Zeke's Bayside Bar, Grill and Tiki Bar

Zeke’s Bayside Bar and Grill and Tiki Bar

Tucked back and under Royal Palm Marina in Englewood, FL. is a great little Tiki Bar named  Zeke’s. You will not find any signs on the road helping you find the way, you just have to know it is there. We found it by reading a billboard about 4 miles from the Tiki Bar. It truly wasn’t hard to find though.

Once you go into the boatyard, you feel like you are in the wrong place because you are driving beside large boats that are suspended on motorized boat lifts.  Don’t get discouraged because you will see a huge sign on the building that says, Tiki Bar and an arrow directing to go on around the building.

So as you continue on around the building, you still don’t see a Tiki Bar, but keep going because you are going to see another sign…

We didn’t give up and followed the sign and guess what?

There was the Tiki Bar!! Cute huh?

And beyond the Tiki lies a bar that is the length of the building with bar stools so you can sit and look out at the water and the boats. There are about 50 boat slips (or more) where you can dock your boat and come in for a nice cold drink and something to eat. You can also rent boats for half day or full day.

The rest of the area has picnic tables that will seat 4 or 6 people and then you have umbrella tables outside for those who smoke and then you can go upstairs where there is an air conditioned room that seats 75 people and that is normally used for the Captain’s Table Dinners on special nights. The Captain’s Table Dinners include an Appetizer, Salad, Intermezzo, Main Course and Dessert Course for $39.95 per person.

             

Ron and I had a few draft beers (which were super cold) and a side of some great spicy fries. The staff was very friendly and the customers that were there had nothing but good things to say about the food. We decided to come back another day to eat and bring a couple of friends. The menu was filled with food you would not expect to find at a Tiki Bar. Things like Tuna Carpaccio ($7), Shrimp Wraps ($9), Timbale au Taurteau (a crab meat tower,$18), and Basa Caprese($11) are just to name a few.

Every Tiki Bar claims to have the best Crab Cake or the best Conch Fritter, so that is what I ordered. I have to admit, the Maryland Style Crab Cake ($9) is so far the best I have ever had. It was all crab meat and only a bit of panko bread crumbs to help hold it together. The crab meat was sweet and moist with just the right amount of seasoning.  I even took a picture of it because it was that good.

The conch fritters were good as well, but I have had better. I felt they were a bit overcooked and could use a bit more conch , however, the conch was tender and not chewy like some I have had.

By the time everyone was done ordering, we had a table full of food. Everything was delicious and a couple pitchers of beer just made it all go down that much easier.

We will definitely be coming back to Zeke’s and bringing friends with us.

You will find Zeke’s Bayside Bar and Grill and Tiki Bar at 779 Wentworth Avenue at Royal Palm Marina off of Old Englewood in Englewood, FL. If you would like to rent a boat, you can contact the Dockmaster at 941-475-6882.

Catch us next time to see where we will find the next Tiki Bar.