Doc Ford's Rum Bar & Grille
$$ • Restaurant
Most Recent Reviews
This is my favorite restaurant in Sanibel and I look forward to it every year! We were there just before New Years - it was my first time being there since being GF, so I was anxious I would be missing out. Not only did they have a GF menu to reference, I was able to have my fish tacos as always with the suggested modifications (corn tortillas).
** I will mention that they usually have a dedicated GF fryer, but they warned me that it was down, so I could/should avoid anything fried (even though I am not susceptible to cross contamination) **
Yes, they have a GF menu. Yes, they set my food down saying “gluten and dairy allergy”, but my tacos were not only served on flour tortillas, but the fish was lightly coated in flour. It was a slow Monday, so I can’t blame a busy kitchen or staff. Beyond that, the food wasn’t very good after a thorough apology from the manager and a replaced dish. Wouldn’t recommend.
We’ve been coming to this area for years, Doc Fords is our go-to. I’m celiac, I’ve never gotten sick, huge, varied gluten free menu, best drinks and fish tacos anywhere. I’m thinking we just might come here (from Washington State) just to visit Doc Fords!
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More Reviews
As a celiac, very impressed with the precautions they took and selection on the menu! HUGE GF menu with appetizers and wayyy more than just salads. Food was awesome! Did not have any sort of reaction at all. Will 100% be back!
Restaurant options are still limited in Sanibel, but good thing we found this restaurant! We ended up eating here 3 nights of our stay and had a great experience each time. They have a dedicated fryer, gf flatbreads, buns and many fish options.
Very nice place . Gluten free menu with a lot of option. Dedicated fryer for items gluten free.
Amazing variety of a GF menu. I got lobster roll which came on gf bun and gf fries. Very delicious
Lots of GF options. Everyone enjoyed their meals. Depth of flavor, thoughtful combinations. Everything was very tasty. Taquitoes(non-GF) were big and very tasty. GF Jerk chicken tostadas and shrimp tacos were good. Tacos Overflowed with shrimp. Non-GF fried Shrimp were huge and very good. We didn’t try the GF margarita flatbread, but non-GF was very good as well
10/10, I loveeeee when they have the GF crème brûlée
Great meal they have a separate gluten free menu. The seafood was incredible and our server Lindsey was knowledgeable, friendly and one of the best.
Our favorite restaurant on Sanibel very good food, very good service. They have a gluten free menu & I’ve never had a problem.
Great experience. Gluten free menu has so many options. I had the pulled pork sandwich with a side of veggies. Really good and the bun held up well with the sandwich. Waitress was super helpful and knew exactly how to handle the gluten free.
Open again after hurricane Ian. Another great visit to a classic area restaurant. Very nice Gluten-Free menu with many choices and knowledgeable staff. Excellent food and attentive service while restaurant was packed at noon rush. This is a top notch operation. (Same menu as Fort Myers Beach location).
My daughter is GF and we often have a hard time finding restaurants that can accommodate her needs on vacation. Doc Ford's has a very extensive GF menu, servers are very knowledgeable and helpful and my daughter enjoyed her meal very much.
Separate gluten-free menu. Lots of options and food was delicious. GF bun and fries are in a separate fryer.
Excellent GF menu, lots of options, excellent food, excellent service. Highly recommend!
Ate lunch at the Sanibel location-lots of GF options and a separate GF menu. Had the lobster roll on a really good GF bun and the beans and rice. Staff was super sweet and very understanding about my gluten and dairy allergies when ordering. I hope to come back for the paella!!! Heart goes out to the island as the are still recovering from Ian<3
Great restaurant with GF menu and really careful about cross contamination. I’m a sensitive celiac and didn’t feel sick at all
They were very accommodating! Had a separate gluten free menu with lots of options to choose from! Great tasting food, would 100% recommend!
Wonderful! GF pizza was very good as were all of the main dishes. Very reasonable on price and the server was very knowledgeable. This place deserves the 5 stars!
Wonderful experience at Doc Ford’s on Sanibel Island. They have a complete Gluten Free menu, a dedicated fryer for French fries and an understanding of what Celiac and additional allergies (Garlic) can mean to a customer. Our Waiter, Alex, was very knowledgeable and offered suggestions, told what would work and what wouldn’t. I was also impressed when my lunch was served separately from the other orders.. I am visiting the area for a few weeks, but will be back in a few months. I will definitely put Doc Fords at the top of my list of safe, gluten Free restaurants and hopefully come back again on this trip. I noticed they have other locations in the area and plan on trying them as well. Wish I could try the conch chowder, but with garlic in the recipe, that’s not promising.. ☹. .. I will guarantee you the Grouper was outrageously good and loved the big basket of fresh french fries.
Fantastic selection of gluten free options with a dedicated gluten free menu.
Outstanding cross contamination prevention. Next best thing to a dedicated gf restaurant.
The food and GF selection variety is wonderful! They try to work around dairy allergies, also. The biggest issue I had was that they carried my plate out with others and tried to lift a gluten plate over mine. I had to ask the one delivering the food to stop and bring my plate first. The fish tacos were possibly the best I’ve had, however I couldn’t eat my side of fruit because it appeared to have crumbs in it. Specify to also bring out your meal separately when ordering. This seems to be a common issue among many restaurants. I wouldn’t discount this place for that - just tell them not to bring the plate out with others. The food was spectacular.
as a celiac I'm always so cautious and this place was super curtious and asked my tolerance and allergy level when I asked for a gluten free menu. Our server asked the chef before putting in any of my orders to double check so I wouldn't get sick. If you're in the area this is definitely a gluten-free go-to!
Excellent food and service! I enjoyed the grilled grouper sandwich on a GF roll
Just ask for the separate GF menu—it’s a dream come true. Our server was super knowledgeable, too and when food was delivered, they made a point to acknowledge it was gluten free. Felt totally AOK after my delicious shrimp tacos. Ps: they have a dedicated fryer for gf fries!
They have sooo many gf options! I had shrimp and grits and my son had shrimp tacos! Both were fantastic! Great atmosphere and service too!!
This restaurant was terrific. I went there twice during my visit to Sanibel Island. The servers were very knowledgeable about Celiac Disease. Great selection of Gluten Free food including corn chips made in their dedicated fryer.
Great GF options. They take Celiac very serious. Food was very good and safe.
GF menu. Lots of options which included a flatbread that was delicious!
Fantastic place. Dedicated fryer for gluten free tortilla chips and they can make gluten free fries too in the gluten free fryer if you ask. Server was very knowledgeable about celiac and answered all my questions. I didn’t get sick and would 10/10 be back. Huge gluten free menu too.
Dedicated gluten free menu with a great range of food to choose from. I had a few apps including Gumbo and Mussels, served gluten free bread with mussels. Staff seemed knowledgeable, and made an effort to serve GF food separately.
We visited Doc Ford’s again this week, on two different nights, seven months after our original visit. We noticed a few items on the Gluten Free Menu that contain soy sauce (not okay for Celiacs). On our first visit this week, the dedicated GF fryer was broken, but our waiter was very upfront about it and knew we couldn’t eat anything from the mixed fryer. We also learned that the GF buns are Udi’s buns (seems to be the go-to GF option at many restaurants).
On our second visit of the week, no mention was made regarding the GF fryer, but we didn’t order anything fried, so we didn’t ask about it. We ordered a GF Caesar Salad (on the GF menu) - we told our waitress we were celiac and confirmed that the salad should be GF with no croutons…but it arrived at our table with croutons. We told the server we ordered a GF salad without croutons, he took it back the the kitchen, and a minute later brought out the same exact salad, with the croutons picked off and crumbs remaining (not okay for a celiac). I understand that mistakes happen, but it seems the kitchen is lacking some food allergy education, so my confidence in this restaurant’s ability to safely handle food allergies is lower than on our original visit.
Original review:
Separate, extensive gluten free menu with appetizers, salads, sandwiches and entrees. Waiter was very knowledgeable and conscientious about importance of gluten free. Kitchen includes dedicated space for preparation of gluten free items separate from other food, and a dedicated gluten free fryer only used for corn chips and GF french fries.
Staff was super knowledgeable, and even the bussers who brought out the food stopped before handing me what was supposed to be a grilled grouper (and turned out to be Panko crusted), brought it back and told the kitchen to make a new one without me even asking. Took a little longer after that mistake but I definitely appreciated it. Also, the Yucatán Shrimp can come with a gf roll instead of their traditional bread! Definitely stop here if you get a chance!
In our week stay on Sanibel Island, my husband and I ate here 3x. Our waitress, Mandi, was very friendly and had great suggestions for my dietary needs. On our first visit she let me know up front that their fryer was not dedicated due to a mix up in the fries they ordered. We ordered a Spinach and Artichoke Flatbread for an appetizer. I chose the Banana Leaf Snapper with fresh vegetables, black beans and rice. My husband had the special, Fish and Chips (Fried Grouper and Fries). On our next visit the oil was changed and the plain fries were back. I ordered the Shrimp and Crab Roll on a gluten free bun and the dedicated fries. My husband again chose the special of Grouper Tacos and Fries. On our third visit Mandi again gave great recommendations from their Gluten Free menu. I choose the Island Style Shrimp and Grits, and a side salad while my husband tried the Penne with Shrimp. I was able to try a different item each time because they had a wonderful selection. Each meal was delicious and tasted fresh. I trust this kitchen and staff. The restaurant is clean and the staff is very friendly. I recommend Doc Ford’s in Sanibel and look forward to going back the next time we come to town. #1 restaurant on Sanibel, and open from 11 til 10.
Three of us just had lunch at this location today. Two are celiac with dairy allergy as well. The waitress was very knowledgeable and the chef (a native of Mexico) came out to verify that soybean oil was ok because I handed them a card that I closed “no soy sauce” Our meals were FANTASTIC, flavorful, well presented and large. I had the quinoa salad with Mangone salsa and dressing and shrimp, hubby had the half chicken with chimuchurri sauce.
Very limited selection if you are also dairy free. Food was bland.
Very extensive gf menu with lots of variety. Knowledgeable staff. 2 of us are celiac and had no problems. Fun atmosphere.
The Sanibel location is my favorite, ambiance wise. Three page GF menu includes apps, salads, entrees and sandwiches. If you can’t find something here, you aren’t trying.
Staff was knowledgeable- ate chicken sandwich. GF bread was good. Ordered fruit as a side since daughter can’t have dairy. Went back for a second time. The first time server told us they did not have a dedicated fryer. Second server said they did. She went back and checked and confirmed. Ordered chicken sandwich with GF bread, mayo, and fries. No issues.
I felt assured that the staff took my celiac needs seriously. I had the fish tacos and they were delicious! I’m an extremely sensitive Celiac, which is a blessing in disguise (I get contamination warnings some of my fellow Celiacs don’t) and had zero cross contamination. I also ordered a coconut rum drink from the bar - delish! I will come back here and recommend as a safe option.
Plenty of GF options. A nice full GF menu which is hard to find!
My family ate two meals here and neither of my celiac kids got sick. The gluten free menu had many options and everything we ate here was delicious. Our servers informed us that they have a separate line for gluten free meals. Would love to see a few gf desserts.
They had a three page gluten free menu, and the waiter alerted both the chef and manager that I have celiac and am allergic to shrimp. I had no issues and was pleased that I didn’t have to spend time meant for relaxing educating the staff. Would go again.
Awesome atmosphere and gluten free options. Bartender was excellent, gave me meal recommendations which I really appreciated. Had a great meal, never got sick. Highly Recommend!
Very extensive GF menu...which makes my 15 yr old Coeliac daughter feel like a normal person with all of the choices. Love the Sanibel branch...Captiva was very disappointing..not from a GF perspective just it was very dirty, layout isn’t as nice and food just wasn’t as nice. Along with Sanibel Fresh, Doc Fords is one of our go to places.
Reviews of this Chain
Lots of good options!! Definitely get the Yucatán shrimp! The blackened grouper is amazing. The oysters were big and meaty, but they must have rushed shucking because they were loaded with pieces of shell. Did not get sick. Make sure you go say hello to Gloria the cat near the downstairs restroom!
Had the flat bread. It was good and no one got sick. 🤗we will go back as we know it’s safe. And the view is good also.
Separate menu for GF and waiter was knowledgeable about cross contamination. I did not get sick!
Lots of their food items can be made GF. And the staff was wonderful too!
I was this place normally has long waits on Friday night so we got to the restaurant around 5:30p. Was able to get a table right away. Loves the grouper sandwich with bun!!!
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