The Bay House‘s Summer Menu Lets You Skip the 5 p.m. Reservation
Summer prix-fixe menus usually ask you to make one compromise: eat dinner before most people have left work.
The Bay House offers a summer special that allows you to dine at a normal hour. Their two-course chef’s menu is served until 9 p.m., which means you can make a normal dinner reservation, stay for a drink, and enjoy summer dusk settling into the Cocohatchee River.
The restaurant has been part of North Naples for more than 30 years, along the river off of Walkerbilt Road. It’s easy to overlook because it sits outside the downtown orbit, but the setting has always been a draw. Boats idle past the dining room, the river catches the evening light, and one can forget U.S. 41 just a few minutes away.
The other part of the appeal is that The Bay House gives you more to work with when it comes to their summer dining menu. Start with creamy corn and crab bisque, tuna and watermelon poke, or baked oysters. Then comes the difficult part: Scottish salmon with dill beurre blanc and lemon-glazed sweet potatoes, churrasco steak with chimichurri and salt-and-pepper fries, a porterhouse pork chop with roasted Brussels sprouts and whiskey sauce, braised lamb shank, or the Sea BLT—a chilled combination of lobster, shrimp and crab with fried green tomatoes, smoked bacon, roasted corn and smoked tomato vinaigrette. If you’ve been looking for an excuse to order lobster, add $10 for lobster tail and frites with herb butter and Béarnaise.
It’s not the cheapest around town, but its menu is compelling, and the fact that you can sit down at 7 PM is perfect for a spontaneous date night.
The Bay House
799 Walkerbilt Rd. • Two-course summer menu $44 • Served through 9 p.m. • Reservations recommended • bayhousenaples.com
Originally published in
The Naples Florida Review.
Read the full edition here.