Naples' Best Wine Wednesday Deals + A Bonita Restaurant Worth the Drive

Friends and neighbors,

This week is dedicated to wine. Summer has ushered in a new weekly ritual around Naples: Wine Wednesday. You know I love any food-based excuse to make an otherwise ordinary week feel a little more festive, and this one is no exception.

I'm also highlighting a favorite just north of us that's especially worth visiting this time of year. C Level may not show up on every "best of" list, but it has one of the better summer dining specials I've come across this season. If you've already made your way through Naples' usual lineup, this is a good excuse to point the car toward Bonita.

As always, thank you for being here, and thank you to our sponsor, Naples Florida Rentals, for supporting this newsletter and helping me continue covering the restaurants, events, and local discoveries that make Southwest Florida such a fun place to explore.

Warmly,

Like fireflies and bare thighs sticking to chairs, Wine Wednesdays are another harbinger of summer. Somewhere along the way, restaurants realized a discounted bottle of wine is often all it takes to turn a perfectly ordinary Wednesday into dinner plans. Some save the deal for Wednesdays. Others keep a bottle deal all week. When you need to catch up with a friend and regale each other with stories from the past few months, keep these places in mind. 

The Continental
Half off bottles under $100 every Wednesday. If you're sitting at the bar, the burger has developed something of its own reputation, while the yellowtail carpaccio is a good place to start if you're sharing.

Campiello
Another Third Street Wednesday tradition: 50% off bottles under $100. Pair it with the veal pappardelle or one of the wood-fired pizzas and you've solved dinner on a day when you’re too tired (or hot) to cook. 

The Real Macaw
Half-price bottles every Wednesday. This is one of those places where ordering a second appetizer somehow feels more reasonable than ordering dessert. The seafood chowder is worth considering, and fresh fish is rarely a bad decision here.

Bistro La Baguette

One of the better French values in town. Two diners receive a three-course early dinner and a bottle of wine for $45.95 per person. Start with the escargots or goat cheese salad before choosing from classics like Coq au Vin or the Catch of the Day. 

Barbatella

Three courses for $29 per person, plus a complimentary bottle of house wine when two people order dinner. The current menu includes Torcioni pasta with mushrooms, Fontina and soppressata, Pork Scallopini Parmigiana, and grilled Faroe Island salmon with tomatoes, capers, olives and pesto breadcrumbs, followed by tiramisu or lemon sorbet.

Bistro 821

The Wine & Dine special includes two entrées and a bottle of house Chardonnay or Cabernet for $59 per couple, or 20% off any bottle under $150. Entrées range from grilled mahi-mahi with pineapple rum butter, Prince Edward Island mussels with linguine, and Thai red curry shrimp, to blackened salmon, lemon-Parmesan sole, Wagyu sirloin, or baby back ribs. If you're celebrating, upgrade to the miso-glazed Chilean sea bass or coconut-ginger snapper for an additional $12.

Some restaurants become destinations. Others end up in a strange middle ground—good enough that everyone who knows them returns, but just far enough away that people forget to recommend them.

C Level falls into that second category.

Drive fifteen minutes north and you'll find one of the more unusual dining rooms in Southwest Florida. The restaurant glows blue after dark with textured walls that seem to ebb and flow. The whole room feels as though someone tried to recreate the inside of a reef instead of another steakhouse. It shouldn't work nearly as well as it does.

But for those who know, summer is the best time to go. Unlike many prix-fixe specials that feel like shortened versions of the regular menu, C Level still gives you choices. Three courses begin at $29.99 and are offered Monday through Thursday all evening, plus Friday and Saturday from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

French onion soup arrives under a proper blanket of bubbling Gruyère. Black grouper ceviche brightens things up if it's too hot to think about soup. Entrées range from mushroom tagliatelle with Cognac truffle cream and pan-seared mahi-mahi to Branzino Provençal and a bone-in pork chop with apple cider gastrique. If you're indulging, move up a tier for filet au poivre or roasted Maine lobster. 

One thing I appreciate is that the pricing doesn't punish you for wanting a nicer entrée. Instead of forcing everyone into one menu, C Level lets you decide whether tonight is a $30 dinner or a $50 one. Named Diner’s Choice last year on OpenTable, C Level might not be as well known to Naples locals, but it should be. 

C Level Restaurant & Cocktail Bar
4450 Bonita Beach Rd., Bonita Springs
Summer Prix-Fixe: Mon.–Thu. all evening • Fri.–Sat. 4:30–6 p.m. • Three courses from $29.99
c-levelbar.com 

Last week we asked: If a friend asked where to find the best French food in Naples, where would you send them?

Here’s where you landed: 

This might be our first tie! Blue Provence and Chez Boet both earned 19% of the vote, followed by Cote d’Azur. Here’s what else you had to say, plus a new recommendation! 

Blue Provence - "It has forever been the go-to for French cuisine. Fabulous food, major wine list, and great friendly service. Perfection." — L.

Write in! - "Bistro La Baguette." — E.

Chez Guy - "Don't mind the strip-mall location—the food at Chez Guy is great, and Guy is delightful!" — A. 

Summer in Naples has a way of rewarding the people who pay attention.

A half-price bottle on Wednesday, a prix-fixe menu tucked into the slower season, or a restaurant fifteen minutes north that turns out to be worth the drive can make an ordinary week feel a little more special.

You do not always need a major occasion. Sometimes all it takes is a good table, the right bottle, and someone you have been meaning to catch up with.

I hope this gives you one good reason to make a midweek dinner plan.

See you next edition,

Elizabeth Bellotti
Editor-In-Chief
Naples, Florida
The Naples Florida Review

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