Fort Myers restaurants: From soccer to seafood, at Sanibel Outlets a delicious surprise

The clam strips are just clam strips. Except they're not just clam strips. 

They're crunchy and tender, sure, as any decent clam strip should be. They taste like the kind of thing you'd find tumbled into paper-lined baskets at a seafood shack somewhere along the Eastern Seaboard. Until they don't. Until you hit a sweet teardrop pepper with a punchy tang. Until you come across a drizzle of spicy ranch that would feel cheap were it no so very good.  

They are clam strips that are more than clam strips. And that, in a clam shell, is Bluwave Lobster House. 

Bluwave opened Dec. 1 at Sanibel Outlets in south Fort Myers. Bluwave is an outlet-shops restaurant. Except it is not an outlet-shops restaurant. 

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What was once an Adidas factory story has been metamorphosed into something chicly modern. The space is fronted by a full bar where mixologists pour craft cocktails. Its dining room is filled with pretty tables in neutral tones of gray-beige and aquatic blue. Bluwave's centerpiece is its open kitchen where icy cases of fresh seafood and executive chef Jerson Prado can be seen. Prado came to Bluwave after passing through the kitchens of some of my past favorites, including the original Dante's in north Cape Coral and the short-lived Taverna Wood Fire Kitchen in south Cape. 

At Bluwave, Prado and his team are encased by walls of glass. Their kitchen feels like an aquarium. But instead of watching sea creatures glide past, you get to eat them.

And they are delicious. 

Co-owner Sebastian Desrosiers told me he and his investors set out to create a different kind of seafood restaurant. One that draws inspiration from coastal cities all throughout the Americas, from Maine to Maryland, Miami to Martinique. After a couple of visits to Bluwave, I get it. This place is so much more than just clam strips. 

It's crisp tostones piled with shrimp and pico de gallo and just enough cheese to make things melty and delicious. It's little envelopes of empanadas packed with juicy hunks of lobster. It's jumbo lump crab cakes brightened with citrus aioli. And ahi poke layered with creamy cubes of avocado, seaweed, cucumbers, pineapple. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go back to that bar for a second. 

That bar is where the more cautious among us will pick up their takeout orders, as Bluwave does not currently offer outdoor seating — though its staff is masked. It's also where some wonderful cocktails are being shaken and stirred: coladas clouded with heavy cream; gimlets deepened by rosemary syrup; old fashioneds stiffened with rye. 

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The "Lobster House" part of Bluwave's name becomes apparent in more than just empanadas. Prado and his team make a luscious lobster bisque and a massive lobster roll served warm with drawn butter. In a throwback to the 2000s, there is lobster mac and cheese scented with truffle oil. Plus whole lobsters and baked lobsters and lobster tails served in various sizes, with or without steaks, and with or without sundry other seafoods (crab legs, clams, scallops, mussels, shrimp). 

My favorite Bluwave dish, however, didn't involve lobster. It involved thick ribbons of pappardelle, huge curls of shrimp and jumbo scallops seared just so. Pearl onions and a lemon-cream sauce finished the dish — as did I, greedily. 

As our server came back around to clear the last few dishes and drop the check on a recent visit, I took one last look around, searching for any evidence that this lovely space once housed soccer shoes and sweatpants. I found none, just a sleek and well-run restaurant that is, in fact, exactly that. 

Jean Le Boeuf is the brand under which our restaurant critics have written for more than 40 years. This article came from staff writer Annabelle Tometich. Follow our critics at facebook.com/jeanleboeufswfl or @JeanLeBoeuf on Twitter and Instagram; email jleboeuf@news-press.com. Connect with this reporter: atometich@news-press.com; @abellewrites (Instagram)

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Bluwave Lobster House

Sanibel Outlets; 20350 Summerlin Road, south Fort Myers

Price: $$$$

Web: bluwavelobsterhouse.com

Call: 239-887-4532

Hours: 4-9 p.m. daily

Etc.: Masked staff, indoor seating only, full bar, children's menu, takeout available, reservations through opentable.com

Sample menu

Appetizers

Cajun guacamole shrimp, $10

Char-grilled octopus, $11

Jumbo lump crab cakes, $15

Mains

Grouper sandwich, $18

Macadamia mahi mahi, $24

Tomahawk pork chop, $29

What the symbols mean

$ - Average entree is under $10

$$ - $10-$15

$$$ - $15-$20

$$$$ - $20-$25

$$$$$ - $25 and up