A secret speakeasy hiding behind an unmarked freezer door. A Cape Coral restaurant serving up English-style tea. The city’s only bookstore. A top-ranked craft-rum distillery. Two theaters packed with crowd-pleasing plays and musicals.
There are lots of fun places to visit in Cape Coral, if you know where to look. Here are our 10 picks for the city’s best “hidden gems” and why you should visit them.
Escondido Lounge
Escondido Lounge in Cape Coral
When it comes to hidden gems, few things are more hidden than a speakeasy.
That’s why there’s no obvious signage at Escondido Lounge — a new South Cape bar named after the Spanish word for “hidden.” To get to the “secret” entrance, you have to go through a construction barricade inside adjoining restaurant Taco Works, down a hallway and through an unmarked freezer door that says “Restricted area, employees only.”
But once you’re inside? You’ll find a laid-back, sophisticated hang-out that looks like it came straight from the 1920s: Brass lamps, plush velvet seats, a Victorian chandelier, a baby-grand piano and more vintage nods to Prohibition-era speakeasies.
Visitors can bathe in the bar’s warm red glow while sipping a martini, an old-fashioned or one of many drinks that tip their hat to Southwest Florida history, such as the Thomas Edison (rum, cream-cheese foam, guava syrup and lime juice) and the Ty Cobb (mezcal, fruit puree, lime juice and spicy bitters).
The Cape Coral place follows Escondido’s first location in downtown Fort Myers.
— Escondido Lounge, 1019 Cape Coral Parkway (entrance is off SE 47th Terrace, inside Taco Works), Cape Coral. 898-7410 or escondidolounge.com
Eco Park/Four Mile Cove Ecological Preserve
You might drive past Eco Park all the time on your way in and out of Cape Coral on Veterans Memorial Parkway. The ecological preserve stretches just north of the Midpoint Bridge’s old toll booths.
From the road, you’d probably only notice the Iwo Jima Memorial statue, flags and other veterans memorials. But beyond that, there’s a serene Florida wilderness to explore with a winding boardwalk, lush mangroves, plentiful wildlife and two piers overlooking the Caloosahatchee River.
The 365-acre Four Mile Cove Ecological Preserve — aka “Eco Park” — is the wetland home to wading and migratory birds, raccoons, snakes and many other critters.
— Four Mile Cove Eco. Preserve, 2500 SE 24th St., Cape Coral. Open 8 a.m. to dusk daily. Free. capecoral.gov/departments/parks_recreation/parks_facilities/four_mile_cove_eco_preserve.php
Cultural Park Theater
A scene from Cultural Park Theatre’s 2026 musical comedy “Escape to Margaritaville”
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Dueling Pianos. Rock musical “Next To Normal.”
You’ll find all those and more during the 2026-27 season at Cultural Park Theater — the community theater that’s had audiences clapping and tapping their toes for more than six decades.
The place isn’t the easiest to find, far from the city’s busiest streets on Cultural Park Boulevard near City Hall. But people still manage to find the theater and its Art Deco-style marquee. Many of the theater’s shows have been selling out, says marketing director Shaelyn Crabtree.
The theater has also expanded its offerings with a new cabaret series, acting classes, adult summer camps and more.
— Cultural Park Theater, 528 Cultural Park Blvd., Cape Coral. 772-5862 or culturalparktheater.com
Le Petit Tea Room
This charming spot — Cape Coral’s first tea room — offers an authentic, English-style “afternoon tea” in a cozy, elegant setting. It opened in 2024 in Coralwood Plaza.
The idea is this: Friends and family can enjoy hot tea and sweets — or even a light lunch — in an elegant, unrushed atmosphere.
Everything is served in porcelain cups and dishes on two- or three-tiered servers, including tea and an assortment of scones, fruit tarts, finely decorated macarons, croissants and French pastries
Le Petit has more than 40 different teas available, including chai, black, green and Rooibos. Plus coffee and lavender lemonade. They also sell empanadas, soups and various sandwiches (both full-sized and smaller “tea-sized” varieties).
— Le Petit Pastry & Tea in Coralwood Shopping Center, 2301 Del Prado Blvd. S., Unit 620, Cape Coral. 313-9474 or lepetitpastryandtea.com
The Belle Theatre
A scene from the Disney musical “Frozen” at Cape Coral’s The Belle Theatre
The Belle Theatre gets its name from co-founder Tyler Young’s late grandmother. Her nickname was Belle, and she loved to watch everything her acting grandson did onstage.
Now Belle’s spirit lives on in the Cape Coral community theater, which opened in 2022 in a former consignment store on Santa Barbara Boulevard.
The approximately 120-seat theater is home to comedies, dramas and musicals. Highlights from its upcoming season include funny murder mystery “The Game’s Afoot” (Sept. 18-26), the musical comedy”Mean Girls” (Oct. 2-17), the Dr. Seuss musical “Seussical” (Feb. 5-20) and the trailer-park comedy “Doublewide, Texas” (March 19-27).
The theater has grown a lot since 2022, Young says. Their new season has expanded to include several concerts, quarterly karaoke nights, classes and a summer camp for ages 5 to 17.
— The Belle Theatre, 2708 Santa Barbara Blvd., Suite 135, in The Towers at Santa Barbara shopping center, Cape Coral. 323-5533 or thebelletheatre.com
Wicked Dolphin Rum
Enjoy a new cocktail lineup in the Wicked Garden at Wicked Dolphin in Cape Coral.
This craft-rum distillery isn’t just a Cape Coral thing. It’s well-known nationally, too, thanks to USA Today’s annual 10 Best reader’s choice awards.
Every year since 2016, Wicked Dolphin Rum has made the list of the country’s top 10 craft-rum distilleries — including hitting the No. 1 spot again in October 2025 (10best.usatoday.com/awards/best-craft-rum).
The distillery is known for its award-winning rum (everything from spiced and mango-flavored to 6-year-old reserved) and its popular, free distillery tours led by one of their distillers.
You can also buy rum cocktails and hang out in the Wicked Dolphin Tiki Bar (only open during snowbird season). They even have their own vodka, if rum’s not your thing.
— Wicked Dolphin, 131 SW Third Place, Cape Coral. 242-5244 or wickeddolphin.com
Flutterbuy Books
Lillian Till poses in her new Cape Coral bookstore, Flutterbuy Books and More.
Cape Coral’s only bookstore offers new and used books, jigsaw puzzles, gifts, regular book signings with local authors and more. All with a cheerful butterfly theme throughout the store.
Flutterbuy Books and More opened in 2023 after the closure of long-time store Donna’s Book Shop in downtown Cape Coral/South Cape. New owner Lillian Till ― a Donna’s employee for more than five years — had long dreamed of opening her own bookstore.
Till bought the store’s inventory of used paperbacks and jigsaw puzzles and eventually moved to a new location in a former dress shop just off Pine Island Road, behind the Bonefish Grill shopping center.
The store offers stacks and stacks of colorful books by everyone from Fern Michaels and Mary Higgins Clark to Dean Koontz and Tom Clancy ― all neatly arranged in genres such as Florida Authors, Historical Romance, Horror and Mystery.
— Flutterbuy Books and More, 840 S.W. Fourth St., Unit 7, Cape Coral. 789-6619 or visit flutterbuybooksandmore.com
Butterfly house at Rotary Park
A Gulf Fritillary butterfly feeds while at the Tom Allen Memorial Butterfly House at Rotary Park in Cape Coral on Thursday, December 29, 2022.
If you love butterflies, you’ll love this tiny but vibrant butterfly habitat in Southwest Cape Coral’s Rotary Park.
Run by the Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife, The Tom Allen Butterfly House is home to many butterflies native to Florida, including the ever-popular zebra longwing.
The place is only open during its free tours, which start at 10:30 a.m. every Monday, Friday and Saturday. Tour guides talk about the different butterflies, caterpillars and host plants inside the screened-in enclosure.
You can also watch the butterflies from home, thanks to a live webcam inside the butterfly house.
— Tom Allen Memorial Butterfly House near the Rotary Park Environmental Center at Rotary Park, 5505 Rose Garden Road, Cape Coral. 549-4606 or ccfriendsofwildlife.org/programs/butterfly-house
Pineapple Picasso
Co-owner Stacey Sawyer poses for a photo in her new Pineapple Picasso art studio in Cape Coral.
This Santa Barbara Boulevard art studio offers more than just paintings, jewelry and decorative clocks.
How about an epic, messy “paint party” with paint-shooting squirt guns?
Inside Pineapple Picasso, you’ll find artwork and crafts hanging on the walls and displayed on tables: Paintings and sculptures of dolphins and other ocean critters, jewelry, ornaments and much more.
Pineapple Picasso also hosts art classes and sells paints and art supplies.
Then there’s The Splatter Spot: Two rooms covered in glow-in-the-dark paint where people can have paint parties blasting themselves with paint guns. It’s part of a national splatter room trend.
If you want something more intimate, there’s the shop’s Passion Prints. Romantic couples — wearing clothes as skimpy as underwear or bathing suits — can paint each other’s bodies and then lay down on a canvas to make frameable art.
— Pineapple Picasso in The Towers at Santa Barbara shopping center, 2612 Santa Barbara Blvd., Suite 2, in Cape Coral.257-1161 or pineapplepicasso.com
The Goombah Pizzaiolo
Richard Holdridge prepares a pizza order at The Goombah in Cape Coral.
This popular pizza joint doesn’t have its own building. Instead, owner Richard Holdridge runs the place out of the kitchen in the Cape Coral Elks Lodge.
This is as no-frills as it gets: You walk through a screen door tucked away in the back of the social club and — bam! — you’re right there in the kitchen with Holdridge and company. There aren’t any tables or dine-in options. This is take-out only.
Everything is made fresh daily: Sauce, sausage, dough and even the cheese. They also sell wings, calzones, hamburgers, garlic knots, stromboli, hot dogs, sandwiches and more.
Holdridge, who has Italian and New York roots, has been a chef for about 17 years.
—The Goombah Pizzaiolo inside Cape Coral Elks Lodge, 850 Lafayette St., Cape Coral (go around back and look for the sign). 770-4352 or 239goombah.com or on Facebook (tinyurl.com/mtpnhrkc)
Charles Runnells covers arts and entertainment for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. To reach him, call 239-335-0368 or email crunnells@usatodayco.com. Follow or message him on social media: Facebook(@charles.runnells.7), Instagram (@crunnells1) and X (@CharlesRunnells)
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This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Cape Coral, Florida restaurants, bars, theaters and other hidden gems