Blue Giraffe Spotting on Sanibel Island!

Photo credit Nita Ettinger

Sanibel Island is well-known for its wildlife, birds and offshore dolphins, but it is also home to the Blue Giraffe! Designed to make people smile, this unlikely sounding animal is actually a casual dining experience on Periwinkle Way, just east of the junction with Tarpon Bay Road – you can’t miss it!

This informal island restaurant has outdoor tables on a shady wooden deck to create the tropical island feel that most visitors are looking for on Sanibel.

Photo credit Nita Ettinger

When it’s too hot (or slightly chilly) there’s plenty more tables indoors. Speaking of tables, checkout the beautiful designs on each table; they were handpainted for the Blue Giraffe by a local artist.

Photo credit Nita Ettinger

Family Friendly Dining at Blue Giraffe Restaurant

Open from 9 till 9, the Blue Giraffe has breakfast, lunch and dinner covered with some great classics and delicious seafood specialties.

Kids get their very own mini menu of favorites such as mac-n-cheese, fish fingers and cheeseburger and fries. They are sure to enjoy finishing off their meal with a hand-dipped cone of Edy’s Grand Ice Cream in a variety of scrumptious flavors, before heading for the nearby playground.

Dining at the Blue Giraffe should start and end at the bar where signature frozen cocktails, a range of wines and frosty mugs of your favorite domestic or imported beer help everyone chill out and celebrate another beautiful day on Sanibel Island.

Photo credit Nita Ettinger

Breakfast Lunch and Dinner at the Blue Giraffe

Enjoy a leisurely breakfast at the Blue Giraffe with some mouthwatering favorites cooked to order. Weight-watchers can substitute egg beaters to keep their calories and cholesterol low while still enjoying a delicious scramble of onions, mushrooms, spinach and cheddar cheese.

Breakfast sliders include scrambled eggs, bacon, onion and cheddar stuffed into a pair of mini buns. Eggs benedict, granola, buttermilk pancakes – the Blue Giraffe does them all. No wonder it was voted “Best Breakfast” by “Best of the Islands”.

After 11am, the menu switches to lunch which features some delicious appetizers such as Clams Posillipo (little neck clams cooked in garlic and herb sauce), popcorn shrimp to nibble on, or their award-winning Wasabi Kissed Crabcake with a trio of oriental sauces and a generous portion of Asian slaw on the side.

The fresh salads at Blue Giraffe are well worth making the journey for, all beautifully presented. Try the Bistro Salad – a mixture of greens, strawberries, mandarin oranges, walnuts and blue cheese in a raspberry vinaigrette – Yum! There is a Greek Salad, Caesar Salad and even a Taco Salad, so something for every day of the week.

Sandwiches and wraps are equally innovative including a double decker sandwich of shredded duck, applewood-smoked bacon, salad and cranberry mayo on honey wheat bread. The Wasabi Crabcake is back, this time on a Kaiser roll with tomato and onion sriracha mayo on the side for dipping those French fries.

Dinner at the Blue Giraffe offers burgers, pasta and salads along with seafood and steaks. Meat lovers can get their teeth into baby back ribs, ribeye steaks and chicken, but definitely no giraffe meat!

If you’re worried that no-one will believe you had a Blue Giraffe experience, best pick up a T-shirt, souvenir cup or even a stuffed animal from the hostess desk to prove you really did!