The Bay House Restaurant

The Bay House is undoubtedly one of the most picturesque, romantic restaurants in Naples.  It's a little difficult to find unless you happen to know where The Vision Nightclub is.  (A little A-frame building on the west side of 41, just north of Immokalee.  I really hope you don't know where it is because it is mentioned frequently in the police reports.)  But it is a good landmark since Walkerbilt Road is just north of it, which is where you turn to go to Bay House.  You can sit by the large expanse of windows overlooking the Cocohatchee River and not even know you are so near 41.   Another unusual thing about the Bay House is that it is quiet - a place I can take my dad and he can actually hear the conversation!  But - that's in the dining room, and unless you are with your dad and he is 89, the place you really want to be is in the bar!

I'll admit we avoided the Bay House for awhile after they decided to replace Stu and Patricia, some of the best jazz musicians in Southwest Florida.  I'll be talking more about them in a future blog.  But we eventually had to come back because of the interesting music Bay House is featuring.  A favorite of ours, Meagan Rose, who we have heard many times on Monday nights at the popular sports bar, South Street Grill, is now at Bay House on Friday nights solo and also on Saturday Nights with her dad, "Smokin" Bill Zink.  Meagan is obviously a classically trained pianist with a beautiful sultry voice that lends itself to a variety of music.  When we walked in Saturday night, she was just starting to sing the Leonard Cohen song Hallelujah.  Wow!  That song gives me shivers whenever i hear it.  The entire room applauded when it was over.  Here's a Youtube video of her for those under 40 singing the Radiohead song "Creep":  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVhuVJTDpxw&feature=related   For those over 40, here she is singing the Etta James' song "At Last": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ7oMv63orM&feature=related  Sorry about the quality of those recordings.  Here's "Smokin Bill" playing  "Pipeline-Bumble Bee"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVg1gH9_b20&feature=related    When was the last time you saw someone using the "whammy bar"?  At least I think that's what it's called.  See why he's called Smokin Bill?  Yes, you can actually see this duo in Naples, Florida. 

Here's the bad part - good luck getting a seat in the bar.  But it's worth fighting for.  Hover around someone who is taking their last drink and squeeze into their seat before someone else does!  And guess what?  The food is not bad.  We split a Miss Roberta's Pimento Cheese Burger and a Roasted Beet Salad (with arugula, yum!).  And they even divided it in the kitchen.

I kind of hesitated telling you about this because i don't want to have to fight you for a seat next Saturday night, but i just couldn't keep it to myself!