After spending a beautiful sunny morning shell hunting on the beach, we love to hop on the golf cart and head to ‘The Loose Caboose’ for lunch. The Loose Caboose is one of the best Boca Grande restaurants. The food is great with a very good variety of menu selections. The restaurant is locally owned and operated and you truly get a feeling of ‘Old Florida’.
In addition to the great food, the restaurants location is perfect with shops and beach access within walking distance.
Wonderful Food
The food is truly wonderful and The Loose Caboose has a great menu. Everyone should be able to find something to eat, even someone that doesn’t like seafood. The lunch menu has burgers, wings, soups, salads, sandwiches, wraps, fish baskets, shrimp baskets, chicken baskets, desserts, etc. The dinner menu is different than lunch but there is still a great selection.
Entrees
I must admit that the first 2 entrée’s we tried were so wonderful that we have never tried any other entrees. However, we have talked to other diners and received great reviews on several of the other menu items.
My personal favorite entrée is the fried grouper basket. The fish is fresh local caught and is absolutely fantastic! The menu states ‘caught locally and delivered daily’. Once you try the fish, you know this statement is true. I have not eaten fish this great since my grandmother cooked fresh fish immediately after my grandfather caught and cleaned the fish.
The fried shrimp basket is also a favorite of mine. The shrimp basket comes in a very close second to the grouper basket. Both baskets are served with fries that are golden brown and delicious.
Appetizers
We have tried several appetizers as well. We loved the onion rings and fried green tomatoes. The Conch fritters weren’t my favorite, but were still very good.
Desserts
We didn’t think our ‘Loose Caboose’ food experience could get any better until we decided to try the key lime pie. This is the best key lime pie that either of us has ever eaten. And we know our key lime pies. We usually split a piece of key lime pie for dessert, splitting to cut calories. However, we often end up going back in the afternoon to split another piece of the pie (so much for calorie cutting).
As well as the key lime pie, The Loose Caboose serves homemade ice cream that is made on the premise. There are several flavors to choose from and you can choose cone or cup. Every ice cream that we have tried is wonderful. If you only want dessert with no lunch, there is a side entrance to the restaurant where you can see the ice creams.
Here is The Loose Caboose website for the full menu.
Perfect Location
Once you get to downtown Boca Grande, you can’t miss the restaurant. Look for the building surrounded by palm trees, flowers, and a large patio. The restaurant has a great ‘Old Florida’ feel and is located inside a former train depot.
The Loose Caboose is family friendly and also has pet friendly dining (the large patio). Inside air-conditioned dining is available, but we love to sit on the patio and watch the world go by. Most of the patio tables have umbrellas and are well shaded.
View From the Patio
Since the restaurant is across the street from the post office on one side and Hudson’s grocery on the other, there is a lot of interesting golf cart traffic. We never cease to be amused by all of the golf carts parked outside the restaurant. Most of the residents have decorated their golf carts and many take their dog(s) along for the ride. There are usually several dogs dining with their owners on the patio. The dogs are always well behaved and a lot of fun to watch.
After Lunch
The beach is only a few blocks up the street from the restaurant. There are several wonderful shops in the area. One of our favorites is Fresh Produce clothing. They have very comfortable but beautiful beach clothing. There is also a great path beside the restaurant for a stroll by the old rail-road tracks.
This is a delightful place to park your golf cart, eat to your hearts content, and spend the afternoon enjoying life.
Hope you’ll be able to visit Gasparilla Island and give The Loose Caboose a try.
Happy Eating!
Boca Grande Loose Caboose Info
433 4th St., Boca Grande FL
The restaurant is open for lunch every day and dinner seasonally.
941-964-0440
Other Boca Grande Restaurant Options
There are several other great Boca Grande restaurants. We have enjoyed eating at The Pink Elephant, Gasparilla Inn, PJ’s seafood grille, South Beach, and The Outlet at the Innlet. We’ll wait until our next Boca Grande adventure for reviews of the other restaurants.