Highest-rated Southern restaurants in Cape Coral by diners

Written by:
May 13, 2025
Mohamed-Kareem Mohamed // Shutterstock

Highest-rated Southern restaurants in Cape Coral by diners

When you travel below the Mason-Dixon Line, you'll find some of the most mouthwatering, comforting cuisine in the U.S.: Southern food.

Southern dishes are a vital part of American cuisine, from hushpuppies to ham hocks and beignets to barbecue. It's impossible to define a classic Southern meal, but a solid one starts with the sharp savory flavor of pimento cheese dip, followed by the delicious crunchiness of fried chicken or a spicy Louisiana étouffée, culminating with a sugary slice of chess pie that's best washed down with a tall glass of sweet tea.

What's unique about Southern fare is that multiple ethnic and cultural groups have influenced it. Spanish staples, such as potatoes and cocoa, are in many Southern dishes; the Acadians, who traveled to Louisiana from Nova Scotia and later became Louisiana Creoles, contributed their seafood to many Southern meals; African ingredients—okra, sorghum (an ancient grain), and black-eyed peas—became a part of the cuisine through the forced labor of enslaved people; French cooking methods, like braising and sautéing, are used for many Southern recipes; and Native Americans introduced corn to Southern recipes, yielding dishes like succotash and grits.

The Southern culinary scene is an explosion of cultures. To find out where you can sample some Southern offerings, Stacker compiled a list of the highest-rated Southern restaurants in the Cape Coral area using data from Yelp as of May 2, 2025. Businesses were selected using Yelp's ranking system, which calculates an adjusted rating value that takes into account the number of ratings as well as the rating score itself. Only restaurants with at least 20 reviews tagged as "southern" on Yelp within a 10-kilometer radius of Cape Coral were included. As a result, some restaurants featured may serve other food items.

Read on to find the perfect spot to get a taste of the South near you.

#10. Rib City

- Rating: 3.2/5 (49 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 80 West Hancock Bridge Pkwy Cape Coral, Florida
- Categories: Barbecue, Southern, American
- Read more on Yelp

#9. Rib City

- Rating: 3.3/5 (46 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 6830 Shoppes At Plantation Drive Fort Myers, Florida
- Categories: Barbecue, Southern, American
- Read more on Yelp

#8. Rib City

- Rating: 3.5/5 (49 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 13181 North Cleveland Ave. North Fort Myers, Florida
- Categories: Barbecue, Southern, American
- Read more on Yelp

#7. Rib City

- Rating: 3.6/5 (76 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 11561 Majestic Palms Blvd. #120 Fort Myers, Florida
- Categories: Barbecue, Southern, American
- Read more on Yelp

#6. Rib City

- Rating: 3.6/5 (91 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 4836 Leonard St. Cape Coral, Florida
- Categories: Barbecue, Southern, American
- Read more on Yelp

#5. The Veranda

- Rating: 3.7/5 (265 reviews)
- Price level: $$$
- Address: 2122 Second St. Fort Myers, Florida
- Categories: Southern, Steakhouses
- Read more on Yelp

#4. The Go Go Diner

- Rating: 3.8/5 (107 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 957 Pondella Road North Fort Myers, Florida
- Categories: Breakfast & Brunch, Southern
- Read more on Yelp

#3. Salty Papa's Shrimp House

- Rating: 4.2/5 (611 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 15271 Mcgregor Blvd. Ste 1 Fort Myers, Florida
- Categories: Seafood, Southern, Cajun/Creole
- Read more on Yelp

#2. Southern Subs

- Rating: 4.3/5 (30 reviews)
- Address: 560 Pine Island Road Unit 6 North Fort Myers, Florida
- Categories: Sandwiches, Southern
- Read more on Yelp

#1. Farmer's Market Restaurant

- Rating: 4.4/5 (479 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 2736 Edison Ave. Fort Myers, Florida
- Categories: American, Southern, Breakfast & Brunch
- Read more on Yelp

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