‘Watts for Dinner’ the Takeout Edition: Enjoy some March madness at the Marco Brewery

Our next dining destination is the Marco Island Brewery in Marco Town Center. Despite ongoing construction and a pandemic, the businesses there continue to survive, and in the case of this restaurant (at least on this day), thrive.

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Things got off to an appetizing start with the mozzarella sticks ($9). The star of this dish was the marinara sauce that comes with it. I wish I had ordered the pizza loaf, but I didn’t see it until after I ordered. Next time!  

For my salad, I selected the blackened mahi Caesar salad ($16), featuring the namesake fish over Romaine lettuce, croutons, parmesan cheese and a creamy dressing. Kudos to Brewery staff for packing the mahi in a separate container. You wouldn’t believe how many restaurants put the meat on top, just like when you’re dining in. I had crisp lettuce for the first time in a long while. Also, the side of garlic bread that came with this salad was heavenly.  

My dining companion had the “Caxambas Chopped Salad” ($11). The menu says it comes with finely chopped lettuce, thus the name, but this looked more like a beautiful spring mix. No complaints! It’s tossed with bleu cheese crumbles, pecans, dried cranberries, tomatoes and cucumbers in a “light” raspberry vinaigrette. You can add chicken or shrimp for an extra charge. This salad was a thing of beauty. And the ingredients worked well together.   

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We also sampled two baskets: the fried shrimp basket ($15), featuring beer-battered and “golden fried” shrimp, and the fried scallops basket. Both dishes came with fries and cole slaw. The subjects of both baskets were fried to perfection and mighty good eatin.’

For my main entrée, I ordered the “Brewhouse Drunken Pasta” ($14.95) and added grilled shrimp ($5, you can add chicken instead for $4). This dish features linguini tossed with artichoke hearts, spinach, diced tomatoes, capers and parmesan cheese with a hint of Stella Artois. So good! For a pasta dish, it feels light. And the flavors form a wonder melody. I highly recommend this dish.

My partner in dine picked the fried grouper tacos ($16.75) featuring fried gulf grouper on a warm flour tortilla, with lettuce, cheese and a “secret sauce.” This meal comes with pico de gallo and chips or rice and beans; we picked the latter. Another golden brown masterpiece, if my pasta wasn’t so good, I would have been jealous. This dish puts a Florida spin on your Taco Tuesday!

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For those who remain concerned about the pandemic, and to be honest, that doesn’t seem like a lot of people here in Florida; there was not a lot of social distancing going on during our visit. And only some staff were wearing masks. Others were not.

If you’re craving a March Madness celebration complete with grub, you can’t beat the Marco Island Brewery. It’s nearly impossible to look in any direction without seeing a big screen TV.         

More:Hey Marco Island, looking for a place to eat?

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If you go

Marco Island Brewery

• Marco Town Center, 1089 N. Collier Blvd., Marco Island
• 239-970-0461
• marcoislandbrewery.com