We had dinner last night at the Wharf Restaurant in St. Pete Beach. It is located on the intercoastal waterway right before the Vina Del Mar Bridge. If you're heading out of the bay, just take the Pass A Grille Pass and head North on the Intercoastal when you're looking at Merry Pier and it's just a fastball from there.
There is outside seating, live entertainment and a bar at the front of the restaurant, air conditioned dining, an open air bar and outside seating looking over the waterfront in the back. We chose a table at the latter and enjoyed a nice view of boaters heading in from a day on the water.
 The service was fast and friendly though the seating outside a bit cramped as the tables are very small. We started with some buffalo shrimp and a dozen raw oysters. The oysters were a big hit, large cold and freshly shucked... so we had to have another dozen.
After we'd cleaned up on the bivalves my wife ordered the gumbo and I chose the old standard, a fried grouper sandwich. The sandwiches don't come with fries so we ordered those separately. The gumbo had a nice bite to it but we were rather hoping that it would contain more seafood.
 The grouper sandwich was about as bland as a grouper sandwich can get and I always wonder how they can get that filet shape in a piece of fish that small knowing what a filet of a 22" grouper looks like.
In the end, it was an enjoyable evening and we would recommend the Wharf to friends looking for a comfortable, casual bite and beverage after a day on the water or at the beach. The prices were reasonable: our check was $65 for two imported beers, a pitcher of Killians, two dozen oysters, seafood gumbo, a grouper sandwich and fries and the service was friendly and fast.
We definitely plan on coming back and will probably bring the children next time. There's an inexpensive children's menu and they'd have a ball watching the seagulls interest in their table fare. Word on the street is that they prefer conch fritters. (smiley here) |
I'm Scott, AKA TBC, thanks for taking the time to check out my blog. Please feel free to have a look around the rest of the site and let us know how it might be improved. 