Restaurants near Lilsis by the Lake

To start with, the food is largely amazing. The lettuce wedge salad is a triumph. The linguini with lobster and truffle cream was magnificent: al dente but not undercooked, and a lobster tail the size of my forearm. So, too, the double cut lamb chops — done Moroccan style, with sumptuously subtle spices and roasted marble potatoes, carrots and Brussels sprouts with cold yogurt, it was sublime to the point of saying it’s the best I’ve had. However: The ribeye, admittedly a fatty cut of meat best cooked medium well to ensure it melts into the sinew, was a little too — easily a third of the cut was blubber. The mac and cheese that comes with it is too rich by half, although the broccolini was perfect tender crisp and charred just right. Overall, 4 and a half stars. The only issue here is ambiance. Dining outside is heaven: Shockingly picturesque view of the bay, gorgeous sunset. The inside is modern and sleek, but it really suffers from being a slave to the the name of the place: It has an actual banyan tree inside which, sure, is striking. But the resulting architecture means super high ceilings and lots more surface areas on which sound will endlessly bounce. Inside it is loud. Very loud to the point where it’s a bit hard to hold conversation if you’re middle aged and certainly impossible for older folks to discern what’s being said. All of which is to say: Go, but try and get an outdoor patio table. Oh, and the prices are beyond reasonable. A meal of this quality and this waterfront location in Venice or Sarasota will set you back 2 or three times as much. Dinner for three was $150 before tip, excluding gratuity and without cocktails or wine. Overall, 4.5 stars owing to the challenging interior acoustics and the botched ribeye steak, & a slow kitchen. But forgive that, & it’s a 6 star gem a mere 19 minutes from the oversubscribed town of Venice. My advice is: Make the trip. You can always go to the Crow’s Nest to be mistreated & taken for granted some other day!

Great evening start to finish. Service was excellent. Mussels appetizer clearly a winner! Duck and Pork entrees both superb Wish we had had room for dessert. Wonderful for a special occasion and worth the drive. Fun meeting the Chef. She has a passion for her work! And She is from Connecticut!

We love going to the Captains table. Went there for Cal time Day and our Anniversary yesterday. Kemar was awesome as usual greeting us and so very kind. Always smiling. Cindy our waitress energetic as usual. We just love going there. We feel they are like family when we are there Everyone else there is nice and kind. We just love going there

We were met by a friendly host and quickly were seated. Make a reservation because their customers are loyal all the tables were full. The food was amazing. Meatballs, antipasto salad, their homemade balsamic dressing was the best! So many specials to choice from, you can not go wrong. We finished dinner with a slice of lemon cello cake. We will be returning!

Red Lobster cheddar biscuits! Need I say anymore? The biscuits were great and so was our meal. We ordered the steak and lobster and everything tasted great. The service was outstanding. Our server did a super job to ensure we had an extraordinary dining experience.