Thank you for letting us know! I'm checking out your FB pictures right now! We check in to Vero Beach in a week! So excited to see that there are turtle nests! My son absolutely loves turtles and other sea creatures, and he'll be so excited to get to see the nest areas!
Can you please report back or PM me or something about your dining experiences? We'll only be there Sunday afternoon until Wednesday morning but I really want to try to some seafood one or two nights. We're thinking one night (probably arrival night) to get pizza from the local joint and eat by the pool or something. I'm definitely considering Riverside Cafe...maybe Squid Lips (it just gets so many mixed reviews).
How is breakfast at Shutters? Can you elaborate on the Bleachers menu?
There are so many turtles nests right now. I could count 20 just from my chair on the beach today. I think that is very exciting!
We ate at a different restaurant every night we were here:
Chili's in Orlando -okay that doesn't count
Squid Lips (in Sebastian) - We love this place. It is a local hangout, so you know it has to be a step above some of the rest. The portions are generous and the view is nice. Service can be slow, but this is the beach life here. They serve warm pineapple bread as a starter (one of our favorite things). We had the mountain of shrimp (came with fries and cole slaw - and it was a TON of shrimp) for $12.99. Dh and my son both had Mahi Mahi and really liked it. Dh says this was the best Key Lime Pie he had all week.
Riverside Cafe (In Vero Beach under the bridge) - Another local hangout where you can arrive by car or boat. They have a large menu of typical American foods. The onion straws are really good. We enjoy the burger variety here too. Service was excellent. We have never eaten seafood here, but they do have it on the menu.
Italian Grill (in Vero Beach across from Target, close to the mall) - A nice Italian diner. We have always found the portions generous and the food very good. If you want something other than the typical (Olive Garden) this is a good place to try. They have homemade cannoli here too. Everyone liked their dishes: Lasagna, Ravioli, Italian Bake and Eggplant Parmigiana. The menu is quite varied here too though.
Capt. Hirams (in Sebastian) - We went because we had a new friend with us. The atmosphere here is really nice, but we haven't eaten here the previous three trips as the food is overpriced and not really that special. That being said, My son thought his burger here was the best he had this week. My daughter's friend also really liked the Tropical Chicken (she was still talking about it today). I got the PoBoy and it was obviously made with frozen shrimp and really not that good. Service was not very good. Others may have a different experience, but we probably will skip it again in the future.
Shutters - We went here tonight as a last-minute choice. Again, we have skipped Shutters on our last couple of trips for price, poor food quality and poor service. I have to say we were really surprised tonight. The food was very good and the service was excellent. We had the Seafood Quesadillas appetizer and it was very good. I had the sirloin which was tender and cooked as requested. The girls had the Tidal Wave dessert and thought that was a lot of fun. They did have two types of fresh fish tonight, but no one in our group ordered those.
As for your other questions, we didn't eat at Bleachers all week this trip. In the past though, I have enjoyed the chicken tenders and also their salad (very fresh). The kids meal in a pail is fun for the little ones. I also love the Lava Flow Smoothies - I may have to get one tomorrow before we leave.
We ate breakfast in the room, but we have always had a good breakfast experience at Shutters in the past. It is a little pricey, but the food was always very good.
I know a lot of people love the Ocean Grill, but we don't want to dress up on vacation, so we have yet to eat there (and this is our 11th year here).
There are some food pics over on my page. I will post more this week when I get home too.
Enjoy your trip!!