Big Bites by the Bay
March, 2006 By Marsha Fottler - Gulfshore Life

When it comes to Stoney's Steakhouse at Bayfront, you have to think big. From the plush, heavy high-back chairs to the sizable dinner portions to the full wine list, the place is a grand indulgence where you can enjoy enormous lobster-stuffed mushrooms before a plentitude of entree options while indulging in a $7,000 magnum of Chateau Petrus Pomerol. Large, comfortable and chic, Stoney's is all about big-time, big- city enjoyment.

Kevin Stoneburner, the restaurant's namesake, is a Naples developer and a founder of Bayfront, a colorful waterside complex of condominiums, restaurants and retail emporiums. Stoney's general manager, Anthony Fazio, oversees the prodigious wine list that is mostly Californian and French, and the executive chef is Christopher Blough, whom you'll spy in the semi-open kitchen or circulating in the dining room where he carves juicy-meaty-fatty prime rib tableside or assembles fiery desserts such as bananas Foster.

Besides the usual steak offerings (the meat is high quality and properly cooked), the menu excels in classic dishes both haute and of the comfort-food variety. Options include individual beef Wellingtons as well as meatloaf and chicken divan, Atlantic salmon, prime rib, steak au poivre, veal porterhouse, free-range stuffed chicken and grouper as well as a lovely surf-and-turf platter. With steaks you may choose among four sauces for an extra fee, but all entrees come with a choice of potato and salad. Entrees range from $30 to $50, excluding extra sides such as the lightly battered onion rings (which I recommend), wine or dessert. For a corkage fee, guests may bring their own wines with them.

Appetizers ($9 - $17) are primarily in the classic cuisine category and include traditional escargot (tasty, but not garlicky enough for me), lobster bisque, shrimp cocktail with huge shrimp, mussels, oysters Rockefeller and French onion soup. Seared ahi tuna is a nod to more modern fare.

The decor at Stoney's is comfortably lavish with dark wood paneling and trim, exposed pale stone, a copper-colored tin ceiling and bold contemporary art in gold Old Master frames. There's a mural in the bar opposite the entrance worth enjoying and you can eat in the bar area, although the live entertainment and hard-surface flooring make it a noisy option. The dining rooms are laid with white cloths and napkins and enhanced with candlelight and soft mood lighting paired with a dark floral patterned carpet that absorbs sound for a quiet and intimate experience. Dress is resort-casual, which does not mean shorts. You're not likely to see children at Stoney's; it's a grown-up kind of place.

Service by a uniformed staff is up to the standards of the food and decor. Expect plenty of personal attention, but none of it hovering.

Maybe Naples didn't exactly need or crave another steakhouse. But it's fortunate that Kevin Stoneburner saw the bigger picture. There's always room for quality.

Stoney's Steakhouse 403 Bayfront Place, Naples. (239) 435-9353. Dinner: nightly 4:30 p.m. - 11 p.m. Live entertainment in the bar on weekends. Credit cards. Reservations recommended. Valet parking. Wheelchair accessible.