JEAN LE BOEUF

JLB: The 14 best restaurants of 2017 in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Bonita Springs

Our food critic eats out ... a lot. And of all the restaurants JLB reviewed in 2017, these are their most memorable.

Jean Le Boeuf
The News-Press
JLB's best restaurants of 2017.

Fifty-one restaurant reviews, 52 #3Tweets reviews, 30-some best-of lists — I ate a lot this year. 

I dine out so often that restaurants tend to blend together; a fleeting memory of twirled pasta here, a slurp of soup or a crunch of bread there. 

But not these restaurants. 

These 14 restaurants, chosen strictly from my 2017 reviews, stuck out for all the right reasons. They imprinted themselves into the depths of my food-addled brain thanks to great dishes, charm and diligent service. 

The first 10 are presented in no particular order. They're not necessarily the best restaurants around, but, for me, they're wonderfully memorable.

Search: Lee County restaurant inspections

The final four represent the best this area had to offer in 2017, the four restaurants that struck all the right notes this year. 

All 14 are worth visiting.

Start 2018 off right. 

Yellowfin Sushi

One word (OK, one hyphenated and purely made-up word): pho-rrito. That is Vietnamese pho meets Mexican burrito, an international hybrid of thinly sliced beef, crunchy sprouts, Thai basil and rice noodles stuffed into a flour-tortilla shell and served with a side of luscious pho broth for dipping. It's a dish that fairly well sums up this 1-year-old restaurant — creative, fun, fresh. Yellowfin's sushi and sashimi plates are solid, as are its takes on classics such as gyoza and miso soup. But it's the interesting dishes that most wowed me: snapper ceviche, braised duck legs and, yes, the pho-rrito. 

Reviewed Jan. 20; 1306 Cape Coral Parkway E., Cape Coral; 945-0388; find it on Facebook

IN FULL:  Yellowfin crafts sushi, pho-rritos in Cape

The pho-rrito from Yellowfin Sushi.

Doug's Seafood

This ever-expanding restaurant started as a lobster and seafood market back in 2013. It's quickly grown, taking over unit after unit in this offbeat strip mall on Bonita Beach Road. As Doug's expands, so does its clientele. Most are New England transplants who say things like, "My gawd, the pahking at the Sawx games is wicked awful," and who appreciate the subtle sweetness of a simple lobster roll. They come to Doug's for the seafood-laden chowders, the juicy Ipswich clams, and the massive whoopie pies all gooey with fluff. They come because, while this place has grown, it has not lost its homey charms, and my gawd is that lobstah wicked good. 

Reviewed March 17; 3411 Bonita Beach Road SW, Bonita Springs; 992-1902; dougsseafood.com

IN FULL:  Doug's gets bigger, better in Bonita

The Captain's Platter and a plate of lobster salad from Doug's Seafood in Bonita Springs.

Table & Tap

If there was an award for Best Restaurant in the Middle of Nowhere, it may well go to Table & Tap. The restaurant opened in March in the new Babcock Ranch development, a tract of countryside on the Lee-Charlotte border with a few spec homes, some newly paved streets, and a town square that's home to this shockingly excellent restaurant. Chef Rich Howze joined Table & Tap in August, bringing his wealth of experience from Rumrunners, Leroy's and the now-closed Summerlin Jake's. His style is spare yet flavor-packed. He cooks thick slices of pork belly till chewy and crisp, then layers them with cucumber and bourbon-infused hoisin on puffy Asian steam buns. He crafts a shrimp and grits with giant pinks from the Gulf and coarsely ground grits that eat like creamy couscous. His pate is perfect, made only perfect-er by his audaciously genius decision to pair it with crackly, house-fried pork rinds. It's one great dish after another out here, it's just the getting-out-here part you have to worry about. 

Reviewed Dec. 1; 42860 Crescent Loop, Punta Gorda; 941-235-6906; tableandtap.co

IN FULL:  Table & Tap is excellent, out there

Pork belly steamed buns from Table & Tap.

Las Delicias

I love this restaurant. Not because it's modern or cool or creative, but because it's the exact opposite — simple and time-worn and almost painfully homey. Owner William Mosquera opened Las Delicias with his wife, Maria Fabiola Mosquera, in 2002. I ate here often back then, when I was young(er), poor(er) and in need of good food. Coming back was like coming home. Las Delicias’ soups are still deliciously messy and mish-mashy in that all-the-leftovers-in-the-pot kind of way. Its arepas are still faintly sweet and thoroughly corny, still oozing with melting cheese. Its chicharrons are still chewy, like slightly dry, thoroughly enjoyable pork jerky. And Mr. Mosquera is still a one-man show, zipping up fresh fruit juices in his trusty blender, totaling checks on his trusty Staples calculator, then sending you off with a smile that you can trust is genuine. 

Reviewed May 12; 4150 Hancock Bridge Parkway, North Fort Myers; 997-0009

IN FULL:  Coming home to Las Delicias

Las Delicias opened in 2002. The restaurant serves Colombian favorites.

Poppy's Pizza & Bistro

This Yabo reincarnation looks nothing like Yabo. There is no stage, no rock albums plastered to the walls. It looks like Poppy's, like a neighborhood pizzeria with Rat Pack posters and big, beautiful, Brooklyn-style pies emerging from the ovens. But then you take a bite of gnocchi, and a second, and an eighth. And all of a sudden it's 2007 and you're in a basement-ish restaurant with some guy in dreadlocks cooking you one of the best meals of your life. Back in June Poppy's Pizza became Poppy's Pizza & Bistro, with former Yabo chef Ryan Kida in the kitchen and former Yabo manager Sean Wood in the dining room. Kida's gnocchi are a time machine, sending you back not just to Yabo, but to Yabo 1.0. The place I fell in love with 10 years ago, the place that never quite felt (or tasted) the same when it moved to the big, indoor-outdoor spot on Summerlin Road. Poppy's serves Yabo's same pork chops, its same excellent scallops, its same addicting lasagna. It's like magic, only it's deliciously real. 

Reviewed Aug. 18; 15501 Old McGregor Blvd., south Fort Myers; 689-5660; bestpizzainfortmyers.com

IN FULL:  At Poppy's, Yabo's greatest hits

Meatballs wrapped in pizza dough from Poppy's Pizza & Bistro in Iona.

Butch's Famous Burgers

Butch’s Famous Burgers, Chili & Dogs is a mouthful of a name that this funky nook of a lunch spot is striving to live up to. Husband-wife owners Mike and Dusty Dunaj — he’s the burger cook and fry guy, she mans the front of house on occasion — opened Butch’s last January. Mike’s new to the restaurant business, but his passion for it seems sincere. He cuts his fries by hand, dredges his onion strings to order, and starts each day with a fresh block of ground Angus chuck.He makes his own Coney-style chili, the cinnamon-tinged, all-meat kind he grew up eating in the suburbs of Detroit, and starts each of his burgers by pressing a hand-formed patty with sliced onions (a technique common in Oklahoma, of all places) that caramelize and crisp as they cook, leaving the meat ridiculously juicy. Butch's pays tribute to Mike's late father, and while his name may not be famous just yet, his burgers deserve to be. 

Reviewed March 24; 4521 Bayshore Road, North Fort Myers; 599-4165; facebook.com/butchsfamousburgerschilianddogs

IN FULL:  Butch's Famous Burgers? They will be

The Carolina Burger with hand-chopped slaw from Butch's Famous Burgers in North Fort Myers.

Izzy's Fish & Oyster

I was hesitant to put Izzy's on this list. Since my review ran in July my experiences there have been mixed — some great, some far less so. But when they're great, they're capital-G Great. From the Kearns Restaurant Group and the formerly Miami-based Chef Jamie DeRosa, Izzy's is a tribute to New England in a sleekly modern guise. It makes a good lobster roll and an excellent if gut-busting take on lobster poutine. Izzy's has an outstanding oyster selection, always briny, icy and fresh. Its craft cocktails are bracing and balanced, made with house-blended mixers and served in Instagram-worthy presentations. It's consistency and portion size (and consistency with portion size) where Izzy's struggles. But when it's Great, those struggles seem to fade away. 

Reviewed July 21; 2282 First St., Fort Myers; 337-4999; izzysftmyers.com

IN FULL:  Izzy's is complicated, and good

Izzy's Fish & Oyster opened in downtown Fort Myers in early June.

4 Sestras Bistro to Go

A takeout joint on the year-end best list? Clearly you've never been to 4 Sestras. Chef-owner January Nutial left a gig as a resort chef to open this little place in May. It's tidy and charming with three small tables and a counter that's sometimes lined with Nutial's scratch-baked sweets. The menu is written in chalk: salmon seared to perfection and daubed in her house-made chimichurri sauce; thick slices of her own corned beef layered with hand-cut fries on toasted Italian bread; Mediterranean egg rolls filled with ground lamb and pine nuts, then served with cool tzatziki. There are no artisan cocktails, though, no wine list, no craft drafts. There are no courses to be timed, or stems of water to be refilled. There's just a chef, a counter, and some crazy-excellent food. 

Reviewed Sept. 8; 1615 SE 47th Terrace, Cape Coral; 800-5432; 4sestrasbistro.com

IN FULL:  At 4 Sestras, a chef works takeout magic

Salmon with chimichurri sauce with black beans, corn and tomatoes from 4 Sestras Bistro To Go in Cape Coral.

Two Sisters Vietnamese Cuisine

Our Vietnamese restaurants tend to focus on pho — Pho Fresh, Pho 38, Pho Bowl. But Two Sisters takes this cuisine to another level. The restaurant opened in Cape Coral in late September, taking over the old Time To Eat space just south of Anthony's on the Blvd on Del Prado. Chef and co-owner Le Tang is the woman responsible for this next-level deliciousness. Her butter-garlic chicken wings are plump and sticky with a chewy crunch. She makes lacy-crisp Vietnamese crepes, springy stir-fried egg noodles and a rich pho with murky depth. It's not just good, it's great; pho-nomenal, if you will, and then some. 

Reviewed Nov. 10; 1311 Del Prado Blvd., Cape Coral; 573-6360; twosistersvietnamese.com

IN FULL:  Two Sisters is a master class in Vietnamese fare

Butter-garlic chicken wings and egg rolls from Two Sisters in Cape Coral.

Po'Boys Sandwich Shop

Unless you drive a school bus, chances are you've never seen Po'Boys. Hidden away in a Fort Myers industrial park, you have to want to find this place. Thankfully, it makes the "want" part easy. Chef-owner Cory Austin Hatcher learned to make pancakes, pimiento cheese and fried chicken during his years spent cooking in Nashville. But it's his biscuits that left me in awe. Alone they're flaky, buttery and just about perfect. Piled with crackly fried chicken, bacon, pickles and a dollop of pimiento cheese, they're downright heavenly. And then there's the Bronut, as in the biscuit-based doughnut filled with cheesecake, coated in pancake batter, then deep fried and slathered in Hatcher's own blueberry compote. The po' boys are good, the crepes and pancakes are great. I want it all, and I want you to, too. 

Reviewed Oct. 20; 2855 Work Drive, Fort Myers; 771-8168; facebook.com/poboysftmyers

IN FULL:  Po'Boys serves up Southern soul

PB&J biscuits, pimiento cheese, bacon, fried chicken and tomato jam.

4. Gather

Where to start? There's the stunning views of Tarpon Point Marina, the artsy and eclectic atmosphere, the craft cocktails infused with house-made spice syrups and torched citrus peels, the empanadas, the duck wings, the fat, perfect scallops set atop a vanilla-scented parsnip puree. From the same chefs and owners behind the nearby Fathoms, Gather has an ambitious kitchen. It pushes itself a little too far sometimes, but I have to give it credit for trying, and for breathing fresh, new life into the Cape's waterfront dining scene. 

Reviewed Dec. 8; 5971 Silver King Blvd., Cape Coral; 673-9939; gathercape.com

IN FULL:  Gather anchors deliciously in Cape

Scallops a la plancha with pear chutney and vanilla-parsnip puree from Gather.

3. Taverna Wood Fire Kitchen

Is there anything better than going to a place, expecting nothing, and being completely blown away? In my world: Nope. Taverna looks like any other local restaurant, until the server comes out with a tray covered by a glass dome. He lifts the dome, unleashing an avalanche of smoke tendrils that scurry and disappear across the table. Inside is the most perfect grilled octopus I've ever had the pleasure of eating; buttery soft and tender, spiked with a hint of smoke. And it's just the beginning. There are squares of gnocchi crisped in the oven then interspersed with lovely top-neck clams. There's whole snapper roasted in the wood-fired oven. There are house-made pastas (spaghetti, fettuccine, you name it) served with perfect meatballs or a creamy Alfredo flecked with fresh asparagus. That I savored all this in khaki shorts and flip flops just shows how unexpected this place is; unexpectedly delicious. 

Reviewed Sept. 1; 1227 Miramar St., Cape Coral; 257-1825; find it on Facebook

IN FULL:   Taverna is the best restaurant I'd never heard of

Smoked grilled octopus, from Taverna Wood Fire Kitchen in Cape Coral.

2. Point 57 Kitchen & Cocktails

In the guide that runs beneath the reviews each week, four stars means “excellent.” And excellent can mean a lot of things. To me it’s more than solid food and good technique. It’s about innovation, uniqueness, excelling at things most aren’t even attempting. That’s how you earn four stars. And that is Point 57. The restaurant opened in late February in a sleek, all-new building awash in light woods, white paint and cool tilework in subtle shades of gray and aqua. The bar offered my first taste of Point 57’s genius, a rum-based Old Fashioned made with 12-year Diplomatico Reserva, bitters and citrus peels. But it's the kitchen where chef-owner Matt Arnold's talents most shine. His blackened catfish comes with ham-flecked collard greens over a creamy bed of hominy and bacon that’s like a clever, Deep South risotto. His braised pork shank is chewy and crisp, his spring rolls come stuffed with shredded pork and smoked Gouda, their richness balanced by a yellow-mustard slaw and a shooter of vinegary dipping sauce. It's one stunner after the next at this place, each served in a stunning setting, with professional service to match. It's excellence, defined. 

Reviewed March 31; 3522 Del Prado Blvd., Cape Coral; 471-7785; point-57.com

IN FULL:  Point 57 isn't perfect, just great

A view of the bar at Point 57, which opened Feb. 8 in Cape Coral.

1. Azure

I don't get to go back to many restaurants. Not even the ones I love. It's one of the few downsides of this job. Eat. Write. Move on to the next one. C'est la vie. So when I heard Azure had made some big changes, I saw my chance — to go back to a place I love. New owners Eddy Garces and Lee Riley, former Londoners with more than 60 years of combined restaurant experience, took over Azure in February. They kept Azure's best asset, acclaimed executive chef Joe Pittman, in place. They got rid of a few tables to give diners more elbow room. And they themselves man that room each night working as servers, sommeliers and well-polished bus boys all the same. They've managed to make Chef Pittman, already one of Fort Myers' brightest talents, shine even brighter. Pittman's dishes remain stunningly restrained: a perfect filet in a peppercorn demiglace, a stunning risotto strewn with wild mushrooms, sweetly roasted beets tossed with cashews and goat cheese in a citrus vinaigrette. Azure's desserts are equally impressive, served in an intimate dining room that's shed its Quizno's past. I never want to leave Azure, but at some point I always have to. C'est la vie. Eat. Write. Move on to the next one.But with Azure, that last part's never easy. 

Reviewed Nov. 3; 15301 McGregor Blvd., south Fort Myers; 288-4296; azurefortmyers.com

IN FULL:  The excellent Azure gets even better

Filet mignon in a green-peppercorn demi from Azure in  south Fort Myers.

Jean Le Boeuf is the pseudonym used by a local food lover who dines at restaurants anonymously and without warning, with meals paid for by The News-Press. Follow the critic at facebook.com/jeanleboeufswfl or @JeanLeBoeuf on Twitter and Instagram

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Where the stars fell

2017 star ratings for food

★★★★: Azure, Point 57 Kitchen & Cocktails

★★★½: Yellowfin Sushi, Twisted Vine Bistro, Tasty Cultures, Courtside Steakhouse, Mix Rocktails & Tapas (closed), Taverna Wood Fire Kitchen, Two Sisters Vietnamese Cuisine, Table & Tap, Gather

★★★☆: The Gathering Place (downtown location closed), Morrone's Pizzeria, Brahma Sushi, Doug's Seafood, Butch's Famous Burgers, Che Tito's, Caribbean Flair (closed), Roy's, Mel's Diner, Las Delicias, LYNQ, El Acajutla, Marti's Family Diner, Izzy's Fish & Oyster, Uncle Angelo's, Poppy's Pizza & BIstro, 4 Sestras Bistro to Go, Twisted Lobster, Fibrre, Po'Boys Sandwich Shop, Terra Nostra, Beef Guy

★★½ or lower:  Spice Club Indian Grill (new ownership), Reuben's Smokehouse, El Toro Mexican Bar & Grill, The Hut, Tommy Bahama's Marlin Bar, Pizza Pub, FINS Seafood & Dive Bar, 3 Pepper Burrito Co., Wicked Good Deli, Ginza, Lobster Lady, Haney's Cafe, Downtown Social House, PrimaFila Pizza, 41 Diner, The Eatery by Ryan, The Doner: German Street Food

What the stars mean: ★ - Poor, ★★ - Fair, ★★★ - Good, ★★★★ - Excellent