This Colorful 3-Story Florida Restaurant Is A Vintage-Filled Time Capsule That's Still Drawing Crowds
When it comes to restaurants with fun, whimsical decor, it doesn't get much more unique than The Bubble Room on Captiva Island in Florida. Opened in 1979 by the Farqhuarson family, this three-story gem was once a family home. Today, the restaurant is truly one of a kind, boasting colorful accents, vintage holiday decor, and antiques from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, including model trains.
Although The Bubble Room was shut down for nearly three years due to hurricanes in the area, it reopened in July 2025 and has been providing guests with memorable experiences ever since. Whether you decide to eat outside on one of its painted tables or venture over the yellow brick patio and through the front doors, The Bubble Room and its staff (outfitted in Boy Scout-inspired uniforms) are ready to serve you — and entertain you.
Inside the restaurant are plenty of unique seating options, including booths with tabletops featuring vintage artifacts and chandeliers hanging above, a trolley car with a deep sea diving suit nearby, and an antique love seat. There's also plenty of seating in the bar area, which features the restaurant's signature bubble string lights. Meanwhile, on just about every wall are photos of Hollywood actors of the past, license plates, and old advertisements. One room is even dedicated entirely to Christmas decorations.
What's for dinner (or lunch)?
The Bubble Room is open for both lunch and dinner, and has a full bar. Its menu includes everything from soups and salads to sandwiches and steaks. Of course, being situated on an island in the Gulf of Mexico and just a short walk from the beach, there's plenty of seafood appetizers, like tuna tartare and blackened shrimp crostini, and fish dinners that feature filets like mahi and salmon. Plus, all entrees come with sticky buns and several pieces of warm Bubble bread, which is an Italian cheesy bread that's garnered so much attention that many have tried to recreate the recipe.
The Bubble Room's cocktail menu also stands out with fun names like the If You Like Pina Coladas, which features pineapple juice, rum, strawberries, and coconut colada mix, served in a fresh pineapple. There's also the Pink Flamingo, which includes rum, blackberry brandy, banana liqueur, strawberries, bananas, and cream. The drink menu even has Shirley Temple and Roy Rogers mocktails for kids.
The Bubble Room customers can't get enough of its cakes
On Yelp, customers rave over not only the food and service, but the wild decor of The Bubble Room, including its old-school jukeboxes and toy machines. "The atmosphere alone is worth the trip; it will blow your mind," someone declared. Others said the "ambiance is one of a kind" and that you "gotta see this place for yourself."
More often than not, people mentioned also The Bubble Room's cakes in their reviews. Among the selection of 10 options, there's classics like Key lime pie and New York cheesecake, as well as a French Chocolate Torte, Buttercrunch Ice Cream Pie, and White Christmas Cake.
"A fun, eclectic, not-to-miss experience on Captiva! Service was great as well as the food! Don't leave without a piece of orange crunch cake," one person wrote. Another said The Bubble Room's cakes are the best in the state. "The dessert is why you came there ... Seriously, legit could come here and just have cake," they shared.
If you can't make it all the way to Florida to pay this place a visit, you'll be happy to learn the venue ships cakes nationwide, including its legendary Orange Crunch Cake, Red Velvet Cake, Chocolate Cake, and Jamaican Rum Cake through Goldbelly. Additionally, Goldbelly, which ships plenty of food worth a splurge, offers non-food items from The Bubble Room, like T-shirts, coffee mugs, and sets of its signature bubble lights.