Best Restaurants for Outdoor Dining in Lakewood Ranch

Best Mexican restaurant I have eaten at, waiter was very knowledgeable and gave us great advice

Kona Grill is a beautiful restaurant, but unfortunately, the service and wait time were not up to par. I believe we may have had an inexperienced waiter who was unaware that Kona offers a prix-fixe menu. I indicated that we would order the prix-fixe on the OpenTable app. He did not present that menu to us and was also unaware that it came with a glass of wine. When we ordered our wine off the menu, and he later understood what we wanted to order, the manager, Autumn (who was outstanding, by the way), had to correct the mistake. She allowed us to keep the wine we ordered even though we were supposed to get the house wine. We entered the restaurant at 4:50 for a 5:00 reservation. It was nearly empty. We didn't leave until 6:45 because of all the mishaps. All in all, he tried his best, and the food was acceptable. It wasn't as good as I had hoped, but overall, the meal was acceptable, and the atmosphere was festive.

We haven't been to Paris Bistro in awhile but have been meaning to go for dinner since we mostly go here for lunch. It was the perfect spot for dinner before a movie. We had a reservation but decided to sit at the bar. A nice white tablecloth was laid out along with silverware and napkin. Turns out the staff member serving us, Emma, was the owners daughter (we meet great people sitting at a bar). She made great recommendations from the menu and was extremely attentive. We both started with glasses of different French wines. Both were excellent. My husband enjoyed the escargot for an appetizer and said it was very good. I enjoyed the Chicken Normande for my entree and he had the Pork Marco Polo. Both were delicious. There's nothing better than French sauces for their dishes. We normally don't do dessert but I love crêpes. They had a Profiterole Crêpe and we just had to order it. Emma warned us it was large. It was three crêpes, each filled with vanilla ice cream, topped with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. It was large but it was so good we ate it all. Pricing is very reasonable for what you get and the Chef's Menu is a steal at $34.95 for an appetizer and entree. You can order an entree only for $28.90. Plus they donate a $1 from each Chef's Menu order to the V Foundation for Pediatric Cancer Research (a cause dear to our hearts). It was the perfect place for a pre-movie dinner and we'll visit far more often in the future. Merci beaucoup to the staff!

The food will not disappoint and the staff is very attentive. This restaurant has a great menu of items to select from and my personal favorite is the plank salmon. The space, when busy, does make it difficult to hear the people you are sitting with at times, especially when sitting in the middle of the room, so booths and tables in the perimeter are suggested! Overall, they do a great job and it is worth checking out if you have not done so.

Very good food and vibe. Service was very good too. We had the artichoke and spinach dip as an appetizer and tuna nachos. Lived them both.