Traders Restaurant on Sanibel

We went back after a wonderful lunch for dinner (twice!) Our server, Luke, was bartender as well and he was absolutely delightful. (Not to mention, made some of the best drinks we found on the island!) Highly recommend!!

The food here is consistently good. I had Quiche with house salad. Both were excellent. My family was also pleased with their meals. Traders is always on our Sanibel list.

This is our first time eating at traders. The food was delicious and the service was great.. I would definitely recommend it to my friends and family.

We had delicious dinners at Traders. My wife had the ravioli filled lobster dinner, and I had the special fish covered with crab meat, at the recommendation of our waiter. The service was top notch and we thoroughly enjoyed the meal!

highlights of Traders is the best "Chef"- Mike Patnode. He is Superb in his menu selections and has excellent recommendations and the reputation to back it up. Good to see u doing so well, one day I will be there for a stay and I will come to Trader's to see you. Joni

Trader’s is our favorite restaurant on Sanibel/Captiva, which was confirmed again this week. The Parmesan Encrusted Sea Bass is my favorite dish. But everything is consistently great.

Enjoyed The same great food that they have always had. Incredible seasoned meal. The shopping has only gotten better. The store is a great place to find gifts, clothing and jewelry.

The food was meh, and for the price tag woof. My shrimp was overcooked and gross. My husbands mahi was wet and perhaps not fully cooked. I don’t write reviews but because how much the meal cost and how poor the food quality is I want others to avoid this choice.

Great space, perfect service. The mahi was amazing. The salad fresh and flavorful. They gave us the perfect afternoon with friends.

The food from chef Mike is still good. The service was disappointing. We were seated next to a large table with 3 children even though the restaurant was less than half full. The server brought drinks and spilled beer on my wife's leg and floor without apology. We ordered calamari to share but our entrees came out quickly. So , the calamari was canceled. Water was not refilled All in all, not what it was.

We had dinner at traders on Saturday night, March 29. We have been going there for years. We had a reservation at 6:30 and were given a buzzer and told it would just be a few minutes. We were not seated until almost 715. I agree with the other reviewer, the hostess was horrendous! She never smiled. She seemed like she was annoyed with everyone. When I asked why people who came for their 7 o’clock reservation were seated right away, and we were still waiting, she got defensive and told me to “just calm down”!! She said she didn’t realize we had a reservation but didn’t apologize for the mistake. . she should not be working in hospitality! Also, the food was not very good at all! I think there are many other places, like Rosalita‘s for example, who were so happy to see us, even though we had no reservation! Do not eat at the Traders!

Hostess seemed put out to help us. Handed us a beeper and walked off.
Waitress—horrible! Took our drink order and food order and haven’t seen her for over an hour. She is taking orders but we are noticing she hasn’t been back around to her tables. Would have like another glass of wine or even dessert. I am writing this as we sit and wait for her to return…

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 4

Service: 1

We had an outstanding meal here the other day while we were on spring break. The short ribs with the augratin and creamed spinach was AMAZING! Best creamed spinach I've had in a long time. I'd come back just for that. The bourbon and fig short ribs sauce was to die for! My husband had the special which was sea bass and it was also fantastic. My mom had the steak and it wasn't cooked to her specifications which was disappointing, our waiter was also not the best he was very inattentive and that was a shame. However he made up for it by taking off two of our drinks since my mom's steak wasn't done correctly and he hadn't checked on us for quite some time. Overall we had a great dinner. The service could be a bit better to though.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 3

Reservation system is terrible. We made a reservation and then we had to wait 55 min. after we arrived before being seated. The hostess was rude and disrespectful. Think twice before going here in the busy season!

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 1

We are longtime residents of Sanibel. Just want you to know that there are much better places to dine on the island than Traders.
The food is good, but overpriced. They mark up their wines by more than 4X the retail price. The type of fish featured on the menu is usually not what you are actually served.
The biggest issue is reservations. Over Christmas we waited over an hour past our reservation time for our table. We tried dining there again a few days ago and were seated over 45 minutes past our reservation time. We didn’t have our order taken until after being seated for more than 30 minutes and our dinner was finally served an hour and 40 minutes after our reservation time.
There is never any explanation, compensation or apology. When I politely asked if I could speak to the manager I was instead given a lengthy lecture by the smug hostess regarding improving my patience. I was told that the manager wasn’t there. They have an attitude that they are doing you a favor to serve you. They are very understaffed.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 3

Service: 1