For fresh, local wild-caught crab, Peace River Seafood, a funky little shack along US 17 north of Punta Gorda will have you wishing you could eat here every evening. It’s an unpretentious place, an old Cracker house with a talkative parrot on the porch, dollar bills stapled on the walls, and a nautical theme like you’d expect in a seafood house.
But this is no ordinary seafood house. The menu comes direct from the local catch, and the owner himself is a crabber. That means fresh stone crabs in season, blue crab, jumbo shrimp — all of the bounty of the nearby Gulf of Mexico, with a little ‘gator thrown in for good measure, and a fresh fish market to stock your cooler for the drive home. Every evening there’s a different seafood soup or stew, and entrees range from $10-35. If you don’t like seafood, go somewhere else and save the space for us! Open Tue-Sat, closes 8 PM.
Peace River Seafood
5337 Duncan Road (US 17 north), Punta Gorda
941-505-8440