cip's place

cips was our first dining experince on sanible and even though we found places we liked better, cips was relaxing and the menu solid. we dined outside and enjoyed the view, the wine and the menu. the fish was a bit dry but the wait staff was attentive and we enjoyed the experience

we had a great dinner on the beautiful side outdoor terrace. very good food and service with lovely atmosphere. prices reasonable with selections from fine to casual food on dinner menu.

not for people dining alone. i wanted to try out this new restaurant before the arrival of large family groups, so i went to lunch alone. the hostess was no where to be found, and when she showed up, it was to play with the dog of a guest a few tables down from the entrance. she only looked up after giving her attention to a man in an ace hardware store shirt who passed me, came back, and asked if i'd been helped. he finally got the hostess' attention by calling her name, and literally waving his arms to flag her down. no apology from her for keeping me waiting or even a light comment about being charmed by the dog.

i was finally seated, but ignored for quite some time, long past the point when simply enjoying the ambiance was enough. during this time, a table of four beside me was attended by two wait staff and another woman, perhaps the owner/manager, who looked over at me, but didn't speak or make any effort to get my wait person. when the waitress did come by, she was somewhat apologetic, and took my order. once served, i might as well have been invisible as i watched the manager visit other tables to chat with the guests. i finally flagged down my waitress, long after i had run out of anything to drink, and requested a refill and a check, fearing that i might not have the chance again. when i left, i was apparently still invisible as neither the hostess nor manager i passed bothered to look up from planning the evening's seating to say, "come back and see us" or any other appropriate comment.

i would be appalled at being treated this way in any restaurant. i am amazed that this would be the behavior of people just going into business. the food may be outstanding as another reviewer suggested, but no food is good enough to tolerate being ignored.

my family and i have been staying on sanibel for almost 20 years. we've seen restaurants come and go, some good, others not. i cannot remember being treated so poorly in any of them. in fact, i've been making a point to register how i've been treated, whether alone or with others, and to this day, cip's place holds the record for the worst.

so, if you're eating alone, find some other places; there are many options. cip's place should be ignored, just as they ignore single diners.

cip's is perfect. cip's place is the perfect restaurant to capture the goodness that is so special about old sanibel. first, fabulous and spacious seating on an open air porch. second, outstanding, from-scratch food, made by a real live trained chef, who is also co-owner with his wife --and it shows. and third, the only place on sanibel where they want you to linger, happily eating great food more than they want to flip the table.

cips is bright and peaceful, with tables widely spaced along a huge l-shaped porch, all of which opens to the gardens. (i did not eat inside, but then again, i think they had moved the tables to the porch because almost no one was eating inside.)

the food was fabulous, ok; 95% was fabulous, 5% so-so. among my other judge's quirks, i judge restaurants by cole slaw, because any place that makes cole slaw sparkle with freshness is really on top of the game--and cips had the absolute best cole slaw i have ever eaten. and true to form, everything else had that same home-made-by-a-chef-who-really-knows-how-to-cook taste.

jane's fish tacos were loaded with that morning's snapper and a home-made smokey ancho pepper salsa that they should bottle and sell. i had a grouper blt. grouper was sauteed, not deep fried, and the avodado mayo had a great bite. dessert was carrot cake, with both cream cheese frosting and real vanilla whipped cream. the carrot cake was ok, but lacked sparke, spice, nuts, and maybe even pineapple--but then again, maybe it was just a different carrot cake recipe.

dinner started with two salads: the rebel roquette and spinach salad. the beets were clearly roasted and the nuts clearly toasted on site, the dressings made from scratch, the beu cheese well selected. not one bite remained on our plates. the rolls were also scratch from a local baker--that warm molasses roll that grandma used to make. my entre ponce de leon zarzuela was recommened by the owner chef. florida seafood in a wonderful warm roasted pepper broth. four stars. jane had crab cakes, which were only so-so, but then again, crab cakes are seldom great. dessert was key lime pie, only because every place on sanibel has to have a key lime pie--fortunately, cip's makes a great scratch key lime pie wiht a thin graham cracker and butter and cinamon crust--but then again it is just key lime pie.

cip's has only been open for a couple of months. service is good, but will get stressed on nights when they are busy. only one table showed some impatience for service, all of the others were delighted to just sit and enjoy old sanibel.

unlike every other sanibel restaurant, we were able to eat in peace, quiet, and at our own pace. this is the only sanibel restaurant where i have wanted to sit leidurely for another glass of ice tea at noon and wine at dinner. and i dearly wish i was sitting on their porch right now.

interesting thoughts about cip's by a foody. cip's is a new retaurant. they have the setting and the skill set necessary to become the absolute best restaurant on the island by doing more simple but great dishes (think fish tacos that get four stars) and a spanish fish stew (also four stars). or, they can go the bbq pork and crb cake route, nothing special, just done well in a really special atmosphere. i hope they go for upscale food in the best atmosphere on the island.

bona fides: i have time-shared on sanibel for 20 years and eaten in almost every sanibel restaurant at one time or another. second, we ate twice at cips, once for lunch and once for dinner. third, we talked with the staff both on and off site, and we talked with the husband-wife team of chef __ and front-of -the-house allison. and fourth, we sent at least three other groups there during our visit and heard only great comments.

drbobleeson