The Wharf

Old School Charm from a 1912 seafood packing plant. This water front restaurant brings back memories from my childhood growing up on the beaches of Pinellas County and actually having a small boat at the marina next door back in 1970 when I was a child. My dad and I would go fishing on the intercostal and head out to Egmont Key for a little fun in the sun.
If you would like to have a nice grouper sandwich or just enjoy a little causal waterfront dinning try The Wharf. Also check out the pictures on the wall and see what Florida looked like almost 100 years ago,

Homemade seafood chowder to die for, so very good and peppery. Seating right on the water, we didn’t take advantage of with little kids. I had the blackened grouper sandwich and the wife had the Wednesday taco special, waitress was friendly and attentive. Very pleased overall, would like to come back and try the rest of the menu!

This was my 2^nd visit to the Wharf. I felt I needed it before I could truly write a review. We love this place! The wet slips coming in the restaurant from the water are easily accessible but the docks themselves could use a little refurbishing. Inside, a quaint, very tight quarters restaurant. These qualities add to the charm that I enjoy so much. They offer a nice selection of draft and bottled beers and a full bar. There is usually a small wait especially if you’re wanting to sit outside. Outside seating is reserved for parties of 2 or more. The menu is large and filled with everything you would want in a seafood restaurant. This go round we enjoyed the daily special order of cheviche. Oh my goodness the best I’ve ever had. I highly recommend ordering this item if they are offering it for the day. The Buffalo shrimp were perfectly crispy with a nice warm buffalo sauce. The oysters Rockefeller were a little lack luster. They were actually served in little tiny foil cups which made me think they weren’t actually fresh. We didn’t finish those but left completely satisfied with our meal. We jumped on our boat and were on our way.

Recommend to us by a local fisherman; he was spot on!
Very casual with dining inside and out, we were seated along a rail on the water. You get your own roll of paper towels there!
The service was prompt, accurate and friendly.
If you like rum, go for the big drink in the bucket (I forgot the name of it, but it’s quite tasty!)
We started with ceviche and chips. Nice and fresh. Dinner consisted of a variety of grouper: grilled grouper done in reuben style on a wrap, blackened grouper sandwich for the hubby. We were both pretty happy with our choices.
The bar is located nearby and is quite lively on a Friday night! Good tunes too and definitely NOT quiet if that’s what you’re looking for.

Went for lunch today with my elderly parents. The waitress was totally rude and downright disrespectful. Went next door to Sea Critters and had a great lunch. I will never go back!

Pros: Good grouper served with different preparations. Outdoor seating on the bay side.
Cons: Very limited parking, loud and small dining area. No happy hour drink specials in the dining room. The bar area is crowded and dingy..

Great place with a good vibe. Seems like a place where the locals would hang out. The guys had steamed mussels and the gals had the seafood chowda. A few cold brews paired well with the grub and we went on our way happy with full bellies!

Great place to grab some local grub. The blackened Mahi sandwich was excellent. Also the old bay seasoned peel and eat shrimp were great. They do have heaters on the outdoor seating if it is cold out when you visit.

Love the you peel um shrimp… best in town! They are served with drawn butter a few wedges lemon covered old bay seasoning. We also get the Asian style wings which are tasty… my only criticism is that we can’t split have half of the order hot wings and half Asian style. The waitresses always tell us the same thingwhen we ask, that it is too difficult for the cook to do, wow really ??? Can’t they just dump Asian sauce on half and dump hot sauce on the other half? Kind of lazy if you ask me. Service has always been good. If you go during the tourist season expect to wait and not get aggravated or just come back at a different time.

Our favorite place for REAL, LOCAL seafood. And it’s on the water and has tons of great brews… Certainly wanna Sit at the bar or out back!
Been here dozens of times. Almost always get steamed shrimp and a Pbr. Not sure why but this is the only place I order non– microbrews, must’ve the unrefined feel of the place. Some other standout favorites include: Blackened mahi salad wrap or sandwich, cerviche, homemade chips, and Wings. Virtually everything we’ve had has been solid and all the prices seem very reasonable given the freshness of the seafood and setting.

We went on a Sunday night around 6 and parking was tight in the small lot but manageable. Inside it wasn’t extremely busy which was surprising. Decent beer selection was available. I ended up ordering the special which was a blackened grouper wrap with lettuce, tomato, jalapeño tarter sauce and a tomato basil wrap. It was full of flavor and made just right. Fries that came with it were standard fare but I enhanced them with the mustard horseradish sauce that came with the Conch Fritters. The fritters were another highlight for me. I ordered them with the jalapeño option and did not regret it. What was especially nice was you could taste the conch in these. And that sauce is a winner! Over all it was a good experience, nice location on the water. Service could have been a little more attentive but it was a Sunday night.

Delish. Salad was great soft crab sandwich was OK, but the service and atmosphere were amazing. Beautiful view

Cozy and good quality restaurant with good food. I tried here fish tacos, they served Mahi Mahi fish. It was fresh and amazing. I would definitely visit again.

This place was recommended to me from one of the locals down here, he said I had to make it down to try their jalapeño conch fritters, so that’s exactly what I did.
Towards the end of a long day of drinking up and down the coast from St. Pete to Clearwater we finally made it to the Wharf. We sat out back on the water, only downside is there is no service there so you have to walk to the bar to order anything. I thought it was odd, but not a huge deal.
I ordered two conch fritter appetizers with some whiskey to wash them down. They were served with a creamy horseradish sauce. I can’t say they were to die for, but even after all the hype they were still pretty good. That paired with a stiff drink and a great view of the water makes for a great experience. We also met the owner while we were in there, nice guy! He insisted we have a drink with him, on the house, before we left. I’ll be back!

If I would have stayed at the bar It would be 3 stars only because I haven’t tried the food. Marla, the bartender was very pleasant and she’s got a million dollar smile.
I stopped in after the beach for a beer before heading back downtown, grabbed one and sat outside. A family of 3 were being sat, I was sitting down with 2 chairs on either side, and there were 2 chairs next to the post. I gladly said that I would move to the other side.
I was enjoying the view and a server came up and asked if I needed a menu, I said «no thank you, just having a beer». Then she said that I was sitting in the restaurant area and «if someone needed to sat I would have to leave». Not move to the bar, leave.
I am in the industry and I understand how it works… It’s a slow lazy Friday afternoon here and she just could have worded it differently.
I don’t know her name, but she’s an older woman with glasses and a reaaally bad jailhouse looking tattoo on the back of her neck, probably from a heroined out night in the 80s. Just please teach her proper server/​patron etiquette… Even the ladies sitting behind me thought it was rude.
My parents are coming to St Pete for a visit and I’ll probably bring them here, but we’ll sit with Marla at the bar.

I have been here for drinks many-​a-​times in the past, but recently someone told me I HAD to try the seafood here again. How Could I say no?
I went late-​ish on a Sunday and they were still decently busy. The menu is large, with something for everyone. We sat outside along the water, which is totally worth coming for a drink and sitting there alone. The view during the day is even better. The only downside to this place is I’m convinced they don’t have real AC (inside).
We ordered the jerk wings with red beans and rice, and the wings were GOOD. But the star was really the beans and rice, so much flavor without being overpowering.
We also got the buffalo shrimp, they were larger than I expected and didn’t taste over fried as they can sometimes be.
The seafood gumbo was OK, I am admittedly kind of picky when it comes to seafood gumbo/​chowder.
We split a Grouper sandwich, the serving size was not too bad and the flavor was good, the side of fries was HUGE.
I ordered the crab claws as well (they were out of the oysters), and I was surprised at how good they were. They are the part of the bottom of the claw so you have to suck the meat off of it. I ordered them sauteed in garlic butter and would order it the same way again.
Our server was apologetic and prompt, we never needed to ask for more to drink or anything. Overall it was a good experience. I’ll definitely be back for lunch sometime.

I was with a fish aficionado who was specifically looking for freshly caught grouper and most of the other places on St Pete Beach serve unnamed fish for their tacos and burgers. So after some Unilocal research, we ended up at this place. There were many other fresh catch fish available for an entrée but not as a burger including flounder, cobia, salmon, and tuna. We had the grilled Mahi Mahi burger for $ 10 and the blackened Grouper Burger for $ 12 which was an incredible value as it was at the same price as other unnamed lesser fish at other beach restaurants and the cuts of fish were so large that they were hanging over the bun of the burger. The restaurant offered a a healthy side of spicy rice and beans, coleslaw, or a baked potatoe instead of fries at no extra charge. For just $ 1 uncharge vs more at other restaurants, you can get a side salad. We were seated on the 2 tier outside deck with a beautiful view of the inter-​coastal looking onto the docks. The bar chairs were comfortable and the tire seating felt cozy and snug. I prefer this seating over the less sophisticated and less comfortable picnic tables of Sea Critters next door. The décor was practical fisherman /​dock style and more polished than Sea Critters. Service was quick and courteous. Food came in a timely manner. Parking lot in the back is kind of small offering around 8 spaces only but we managed to find a spot without any problems and when we came out we weren’t blocked in like some of others have been. There are also 4 boat docking spots at this restaurant and 6 at Sea Critters. We saw a large yachts, many boats passing by, and a sharp looking championship cigarette boat that sounded better than a corvette! I’m the outside deck they have a cool directional sign that lists how far a lot of Carribean destination are from this restaurant. Will be coming back again. Thanks!

I’ll start this review by prefecing that the one star is solely for how humorous my experience was with my family at this restaurant. Luckily we have a sense of humor and were able to make the best out of our time. You know you’ve gone to a good place when one of your family members keeps saying «I just wanna go home…»
Although we were seated rather quickly, it took some time before we were acknowledged or asked what we would like to drink. Drinks took some time to be delivered as well. When it came to ordering, our server was a great help:
«I’m looking at either the conch fritters or the calamari, which would you recommend?»
«Oh, I don’t like either of those so I don’t know.»
«Ok… well what about the Trigger Fish?»
«Oh, I don’t like that either.»
I was almost compelled to ask «well, is there anything on the menu you do like?» I’m not a salesperson but I’m pretty sure saying that you don’t like any of the food at your restaurant is not a good tactic to get people to come back.
We finally got our order placed and after another lengthy wait, we received our food. While my soup was of edible temperature both my dad’s scallops and fries and my step mom’s fish and potato were both cold. When my dad went to speak to the waitress about our food, she replied «well, it is windy outside so I’m sure it cooled off pretty quickly, I grabbed it right from the food window». Again, I’m no physicist but I don’t think the zeroth law of thermodynamics or heat transfer work like that. Nevertheless, we were able to get the food reheated, which again, took more time.
We were not checked on again until the check was delivered by which time we had already came to the conclusion that we were most likely not returning. We were also very surprised to see that they had charged us for the refill on my coke (i didn’t even know there were still restaurants that did that). However, during this time we had made friends with a nearby couple who had lost their roll of paper towels and one of their menus due to the windy atmosphere; an event that their waiter didn’t seem to care too much about either.
We thought that our dining experience was over after we paid but as we were leaving, happened to see another waitress arguing with a customer. Apparently he had ordered a pint of ale and was merely inquiring about the size of the glass she had brought him. She proceeded to bring out another glass of the same size and a 12oz bottle filled with water to «show him how much 16oz was» and that she was «proving to him that she wasn’t cheating her customers.» Thanks for the volumetrics lesson Bill Nye, I’m pretty sure all that man wanted was his beer.
To conclude, the food was sub par and the service was horrible, not just ours but it seemed like everyone else’s as well. The only thing we enjoyed was the view from our table and the laughs we had at everyone’s expense. Will not return. Dine at your own risk!

Service was fine. The Mahi sandwich had a bit more fish flavor than I like. The shrimp po boy was alright but I prefer a corn meal batter and this was all flour. The view was great out back on the intercostal — but all in all as a local I prefer other restaurants more. People next to us liked their corned beef sandwiches but I would say this will be only time to eat here for me.

Lived most of my life in st. Pete and ate grouper on a weekly basis. Now I live in Pittsburgh and I came down for thanksgiving. I was looking for some good grouper and I heard the Wharf was the place. Unfortunately it was not. The grouper didn’t taste fresh. It was actually fishy, unlike actual grouper. Not saying it is fake but not fresh at all. I gave it 3 stars because it was still ok and it was a cool local spot.
Would I come here again even though it’s my best friends spot, no. There are way too many place along the beach that have fresher, tastier fish then here.
The beer was good. Iffy grouper nuggets were $ 15. Shrimp batter was too think and not seasoned well. Bar tender was attentive but didn’t ask how the food tasted. I figured because she wouldn’t like the answer.