie or homemade cookie dough ice cream sandwich. (Pro tip: Save the painstaking decision between the two by ordering both.) And there are no shortage of other options, including a Cuban sandwich pizza from Nice Guys Pizza, a nightcap at Escondido Lounge, an old-fashioned breakfast at Farmer’s Market Restaurant, and caramel cheesecake at Tarpon Lodge Restaurant.

This is an excerpt from an article by Roshae Hemmings, originally posted on St. Louis Magazine

Cabbage Key continues to enthrall with old Florida charm, dollar bill bar and storied past

Posted on April 11, 2025
By Robyn George, The News Press
Cabbage Key, History, Reviews

The small tropical island of Cabbage Key, Florida, accessible only by boat, is a beloved destination with an inn, restaurant and bar keeping it afloat

Story Summary:

  • Cabbage Key is a small, 112-acre island accessible only by boat, located in Pine Island Sound near Pineland, Florida.
  • The island, once home to the Calusa Indians, is now a popular destination featuring an inn, restaurant, and cottages.
  • The restaurant’s “Dollar Bill Bar” is a unique attraction, with thousands of dollar bills stapled to the walls, some of which periodically fall off and are donated to charity.
  • Cabbage Key is rumored to be the inspiration for Jimmy Buffett’s song “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” though the connection is anecdotal.
  • The Wells family has owned and operated Cabbage Key since 1976, maintaining its “Old Florida” charm and laid-back atmosphere.

Read More

Brendan O’Connor Is Livin’ the Salt Life In Fort Myers

Posted on September 26, 2024
By Brendan O’Connor, Orlando Magazine
Cabbage Key, Dining, Fort Myers, Hurricane Ian

Post Hurricane Ian, Fort Myers hasn’t lost a bit of its allure.

I had heard of Fort Myers, but I don’t think I really understood what it was all about. Just another waterfront playground for the rich that I’d never see, I assumed. I’d been to Naples and streaked on a few golf courses before, how different could it be? Completely different, y’all.

I was extended an invitation by Visit Fort Myers to come and see firsthand what made them so special, and I have to say, at the end of the trip, I had drunk the Fort Myers Kool-Aid.

…

After I washed those dreams out of my hair the next morning, we all hopped on a private boat tour with our guide, Captain Brian on the Water. Brian took us out to the barrier islands, which were beat to hell by the hurricane. These places are only accessible by boat, haunted islands where whole trees had been stripped of foliage and jutted out of the sand like wizard wands or gnarled fingers poking skyward. We cruised by North Captiva Island, where only 36 permanent residents call it home and traverse the island in little golf carts. He knew all the critters that poked their noses out at our boat, from spotted eagle rays and ospreys to manatees, dolphins and permit fish. His enthusiasm was contagious.

he Gulf Stone Crab Claw appetizer at Cabbage Key ©Brendan O’Connor

he Gulf Stone Crab Claw appetizer at Cabbage Key

I knew lunch was going to be a treat when I saw the glint of mischief in Capt. Brian’s eye. He shuttled us over to Cabbage Key, the home of the historic Dollar Bill Bar and Restaurant, a beautiful collection of buildings that opened to the public in 1944. The place was packed to the railings with happy and hungry visitors. The walls and ceilings were covered with paper currency from around the world, with names and messages scrawled in Sharpies, and stuck in place with a prayer and a piece of gum.

The Dollar Bill Bar and Restaurant

The Dollar Bill Bar and Restaurant ©Brendan O’Connor

It was that afternoon with Capt. Brian that really drove home it was the water and the islands that made Fort Myers so special. The resorts and the restaurants were all top notch and we still had more to see on the mainland, but you could tell that both Capt. Brian and Capt. Dan (if that was his real name) had embraced the Salt Life and weren’t coming back.

This is an excerpt from an article by Brendan O’Connor that originally appeared on orlgnaomagazine.com on September 3, 2024

Old Florida is still alive and easily accessible by boat.

Posted on June 2, 2024
By Polly Dean, Florida Sportsman Magazine
Cabbage Key

Aerial view of homes on Cabbage Key, Florida

Cabbage Key is an island consisting of approximately 100 acres of tropical paradise with a feeling of remoteness as it is only reachable by boat.

It lies in Pine Island Sound just west of Fort Myers. Though most Floridians have likely never stepped foot on this piece of Old Florida, it has been a destination for anglers and boaters for over 60 years. It is the kind of place where you can grab a meal or “belly up” to the bar to find yourself alongside a celebrity seeking the same welcoming hospitality and laidback charm the island offers. Legend has it that the late, great Jimmy Buffett wrote “Cheeseburger in Paradise” after a visit, but that may have been somewhere in the British Virgin Islands.

Read More

FORT MYERS: Classic cars and snappy songs highlight Florida destination

Posted on April 2, 2024
By Dave Pollard, Edmonton Journal
Cabbage Key, Fort Myers, Reviews

Fort Myers waterfront

Night falls on the Caloosahatchee River in Fort Myers. PHOTO BY DAVE POLLARD /Toronto Sun

Classic cars and snappy songs.

And, maybe, if you’re lucky, a cheeseburger in paradise.

Yes, Fort Myers and the surrounding area, including Captiva and Sanibel islands, has all that – it was the winter home of Henry Ford (and Thomas Edison, for that matter), hosts the annual Island Hopper Songwriters Fest, and nearby Cabbage Key was allegedly the inspiration for one of Jimmy Buffett’s more well-known songs – and more for Canadian snowbirds to discover … if your timing is right.

Read More

This Remote, 112-acre Island Is One of Florida’s Best-kept Secrets — and It’s Only Accessible by Boat

Posted on March 27, 2024
By Caroline Eubanks, Travel + Leisure
Cabbage Key, Reviews

Cabbage Key, Florida, has attracted famous guests like Ernest Hemingway and Jimmy Buffett.

Aerial view of Cabbage Key ,Florida

PHOTO: VITO PALMISANO/GETTY IMAGES

Set off the coast of Fort Myers lies a 100-acre island that feels like it has been preserved in amber. It’s the type of “Swiss Family Robinson”-style retreat that represents a bygone Florida and has attracted famous writers and heiresses — not to mention presidents Carter and Kennedy.

The 112-acre island on the Pine Island Sound was first inhabited by the Calusa people and Cuban fishermen. And in 1875, it appeared on maps with the name Palmetto Key.

Read More

Overnight on Cabbage Key, for a cheeseburger (and more) in old-Florida paradise

Posted on February 20, 2024
By Susan Glaser, cleveland.com
Cabbage Key, Recreation, Reviews, Tarpon Lodge

Looking down the long dock towards the quaint dollhouse cottage at Cabbage Key.

A cottage for rent on Cabbage Key, a Southwest Florida tourist destination named for the many cabbage palm trees on the island.

CABBAGE KEY, Florida – There’s no beach here, no pool, no high-rise condos.

What you’ll find on tiny Cabbage Key: an historic lodge, nature trails, a terrific restaurant that (perhaps) inspired Jimmy Buffett, and most strikingly, an old-time Florida vibe that’s fading fast elsewhere around the state.

Cabbage Key is a small island – just 112 acres – located in Pine Island Sound, west of Fort Myers. Its first inhabitants were the Calusa Indians, who left behind a large shell mound that has served to protect the land for centuries.

The island developed as a tourist destination in the 1930s, accessible only by boat, an off-the-beaten path spot where you could get away from it all (except from the mosquitoes, which also seem to have great fondness for the place).

It’s still that spot.
Read More

Florida’s Gulf Coast: Hotels, restaurants and things to do

Posted on December 15, 2023
By Alicia Watts, Cosmopolitan
Cabbage Key, Reviews, Tarpon Lodge

John Coletti//Getty Images

Look no further for a relaxing, wholesome and feel-good trip

If you’re a fan of low-key, chain-free restaurants and hotels, protected wildlife, island hopping around secluded beaches and making real memories in a slice of paradise, Florida’s Gulf Coast could be calling your name. Here’s our travel guide of the best places to stay, where to eat and drink and what to do while you’re there. Basically, here’s what your adventure could look like.

Read More

1 2 … 6

Book Your Stay With Us Today

Your Island Getaway Awaits

Give Us A Call

Our staff is standing by to help you book your stay and answer any questions you may have about your relaxing island getaway. (239) 283-2278