Southwest Florida, as do many areas, has an ever-changing restaurant scene with new restaurants opening yearly. It’s easy to forget some of the more established places, even those that have outstanding food.
Fat Katz Sports Bistro (FK) could be one of these. FK bills itself as a sports bistro. On a recent visit, they seemed much more of a bistro than a sports bar.
What is a bistro you may ask? The more classical definition is a small restaurant serving moderately priced meals along with adult beverages.
Besides being a sort of non-sports bar sports bar, FK is a bit off the beaten path. Not by geography but accessibility. If you’ve never been here, it’s somewhat of a challenge navigating here, even with its proximity to a major thoroughfare, Daniels Parkway. What seems like criticism is far from it.
FK has been around for about six years now. I live in Naples and many restaurants in the Fort Myers area are still terra incognita to me. Discovering FK for the first time was a very welcome breath of fresh air.
The interior of FK is a bit minimalist, with a few TV screens to watch sports broadcasts from the bar.
One of the most important foundations of any good restaurant, besides service, is the food, and what a foundation FK has.
FK’s Menu is quite dense with a lot of great looking fare packed into it. They also seem to have at least a couple nightly specials as shown on the chalkboard menu outside.
Having never dined here, we ordered off their menu. I did not know what to expect, but unknown to us, we were really in for a treat.
The first thing ordered was the short rib quesadillas.
They don’t look like much from this picture, and I wish I would have opened one of the tortillas for this shot. The quesadillas were loaded with shredded short rib. Caramelized onion and a blend of cheddar and jack cheese filled out the flavor profile. This was just delicious. I could not believe how much meat came with this dish. Most recommended.
We moved onto the Fat Katz cobb. If you ever wonder what is in a cobb salad just remember the acronym, eat cobb (egg, avocado, tomato, chicken, onion, bacon and blue cheese). The cobb at FK had little to do with a traditional cobb salad but was still good.
The salad, served on spring greens, had jerk chicken (and a lot of it), red onions, chevre, pineapple, tomato, craisins, tomato, cilantro and sunflower seeds. A lime vinaigrette is served with it. This is a very good, solid salad that any salad lover will like.
We moved onto the fish tacos. My dining companion, literally a San Diego citizen, knows them well. San Diego is pretty much the home of fish tacos.
They had all the elements of a classic San Diego fish taco. Fried fish (snapper), corn tortilla, pico and cabbage, lots of cabbage. Mango salsa also graced these wonderful tacos served with a side of black beans and rice. I think these are some of the best fish tacos you will find east of the Mississippi. No, this is not hyperbole.
We finished with a wine “oh” burger.
This was another of the establishments half-pound patties on their signature brioche bun. What makes it a wine “oh” are the Cabernet-infused baby portobello mushrooms. Fig jam, caramelized onion, manchego cheese, bacon, sauteed spinach and garlic lime mayo seal the deal. As an old candy bar commercial coined; indescribably delicious. This age-old advertising slogan definitely applies here.
Besides great food, they also have a very good rotating selection of draft beers, some of them very unusual. I ordered a Dragon’s Milk. This is a very heavy duty stout, clocking in at 11% ABV. I have never seen this on tap, and it really stood up to the burger and quesadillas served here. They have other selections that will keep any beer aficionado happy.
The food sampled at FK was very good to excellent. The menu is very culinary dense and the beer selections will keep any beer fan happy. The service was good and the prices, for what you get, more than fair.
If you have never been here go. If you have, come back to try something new. I don’t think it’s possible for FK to disappoint. FK is another culinary Rock of Gibraltar in the Southwest Florida restaurant scene.
That’s that for another post on Forks.
Fat Katz Sports Bistro
100800 Daniels Interstate Court
Fort Myers, FL 33913
(239)768-3541
Fat Katz Facebook Page
Open 11AM-10PM Monday-Saturday, closed Sunday; All major credit cards accepted; Kids meald available.
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