Lunch at Beach Road Wine Bar and Bistro

Beach Road Wine Bar and Bistro (BRWB) is a restaurant serving lunch and dinner in Englewood, FL about forty five minutes north of Fort Myers. It has been about 4 years since I had dined there and my traveling companion had never been. I have blogged about BRWB Before, and was very impressed by the food. Being in the area, I thought a revisit was warranted.

The restaurant has a small indoor bar and wine cellar. 

Interior, Beach Road Wine Bar and Bistro

There is one thing of note here. You may notice the wine bottles on the wall are all stored horizontally. This is important and a very good sign in the wine world. This is the proper way to store wines as it keeps the cork moist and stops air from eventually getting into the bottle. If you see this, it is most likely indicative of proprietors that take pride in keeping their wines in proper condition for their customers. I did not scrutinize their wine list for our lunch, but it’s probably a good bet the restaurant has a good bottle or two.

The exterior of the restaurant is where the majority of the seating was.

Exterior dining area, Beach Road Wine Bar and Bistro

The dining area has a lovely view of neighboring Lemon Bay but what struck me the most were the overhead canopies in the outdoor dining area. Not only were they very aesthetically pleasing, but practical in that they very much mitigated the heat from the overhead sun. These were very prevalent over streets and alleyways on a recent visit to Southern Spain and I have no doubt the proprietors were inspired by this also.

We arrived as lunch was ending and had just a few minutes to order before we were compelled to choose from the dinner menu. Rushing through BRWB’s lunch choices, here is what we tried most definitely “shooting from the hip” with our menu selections.

The first thing ordered was the triple beet salad.

Triple beet salad

This was one of the more visually appealing salads I have ever been served with a flavor profile to match. The salad was made from Florida Citrus and honey whipped goat cheese, red and gold beets, marinated candy-cane beets, greens, balsamic vinaigrette, blueberries, blackberries and sunflower seeds. It was delicious and most highly recommended.

We also ordered the Cuban panini.

Cuban panini

It was good, but more Cuban-inspired. It had all the proper flavors of a Cuban sandwich including pork ribeye, sweet ham, pickle and yellow mustard. What really made this sandwich deviate from a traditional ‘Cuban” was the addition of Jarlsberg cheese. The cheese was mild, buttery and tended to drip from the sandwich as you ate it. The sandwich was good to be sure, but deviated from the texture and flavor of a Cuban sandwich because of the cheese choice. We had a choice of sides, we decided on cole slaw. It was good, prepared in house with minimal sugar and mayonnaise dressing. A nice change from the status quo.

After we finished our meal, we sat and enjoyed the views of neighboring Lemon Bay.

Lemon Bay at Beach Road Wine Bar and Bistro

The food at BRWB was very good to excellent, complemented by good service and a very nice view. Although it had been four years since I had eaten here, it was as good as I remembered. If you go, I do not think BRWB will disappoint. Even better, Manasota Key is just down the road, one of the nicest beach areas I have been to in Florida. It’s a perfect place to walk off your meal at BRWB.

Cast net fishing, Manasota Key

It’s a wrap for another post on Forks.

Beach Road Wine Bar and Bistro

1350 Beach Road

Englewood, FL 34223

(941)474-9500

Hours: Sunday-Thursday- 1130AM to 930PM, Friday-Saturday- 1130AM to 10PM, lunch served till 4PM; All major credit cards accepted.