Sanibel Cottage

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Former Location
1517 Empire Blvd, Penfield, NY 14580

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2007-06-18 10:31:58   It looks nice inside but the food is average at best. Raw oysters are stuck in the shell because they don't shuck them correctly - they must do this in the morning also because they're very dry. They have a nice bar with televisions ad such. My wife got a glass of wine but they serve it in a tiny little glass. —DanAndrews


2007-06-25 12:18:53   Ditto on the oysters. I had high hopes as the place is close to my house. —GordonAnderson


2007-08-29 18:14:16   The food was just...plain and awfull.... —MicheleGulliver


2007-09-04 15:59:03   Great restaurant/Great food! My family and I eat there once a week (sometimes more). Between the four of us, we've tried almost everything on the menu and have never been disappointed. I'm impressed enough with the quality and presentation of the food that I'm having a banquet there in several months. Oh yea, besides the good food, the entertainment is fun! We bring our out-of-town friends and family there whenever they visit. Thanks to the owner for bringing Sanibel to Webster/Penfield! P.S. Never tried the oysters. —RoxanneEmler


2007-12-20 13:31:44   Great food & Great staff! We almost passed up this place because of the first 3 comments but had to find out for ourselves. 3 of us stopped in without reservations on a busy night. The owner seated us in the tavern within 3 minutes after the hostess said it would be 45 minutes. That was unexpected and appreciated. I had 2 Gold Margaritas for $7 each and 6 shrimp for $3.95. I wasn't expecting anything great because of the price but I was impressed again. Having been on Sanibel Island I was tempted to order the conch fritters and grouper but went for a medium rare prime rib. It was thick, tasty and juicy! The baked potato was also perfect and the side of au jus added to the flavor of the meat. Dessert was a delicous warm slice of granny smith apple pie with caramel. I was full but couldn't pass it up. It was a nice size large enough to share yet not too big for one person. We felt very welcome here and look forward to going back often. The prices are very resonable! Thanks Kevin! —AlexProtasiewicz


2008-02-29 23:04:13   We are 3 couples that have dinner together every Friday for the last 15-20 years, usually using the Entertainment Book. Sanibel's is not in the book, but we heard an Ad and tried it.
Two had the Shrimp Cocktail and really enjoyed the size of the shrimp for the low price.
They don't have draft beer. Two of us had bottle beer, three had house wine in large glasses and one had Scotch.
Salads were good, fresh and cold. All Dressings were served on the side.
We had the Sole Almondine Special, the Linguini with Red Clam Sauce, the Cottage Grouper, the Pot Roast, the Sea Scallops and Pasta Special, and the Periwinkle Shrimp entrees. We all enjoyed the presentations and taste. Rolls were served hot with Honey Butter on the side. Everyone was full.
Renee, our waitress, was attentive with a smile. She accomodated me, substituting a bed of Linguini for the Cottage Grouper, instead of the usual Spinach.
Our table was in the Captiva Island area.
We'll go back. —KenReasoner


2008-03-10 13:13:57   Have tried this place a few times for lunch. The food was just OK. Decided to give it another go for their Sunday brunch. We were shown into a 'function room' for the brunch buffet with plastic patio furniture, fake palm umbrellas and decorative chandeliers that really stood out in this environment. We were told about the buffet which consisted of breakfast items such as bacon, sausage, waffles, mac and cheese, roasted veg! You could also get carved roast beef or pork with gravy and there was an omelette station and a choice of pastries and chocolate pudding or jello. Quite a few items that were supposed to be hot were cold. The omelette station was very good. Overall it was an odd mixture of food. One would expect a carving station to serve an accompaniment of potatoes and vegetables. The final surprise was the check! After taxes it was over $40 for 2 people. Our fault for not asking, but nowhere was the price advertised. This was definitely a waste of money for the price. —JohnCullen


2008-06-02 09:39:14   I agree with John about the brunch. It was my first time there and I was not impressed by the room they serve brunch in, or the actual food. I also couldn't believe it was like $20 per person. They didn't even serve toast or bagels! Those are must have brunch foods in my book. They had a bunch of trays of weird stuff that wasn't labeled that my mom said was chicken & gravy and some kind of beef dish. I did not try them, because they looked gross. The dessert table was nice and I had some fruit and chocolate cake. Overall, I'd rather just go to a diner and get way better food for under $10. The rest of the place looks very nice, and I might go back and try the bar, but I'll never eat brunch here again. Update 12/2/08 - I had brunch at Mario's last weekend and it was what brunch should be like... In light of that wonderful brunch, the brunch at Sanibel seems even worse. I forgot to mention that last time we had an awful problem with the management accepting a gift certificate. They wouldn't accept it because the owner wasn't there, and they were kind of jerks about it. My mother left in tears and even though she has more gift certificates, refuses to go there again. —SaraChristine


2008-06-02 17:32:49   Went here for brunch a few months ago and was excited because, well, real brunch options in Rochester are limited. We thought all of the food was pretty good. I loved the fish entree they had out. But the bagels that were out were stale. The funniest part was the Jimmy Buffet CD that kept skipping/repeating "Let's Get Drunk and Screw." Yes, there were kids in the room. We were also shocked at the price, because the initial bill they brought out was around $18. (We were 2 people). We gave them the cc and when the waitress returned she said "Sorry, I didn't charge you enough" and the bill was now up around $40. We'd go back, but maybe only once every 6 mos since it was so pricey. —MarcVera


2008-07-21 16:41:00   *What a let-down* After reading all of the wonderful reviews on this hot-spot, I was thrilled to try it out. However, after our visit, we were thoroughly displeased. For such a “select” menu, the food was mediocre at best. My steak was not a good cut of beef and everything else was just lukewarm. My husband and friend’s crab legs were rubbery and their prime rib Well Done-vs. the inquired for Medium. The costs of the meals did not commensurate with the quality of the food, the atmosphere, or the service-you’d expect linen table cloths vs. vinyl ones, glass severing dishes vs. plastic serving dishes, etc. To top it all off, we had a super flakey waitress, who tried her best to accommodate us-key word, tried.
I usually don’t have anything bad to say about ROC Eats, but this was just such a major disappointment… —BurbsGal


2008-09-25 11:44:20   Sanibel Cottage is a clean casual restaurant with a banquest room. I am allergic to shellfish, so my meal choices were very limited. I chose chicken francais and it was ok, but you can get that at any Italian restaurant, its hard to mess it up. My friends thought their meals were ok. If your a Tommy Bahama or Jimmy Buffet fan you will probably enjoy it here. To me, it was a mediocre dining experience. The interior is dated with touches of FL paraphernalia, laid back FL casual. —MrRochester


2008-11-09 03:47:46   TERRIBLE...food is awful, had confirmed food poisoning after eating there...owner is cocky and rude...would never recommend to anyone...service staff is the only positive...don't waste your time or money... —laurenconrad


2008-12-20 11:31:32   After my husband had a reasonably good experience during a weekday lunch with seafood here, we went for the Sunday brunch. Have to agree 100% with negative comments by JohnCullen and SaraChristine earlier. Sanibel serves the worst brunch either of us can remember ever having anywhere — cheesy decor, limited selection of odd food choices, staff who spent their time talking amongst themselves, etc. When we discovered (after having already eaten) that the price was ~$17/each, we nearly died. For roughly the same price, the brunch at Mario's gives you 10x the number of dishes, 3x the food quality, and 5x the server quality. We recommend Sanibel's owners attend other brunches in the area, and see just how far behind they are. One note: the omelette station and cook at Sanibel was the only positive experience we had — he knew what he was doing and produced an excellent omelette. —LePetitChien


2010-06-03 12:59:42   Our dinner experience was fabulous, Cute decor, reminded me of when my parents spent winters on Marco Island. I had the linguini with red clam sauce and my husband had fish fry, we both enjoyed our meals. We tried the brunch, which soured our opinion about the place. We arrived after the church crowd so the buffet tables were sparse with food, but filthy. Too expensive. It wasn't expansive or quickly replenished like Mario's brunch buffet. Since I can have good red clam sauce at Red Fedele's or Proietti's, we won't be going back, unfortunately. —LisaRuns