Restaurant Review – The Launch in La Belle

Took a drive in the country to go to The Launch Restaurant in La Belle. I drove east on 80 to the street that the Alva post office is on, made a left, drove past the post office and made a right at the stop sign to take 78 east for the rest of the way. What a nice drive in the country! Much more pleasant than driving west on 80 and then going south into the traffic mayhem of Ft Myers proper. The destination is part of the beautiful La Belle Yacht Club located right on the Caloosahatchee River. We watched the draw bridge go up as a tug boat went by! Made my day!

This was our first time here and it took us a while to find the restaurant. We apparently parked in the motel parking lot. We couldn’t see any buildings clearly marked as the restaurant, so we strolled around the area until, by the process of elimination, we came upon the restaurant. Its a small dinning room inside. Three tables of five and a long hightop table with single seats looking towards the river. Out on the river is an open air bar that looks brand new! We thought it was to hot outside, so we opted to eat inside. We were the only table in there for a while. It was 12:30 pm on a Wednesday. Where was everybody? When we finished, we walked down to the open air bar and that’s where the people were! We’ll be there too the next time we go!

So what did we eat. They had fish and chips on the menu which I will probably get the next time, but this time I was ready for a burger. And so was my wife. I got the double patty burger with jack cheese and thick cut bacon and fries. It was $18, but you got your money’s worth. I couldn’t finish it. I do wish there was some lettuce, tomato and red onion on it for texture and crunch. I was worried that the thick cut bacon would bust a tooth, but not a problem. It was crispy, not hard, and delicious. The fries were excellent. They have a coating on them that gives them an extra crispy exterior. My wife got a burger that comes with an egg on top. Since she doesn’t like eggs, she asked for it on the side and gave it to me. The egg was cooked perfectly, runny yolk, egg whites cooked through. My wife liked the burger, but not the cole slaw. I didn’t even try the cole slaw because it had pineapple in it. I like pineapple, but I just didn’t want to pineapple up my taste buds while eating a burger. Maybe with a pineapple ham pizza! Just kidding! I don’t like those either.

Each burger plate was garnished with an orchid flower. Orchids are edible, but they are pretty tasteless. I went through a phase when we owned restaurants to garnish with orchids. Nobody ate them. So I stopped and saved myself a few bucks. I suggest they do the same. Really? An orchid on a burger plate? Maybe put them on something more upscale?

The service was excellent. Our waitress was born and has lived in La Belle all her life. She was very enthusiastic about the restaurant and the food, so we joined the rewards program!

Anyway, all in all, it was good! We’ll be going back. Maybe to play Music Bingo! I posted their schedule for August on the Hampton Lakes Herald Facebook Page. Check it out!