Island Spice

Kate helped her family in every aspect of the business, from waiting tables to assisting the cooks, but she chose a career of her own in graphic design. And for about 10 years she put her degree to use, until James shared his dream with her: to own a restaurant. "I was definitely for it," she says.

Their vision, the Toucan Grille, was born from an old 7-Eleven storefront on Bonita Beach Road. The name came from their motto: "One can't, but two can," from which they also discovered their mascot: the toucan from South America. "We wanted to create a theme that was not overly used, and conjured up images of warm climates," James says.

That warm feeling carried over into their menu, which features nothing hot but plenty of items boasting flavor. "I love spices," says James. "We can kick it up a notch if you want, but we want you to taste what you order."

What we ate: What the Kintzes refer to as "lanai cuisine," recipes they have prepared on their lanai at home. We settled in for what promised to be island-style dining, starting with the coconut shrimp ($8.99), a local favorite found on many Southwest Florida menus. At first sight and first bite, we knew we'd never had coconut shrimp like this before. The five fantail shrimp, bursting with coconut flavor, were so enormous they required a fork and knife. Even better: The accompanying bowl of pineapple sweet-and-sour sauce didn't mask the coconut flavor.

Continuing our island exploration, we selected the pineapple pork ($7.99) and jerk chicken ($6.99) sandwiches, both served with a handful of terra chips and a small cup of cucumber island salad (a blend of cucumber, red onion and dill). Touted as a Toucan signature item, the pulled pork arrived on a toasted roll heavily glazed with sweet-and-sour marinade and topped with crushed pineapple. Our server kindly brought along extra napkins saying, "It's like eating a sloppy joe." In fact, it was even messier than that, requiring me to forgo the roll altogether and resort to eating it with a fork. It was well worth it, though, and tastier than a traditional pulled-pork sandwich. Tangy with a hint of a spicy bite, too.

The jerk chicken, confirmed by our server as a customer favorite, was moist and tasty on a grilled bun with lettuce, tomato and pickle chips. We appreciated the chef's light touch with the typically strong jerk seasoning. The delicate flavoring allowed us to taste the chicken too.

Toucan Grille's entire menu, including appetizers, soups and salads, sandwiches, dinner entrées and desserts, is available during lunch. Some unusual items that by name alone seem worthy of a return visit: portobella mushroom fries ($7.49), healthy heron salad ($7.99) and chile run glazed salmon ($15.99).

We couldn't help noticing that most of the salads come with a slice of Toucan's homemade banana bread. It wasn't offered under the list of accompaniments but, anxious to try some, we asked our server for a taste. She brought us a small square, warmed and topped with a dollop of butter. Absolutely delicious.

Toucan's selection of sweet stuff-pecan tart, chocolate bomb, coco loco and key lime pie-was too tempting to ignore. We chose the pecan tart ($4.99), thinking it would be just enough to satisfy our sweet tooth. We were wrong. It was more than large and delicious enough.

A bonus: Soft drinks, iced tea, lemonade and draft beers come in a 22-ounce Toucan Grille cup that you can take home.

Atmosphere: A beach bar under roof. The heavy rain and loud thunder outside didn't dampen the tropical ambience inside the Toucan Grille. The restaurant is the perfect mix of bamboo and bright-colored linens, but what makes it fun are all the toucans. They are depicted in artwork on the walls, they hang from the ceiling, and they perch on the tables. You can even take a toucan home for $16.95.

Service: Very prompt, by cuisine experts. Our server didn't just give us the rundown of the daily specials; she described each dish with mouth-watering eloquence. And when we ordered the jerk chicken, she promptly and properly informed us of its less-than-normal spiciness. She was conversational yet unintrusive.

Power Quotient: Popular with business people crunched for time. Toucan Grille's promise: All sandwich items come to the table in 10 minutes or less.

Toucan Grille

4480 Bonita Beach Road, Bonita Springs. (239) 495-9464. Hours: In season: 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 5-9 p.m. Sunday for dinner only. Off-season: 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Credit cards.