Seafood in Clearwater

Can anyone recommend a good, basic seafood restaurant in the Clearwater area? Price is not important. I%26#39;m just looking for good, fresh, simply prepared seafood. Where do the locals go? Thanks

Seafood in Clearwater

There is a local chain with several locations in Clearwater/St. Pete area called Crabby Bills. www.crabbybills.com

It is a fun, casual place, very good food. That%26#39;s where I go, but I%26#39;m not a huge seafood eater, so maybe others can recomend some more options.

Seafood in Clearwater

The locals on the beach probably head to one of the Frenchy%26#39;s restuaurants. There are three of them all within a 1 1/2 mile radius of each other. The biggest, and nicest, is right on the north end of the beach. Basic, casual, good. Personally, I cannot stand Crabby Bills and do not see the draw to that place, other than heaping plates of fried shrimp and fish. The wait is outrageous, and I don%26#39;t think the food is all that good. For a decent buffet, try Shephard%26#39;s. Lots of variety (seafood and regular food) and all-you-can-eat snowcrab legs. For a bit nicer, I like Island Way Grill on Island Estates. Excellent, fresh, not over-priced seafood. A little loud in there at times, and busy on weekends, but I think a good meal.

Other than that...there are hundreds of seafood shacks, resturants, cafes and the like all up and down Gulf Blvd. Many are small, mom %26amp; pop owned, and while they don%26#39;t look exciting from the street, you%26#39;ll probably find your best gouper sandwich in there. Salt Rock Grill in Indian Rocks Beach is another favorite (and owned by the same folks who bring Island Way Grill). A chain that is becomming popular is Bonefish Grill, owned by the Outback Restaurant group.

I%26#39;m sure all that did was confuse you!!!

Also, we ate at a place called Cooters. It was very good, great crablegs special on Mon and Tues night! Plus it is right next door to one of the Frenchys so you could check out both. :)

Sorry...but Crabby Bills has got to be the worst seafood restaurant in the area. There is nothing fresh about it. I used to like Frenchy%26#39;s restaurant (the original, they have like 5 right on Clearwater Beach.) Last time I ate there it was horrible. As a local, I get my fresh seafood at Wards Seafood. It is a seafood market, however, they have just a few tables inside and will cook items from their take out menu. To be honest, I am ashamed to say our area does not have a great selection of seafood restaurants.

Here is a link to Wards.

www.wardsseafood.com/catering/catering.html

Have Fun!

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I ate at Crabby Bill%26#39;s several years ago with my kids - the food was marginal at best, but the kids seemed to enjoy the circus-like atmosphere. Simms2, I don%26#39;t know if Crabby Bill%26#39;s is the worst seafood restaurant in the area, but I don%26#39;t plan on going back. I just figured that since Clearwater is right on the water that there would be some great local seafood - oh well, maybe I%26#39;m wrong.

We were there for a week in June and had seafood a couple times. At Crabby Bills we had Crablegs one night and they were decent, Cooters was much better, and we went a second time and had a crabcake sandwich and a burger and all those both were very good. The atmosphere is nice outside. One thing we did dislike though was the service! It was very slooooow. Grouper seemed to be very popular down there, and my dad had a blakened grouper sandwich at Frenchys and thought it was great! Have a great vacation!

Well, ';good local seafood'; is very subjective, so that%26#39;s why there%26#39;s such a discrepancy in opinions. For many people, a plate of breaded and fried anything from the ocean suits them just fine, ie, the thrill of Crabby Bills. Frenchy%26#39;s has been great in the past, food is decent, location on the water is great. You have to remember, there%26#39;s only so much you can do with shrimp, clams, oysters, crab legs, warm water lobster and grouper. Oh, and make sure you%26#39;re really getting grouper as a lot of restaurants will pass of any kind of white fish and call is grouper.

If shrimp is the local seafood you%26#39;re looking for, then any restaurant will have that: steamed, fried, grilled, saute, breaded, you name it. My favorite ';local seafood'; is the lobster we get here. It%26#39;s very different from Maine lobster (no claws!!) and I think the meat is much better. Again, for a ';nice'; restaurant, I%26#39;d recommend either Salt Rock (they have a one-pounder of that lobster that%26#39;ll knock your socks off!!) or Island Way Grill. Or Bonefish Grill. Those are my favorite three, in that order, for good food (steaks too) and those are where I take my out of town guests (my friends from Michigan loved Salt Rock this spring!!)

There%26#39;s a million casual places that will serve you all the shrimp, clams, crabs %26amp; fish fillets you can handle, any way you want it cooked, by itself, over pasta, on a bun, on a stick...you name it. That%26#39;s ';local seafood'; to us here.

I love seafood, however, I hate anything breaded or fried. So, I guess you could say I am picky about my seafood (reason for my last post that stated our area doesn’t have a great selection of seafood restaurants.) My absolute favorite place to go for dinner is the Texas Cattle Company. They have a fillet mignon that melts like butter in your mouth and a lobster that is divine. I have eaten there many, many times and have never been disappointed.

I have been to Salt Rock Grill and the food was good, however, they really, really try to pack you in. So, with the wait staff and customers walking around it is really hard to squeeze by each other and if two people need to pass each other by your table you need to watch that your elbow is isn’t hanging around the edge of the table near the aisle (we had a very small table for two.) And on a weekend night it is very loud inside. Reservations are recommended, not sure but maybe required.

I have been to Bonefish Grill and was not impressed at all.

There is another restaurant that is fairly new to our area and I have been there once and I was surprised, it was very good. It was The Grillsmith.

I have never tried Island Way Grill but have always heard great reviews. I will have to go sometime.

There is another restaurant that I have always wanted to go to but never have and have also heard many great reviews. It is Molly Goodheads. Anyone ever been there?

Oh yes, know what your grouper should look like and taste like. I had a restaurant on Johns Pass in Treasure Island try and pass off a fresh water fish as grouper. I did not eat it and did not pay for it.

I guess that%26#39;s what makes a forum like this so interesting: 50 different views from 50 different people for the same topic!! Even though I%26#39;m a native, I still enjoy reading these posts and getting recommendations for restaurants that I%26#39;ve driven by and heard of, but have never tried. Have never had a crowding issue with Salt Rock, and love the mussels at Bonefish, but will definitely have to give the Texas Cattle Co a try. I think my husband%26#39;s boss had good things to say about that place too.

SSims: what would you say is your fav Italian restaurant? I%26#39;ve about had it with the chains. There%26#39;s a place here in St Pete...Cafe Cibo, that%26#39;s as close to Italy as we%26#39;ve found so far, but go there too often and getting a little ';tired'; of the offerings (although can never get tired of that dipping sauce for the bread!!)

Hope im not to late but we love leverocks at the end of sand key bridge we even drove from orlando one night and stayed localy partly because of leverocks

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