Times Square Restaurant

My most favorite restaurant in Fort Myers Beach, Florida is Sunset Beach Tropical Grill. It’s only about a 15 minute walk on the beach from our Beach Delight vacation rental. If you’re visiting between mid-February and mid-April, hop on the free tram to get to and from Times Square where you’ll find the Sunset Beach Tropical Grill.

The setting is one of the best on our beautiful white sand Gulf shore beach. The open air restaurant is just yards away from the Fort Myers Beach Pier. The aptly named restaurant offers diners spectacular sunsets and the most magnificent meals. Throw in some live music and your evening meal is spectacular.

Lunch Service Too

The Sunset Beach Tropical Grill is also open for lunch with a different menu. I’ve never been for lunch but can only assume the experience is just as wonderful as dinner – just no sunset with your meal.

Great Service

I don’t know how the staff may be compensated besides our tips, but they are definitely working as a team and it is evident that each employee’s objective is to ensure you have the most pleasant dining experience.

We went once as a group of 8 people, calling in just 10 minutes before arrival hoping they’d have space for us. The seating was near the outside and in the full hot sun. Not once did they shrug or show looks of desperation on their faces as we said that table wouldn’t work for us. They asked us to wait and scurried about cleaning tables as soon as vacated so that they could get us more under cover.

With so many placing orders and not everyone in our group paying attention when it came his or her time to order, the server was more than patient. We received our drinks promptly. Soon came the appetizers.

While waiting for dinner, we decided to play Head’s Up! using a cell phone. The object is for one person to hold the cell phone against their forehead where the rest of the group can see the word displayed. The group acts out the word and the person holding the phone has to guess the word. The goal is get the most words correctly in a given amount of time. Everyone in the group gets a chance to be the one holding the phone on their forehead and make the guesses. The person that correctly guesses the most words wins the game.

Our server came by and seemed apprehensive about interrupting our game. So we invited her to join. With a look on her face like, “Should I?”, she gave into pressure and held the phone to her forehead. I still don’t know how she beat us all! We, as a group, must be very good actors.

Pleasing to the Palate and the Eyes

Anyway, back to the food. I can’t speak highly enough of the artistry in the food presentation and the absolutely delectable flavor of all the dishes we’ve had. The amount of food is just right — you won’t leave hungry.

My absolute favorite appetizer is the coconut shrimp. It comes with a spicy dipping sauce. The shrimp rests on a bed of greens and mango salsa which you’ll need to cool down your taste buds. The flavors work very well together.

My favorite dinner is Sun-sational Scallops. You can see from my photos that the garnish may change with each visit. But it’s always delicious!

I’m hoping to find the special grouper and risotto dinner on another future visit. It was one of the specials on our first visit to the Tropical Grill. It was so good!

Even the Sand Castle House Salad will make a great meal. Andy often gets the salad and an appetizer for his dinner. 

We don’t usually order dessert. But we couldn’t resist on one of our recent visits. I can tell you the chocolate cake is just as delicious as it is appealing.

The Sunset Beach Tropical Grill and Playmore Tiki Bar is located at 1028 Estero Blvd, Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931. You’ll find their menu online and their phone number is (239) 463-1028.