The Turtle Club

We’re Punta Gorda residents and enjoy this restaurant’s food. However, the staff needs some polish. The hostess told us that she didn’t think she had a table available, but she would look. For the next three minutes she stood in front of us and straightened her menus. Upon her return she told us that it would be a twenty minute wait. When we mentioned the three empty tables nearby (which remained empty the entire evening) she curtly told us «all tables would be a twenty minute wait as it was restaurant policy.»
Once seated, the waiter told us that his favorite food was not available. And proceeded to tell us all about it… Duh!
And a little token, even a cupcake, would have been nice for dessert as he had asked about our special occasion (15^th anniversary).
The Turtle Club wants to be a little special, a little upscale, but it’s staff needs to be better trained. And I won’t even mention most of the staff and bar tenders wearing jeans.
They need to remember that there are two very nice restaurant next door.
But…the food was good and reasonably priced…

Turtle Club has decided to stay open this summer. Good thing.
We’ve eaten here several times and have never been disappointed. Had a great seafood boil paired with a nice Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Our server John was pleasant and helpful.

Great atmosphere, service, and food! Different mixture of seafood, steaks, and appetizers were a terrific change from the norm. Travis the Chef came out to speak to my 12 year old that wants to be a chef. Awesome gesture that says a lot and was greatly appreciated. Highly recommended while in Punta Gorda.

I went here for my birthday, and I loved it. The food was amazing, so were the drinks. We sat outside under the string lights by the fountain. It was beautiful. They were very accommodating as well, our dessert order got a little backed up, and they brought us a round of drinks on the house! Very unexpected, but awesome none the less.

This place is awesome !! Amy, our bartender was great ! Friendly atmosphere and beautiful ambience. John and Amy were wonderful ! !

This place was perfect for our family. To note, there were business people as well as couples enjoying a meal here as well.
Every course of the meal was delicious. The lobster bisque was plentiful and very tasty. My kids ordered the burger. They said it was the best burger ever. (And not too expensive). The Irish fries were yummy too. I ordered the Mahi special. It was cooked perfectly and the black bean side dish had wonderful seasoning with a touch of heat from the red onion. Gianni was our server and he was professional, pleasant and a great resource for describing the menu selections. The chef stopped by our table to see how we enjoyed our meal.
I would recommend The Turtle Club to anyone. Especially over any of the larger more commercial restaurants in PG.

To the owner:
You’ve got a gold mine here. But back off a little bit. Your fishes are almost perfectly cooked. Your beer batter is disrespectful to the delicacy. Your onion in the wine garlic mussels is unnecessary. The sauce on your coconut shrimp hides the beautiful flavor of the batter you have designed.
The turtle club has a delicious course of entrees. But you go just a little too far. Let the dishes speak for themselves. Stop trying to force the speech.
Oh. And get some tiramisu. Lol

The food was delicious. They even gave me chicken on a salad when it wasn’t listed as an option in the menu.
This is a wonderful establishment and a beautiful décor. Outside seating feels like you are in a tropical location. Highly recommended for a nice dining experience in Punta Gorda.

Food was ok but decided any restaurant that closes throughout the summer season and only opens for the «snowbirds» was not my choice.

A really nice little spot in Punta Gorda with fresh seafood, locally sourced ingredients, good spirits and attentive service. Deviled eggs were bitchin’ with praline bacon topping. Mussels were amazing. Shrimp cocktail was well above average. You should all go here. Now. Do it.

Couldn’t ask for anything more. Greeted by a genuine smile at door, treated like family by Matt the manager, and was provided exceptional continuous attention by Jacob, our server. They’ve perfected salmon, though my mother-​in-​law raved about her lobster and my wife will return for the salad. If there’s a better place for seafood, I’m not aware of it.

delicious
for our third visit to Punte Gorda, i checked Unilocal of course for new restaurants
this came up with a lot of good reviews compared to some of the nearby past alternatives. so we gave it a try and happy for that
wife had lobster bisque; winey (the bisque) but she said it was very good. We shared a mussels pot and sea harvest platter. Mussels were cooked in beer instead of the typical wine base. We both like it a lot, (and at least 25 – 30 mussels) but the broth at the end was more yeasty of course. no need for the mini-​pretzels in the stew though
the sea harvest platter was excellent & tasty with Pan Seared Gulf Fish, Crab Stuffed Lobster Tail, Oysters «Turtlefeller».
daughter had the honey and almond salmon salad: She thought it was very good, but had too much dressing — had to agree but the salmon was good /​always steal a taste). She also pointed out that the menu may be a bit restrictive.
son had coconut shrimp and fries — he loved it of course.
Service from Thomas was excellent
so overall very good and we will return, not a 5* — but has potential

So our evening at the Turtle Club was… interesting. We were able to get a reservation at a time of our choosing via OpenTable, which was nice. We requested an outdoor table, which we got. The outdoor courtyard is a great spot to enjoy dinner. The indoor ambiance looked nice as well when we walked through.
We were pleasantly surprised by the prices when we perused the menu — I thought the prices would be higher, but they were quite reasonable. We asked for a taste of a cab and our server brought it out. We ordered a bottle of it and set to look at the menu. I asked if there were any specials and she said «Well I’d normally tell you when I come back out, but if you want to know now I guess I can tell you.» Umm, yes. I do want to know now. After telling us the specials, she came back out and told us that they were actually out of the wine we had sampled and ordered, but she brought us a few other samples. After requesting another 2 samples and finding that we couldn’t sample them because those wines were only available by the bottle (with each request, she had to go inside and to find out we couldn’t sample that wine), we settled on a Pinot Noir. It was quite tasty. The wine selection is good at a nice range of pricepoints.
Our experience with our server just got weirder. She was very nice, but super unprofessional. A couple of our many awkward moments of the night… She spilled my friend’s martini all over her tray and said to us when she came to give it to him, «Do you SEE my tray???» When I laughed and responded that I saw a little had spilled she said, «Umm yeah like half of it.» OK… if you’re admitting you spilled half of his drink, maybe you should get him a new one? Nope. Same goes for when she knocked over a glass of red wine all over our table (and some on my husband). She said she was going to get a wet rag to wipe down our table and came back instead with olive juice we had requested for my friend’s martini, never apologized, never wiped down our table, and never offered to give us additional wine given that she spilled some of ours.
When a manager stopped by and asked how our meal was and we said «interesting,» he asked for more detail and we just said that things had been interesting with quite a few spills. He responded, «I see» and walked away (without refilling my empty wine glass, mind you). He returned a few minutes later and introduced Matt as our new server. It was just bizarre. That wasn’t the solution I would have expected. Matt was great, but the whole thing was just so awkward. Fortunately, we all just laughed about it… but many people would not have.
In the end, they comped us dessert and our bottle of wine, which was very generous. And honestly, this would have been a 2 star review but for that. The food was good, particularly the deviled eggs, shrimp/​sausage and grits, and the lobster entrée. I would go back just for the shrimp/​sausage and grits… and I don’t normally like grits! The lobster bisque didn’t have any lobster flavor and the ceviche was only okay, so I wouldn’t order those again.
We appreciated that they comped several items, but the experience was still SO strange… unlike anything I have ever experienced. I would definitely return for the outdoor dining and shrimp/​sausage and grits, but can’t say it was our best experience at a restaurant in PG.

Call me crazy but the best thing about vacationing is finding a dinning gem, as is this place. This place has it all, great prices, great food, excellent service, and beautiful décor. Do yourself a favor and sit outside in the terrace and ask for John. Salad, entrée, wine, dessert… all good… including the soothing music. Double chocolate martini & pecan pie are a must. #turtleclubpg

Tonight we just happened upon The Turtle Club and loved the look of it so went in for dinner. Best decision I made this year. (Ok. It hasn’t been a great year for decisions for me, but still the food was fantastic!) The lobster bisque was delicious, as was the tavern salad. I had the bootlegger combo … Or maybe it was called carpetbagger … Doesn’t matter neither name says what it was, which was a perfectly cooked filet mignon with fried oysters, sautéed spinach and fingerling potatoes. My date had the shrimp and sausage (andouille maybe?) over grits which was one of the best things I ever tasted, yes I had SFE (Severe Food Envy) yes mine was great too, but Come on… it was a steak…
Our waitress Kayleigh was wonderful and the ambiance and music were just perfect ! I highly recommend The Turtle Club to make any night a special one!

Excellent experience! The food and atmosphere were incredible. We had a wonderful bottle of wine and started with ceviche and hummus (will upload pics) and our meals were the grilled mahi mahi and grilled salmon salad. They tasted incredible! The food and service was great! Highly recommend and can’t wait to go back!

What a lovely place. From the ambiance, to the wait staff to the food– top notch across the board!
We met in Punta Gorda for dinner and we decided on the Turtle Club for my friends birthday dinner, it was the best decision! We got two glasses of house merlot and were very surprised with the amount/​quality of wine– good price! We started with an appetizer of the oysters Turtlefeller and pork ribs with blue cheese slaw, delicious.
We all got something dinner (I got the burger with pimento cheese and bacon) and my friends got the steak frites and the sausage, shrimp and grits, it was all good!
We ended with dessert, turtle cheesecake, for the birthday girl! It was delicious– I want to try the maple bourbon pecan pie next time!
For two glasses of wine, two appetizers, three entrees and a dessert we spent around $ 100 — not bad at all!
Mary, our waitress, was so helpful and polite. Make sure to get her section! Don’t pass up on the Turtle Club!

This has just reopened for the «season» and we dropped in for a drink and appetizers to check it out. A very nice place inside, and the patio tables are not right on top of one another. Had a rich lobster bisque that was very good, and oysters «Turtlefeller» which is a little twist to the old classic and also very good.
All the staff we encountered were exceptionally pleasant, and our server was up to the banter and had us laughing out loud several times. It was early so we passed on dinner this time, but not before the chef came out with a little treat to share with us — a slice of the beef fillet with a horseradish sauce on a pepper cornbread «cracker», I believe. Wow — super good. We will be coming back for that dinner soon!

My wife and I stopped by a few weeks just to check out the menu one afternoon. The nice lady at the reception desk let us walk through and view the restaurant and invited us to return. We liked everything we saw.
We shouldn’t have waited so long! The atmosphere is warm and welcoming, the waitstaff is attentive, and the food is superb. We split the appetizers of oysters and lump crab with our daughter and son in law. They were fresh and tasty.
The lowland shrimp, sausage and grits were spiced perfectly and the spinach topping the grits was great. I think my tastebuds almost exploded. The same goes for the fish and chips and pulled pork pasta. All servings were ample. No room for dessert.
We will definitely return. Great venue and worth every penny.

There are some great aspects to this restaurant and if they can figure out how to consistently deliver on this, it could be and outstanding restaurant. Overall the service was mediocre: kind but a little slow. To start, I had a bowl of the lobster bisque. The soup was outstanding, one of the best bisque I have had with very small, but distinct pieces of lobster and corn. For entrees, we had the turkey press which had the best bacon we have had (you could taste the apples). Or take had a number of salads and the common theme was that the dressings were delicious but the lettuce was bitter. I had the fish and chips and the fish was chewy and rubber. I found the seasoning on the fries inconsistent and overdone at times.
Overall, it is a nice atmosphere and I would think of coming back for a drink but disinclined to eat there.