Taste of Boston

For fresh fried seafood– this is the place to be. We enjoyed its location. The weather was perfect, so we was able to sit outside. However if you have to sit inside– the space looked small and cramped. Service was great– we will return

We love stopping by this place when we visit the ballast point pier. Nice icecream flavors and I love their onion rings :)

Went for an early dinner with the family. Great location, fries, and onion rings. Otherwise it’s worth one star. I got the taco trio, all very bland. The grouper tasted more fishy than any other grouper I had. Mom had fried basa which was completely flavorless. Beautiful view though, may go back just for ice cream.

Came in on 9−27−15 I ordered the Hog Nose Snapper on recommendation of the waitress I should have. MAYBE STUCK TO MY ORINAL PLAN. or went somewhere else!
If I could go negative on the review I would. Please see my many other reviews, as I am very honest. Traded

Had a craving for fried belly clams and fried oysters and to sit by the bay. The fried food was very tasty and fresh. We ordered soup and steamed clams: nothing to write home about. The service was fair, seemed not to be that experienced. Had to ask for water and utensils twice, and the outside wasn’t that clean. Cole slaw and napkins on the floor. Parking was terrible, the view incredible. Not impressed for $ 60.

After watching the sunset from Ballast Park, which I highly recommend, we stopped by the Taste of Boston to grab a bite to eat before going back home.
First thing to address is the view. Honestly, you cannot get a better spot to watch the sunset than the front porch of Taste of Boston. You are quite literally sitting on the side of the pier, looking straight over the Bay and at Downtown Tampa. It is quite the impressive view. The restaurant itself is pretty small and has a very friendly staff. I ordered the blackened fish with a side of coleslaw and fries. My friend just got the clam chowder. The food itself came pretty quickly and was really good. The fish was well seasoned and the fries were perfectly complimented with the slaw.
I have no complaints about this place and would really recommend anyone in the area or visiting Tampa to stop by. It’s a pretty nice spot with an even better view.
tl;dr — Good food with an even better view.

My bride and I have a New Years day tradition. We try and go out to lunch on New Year’s Day. We rarely go out to lunch due to our work schedules and our weekends being very busy with errands and family.
She decided she wanted a lobster roll and clam chowder. I put my trusty Unilocal app to work, being from Massachusetts the obvious choice was… Taste of Boston at Ballast Point.
Once there, we were impressed by the great waterview the patio of the small restaurant had. Next, the menu did not disappoint. We felt like once again we were on Cape Cod. Choosing our meal from, steamers, fried clams with bellies, fisherman platters, fritters, lobster bisque, and oh yes «Lobstah and Clam Chowdah». My wife’s lobster bisque and my clam chowder were served in a timely fashion. The lobster bisque was creamy and flavorful but no pieces of lobster where in the bisque. My clam chowder however was full of pieces of clams and potatoes, it to was also very flavorful.
Our lobster rolls were served with coleslaw which was OK, I had a side of handmade onion rings which were very good.
The lobster was mixed with some mayo and Old Bay seasoning and served on a grilled New England style hotdog roll. It was very good. My wife and I are both lobster snobs, so the one the detractor would’ve been we could’ve done without the Old Bay seasoning. But all in all it was a meal enjoyed by both of us.
Great restaurant, great water views, beautiful day, Happy New Year!
Will we venture out to the 813 again to visit the Taste of Boston? A resounding yes!

Fish n chip… AMAZING! A true hidden gem. And I would highly recommend this place if your craving seafood or other typical board walk. Staff was great, literally had a staff check in on our table every 10 min. Even the ice cream was fantastic. So stop and put your phone down and just go already. Minus one star or the long wait for the food but all was forgiven after the first bite.

The restaurant stayed pack with customers getting ice cream. We dined in and our server was very helpful. He gave us great service and made sure my daughter had what she needed. It was affordable and the kids meal included a desert which was a plus. It would be nice to see more variety of fish tacos. Basa is not common for me and I looked it up. A description of what type of fisb would have been nice for an out of towner. I do not eat catfish and Basa is in the catfish family. To be safe, I just ordered fries for myself. My daughter was happy with her beef hotdog and fries. Thank you for having staff that are helpful and give great service.

I’m from Maryland. Visiting friends here in tampa & we tried this place. Excellent food, great prices, excellent customer service, nice scenery. I don’t mind the beautiful birds creeping around but if you don’t like them you’ll hate this place lol there is a few tables indoors though. After we ate a squirrel jumped on on the chair and onto the table for nonexistent scraps lol

The place itself is nothing fancy. Plain seating and very small. But the views are very nice. Skyline of Tampa and even caught a cruise ship come by. Take a stroll after your meal or before out on the pier at Ballast Point which is right there.
Now talking about the food :). I had the lobster bisque which itself was very tasty except it had absolutely zero pieces of lobster in it. none it was just liquid with taste of well a typical «lobster bisque» at first I thought maybe it was just mine and they missed to add the pieces but my friends also had none. For dinner i had the grouper Sandwich and even though it was $ 16.99 market rate that day it was a very good size and delicious. I had a side order of fries and cole slaw. The fries were okay but nothing i would get again. I would actually give it a 3.5 star if i had that option but i don’t but i might update my rating next time i visit and try something else.

Beautiful view, right by the water. A nice place for Sunday lunch in a great location.

Great place to grab lunch. The clam chowder was great but the lobster roll wasn’t the best. Shrimp on the other hand were delicious. I will definitely go back.

Went here for dinner with the family. Food came out in a timely manner. The food was bland at best. I had the lobster roll. It was so bland that I dumped the lobster in the lobsterless lobster bisque. Other people in the family thought that their food was bland as well.
The pluses are that this place on the water with an awesome view of downtown Tampa and they have an ice cream stand inside.
Overall this place should be called «Taste of BLAND» not «Taste of Boston»

If you’re looking a chill outdoor patio on the water with great views of Tampa Bay and Downtown then stop here. They have a great lobster roll for a great price. There is nothing fancy about the restaurant but that is the allure of it. Come casual, bring dogs but for goodness sake don’t feed the squirrels!

We came here for well-​priced seafood with a view, and that’s exactly what we got. This is a serious no-​frills affair, but if you’re just looking to indulge in the delights of the sea, it’s all you need.
Lobster and king crab were steamed perfectly, great price for the portion. The fried seafood platter was great, with a seriously generous portion. Definitely enough for two people. Best part was that each item was cooked perfectly. Scallops, shrimp, fish. All tender and juicy, not dry.
Mom and I both agreed that the clam strips were among the better we’ve had. These things are usually dry and chewy, but here you could actually taste the clams! Bonus for excellent hush puppies.
My only question is: Where’s the booze?

After a few hours of viewing the Norman Rockwell exhibition at the Tampa Museum of Art we headed down to Ballast Point for some more New England goodness. We thought this fitting as Rockwell was from Stockbridge, Mass. We love this location, right off Bayshore at Ballast Point, boat launch, fishing pier, great kids park with water features, it’s a great spot. ToB is not much really but New England is chock full of little places like this on the water.
I had the lobster roll, cup of chowder and fries. Wife had the Haddock basket with onion rings. My lobster roll was New England correct by being on a N.E. Style roll, plenty of lobster with a few chunks of celery on a bed of lettuce. It was not the best I’ve had but was very good. The sides of the roll were toasted enough to add flavor to the sandwich. The chowder was not very good. Thin and partially curdled and tasteless. It cost a $ 1 up charge. Only a buck but don’t waste your money, you will be disappointed. Better was the fries. Hot, crispy… very good. It also came with slaw. I don’t eat slaw so I can’t say but wife does and she said it was good.
Wife’s haddock basket had a large filet. The batter was light, pretty much just corn meal which was ok with us. I thought the fish quite good, wife had other things to say. The onion rings were super. Very light batter and homemade. Liked them a lot.
Wife finished with an ice cream cone. Working Cow ice cream here, good stuff.
ToB is not the best nor the worst. It’s a typical fish dive just like up north except it’s special because it’s down here.

Tasty. Full disclosure: Ex-​Marylander looking for an edible crab cake. I’d lost all (most) hope and ordered the crab cake sandwich grasping at Old Bay straws and, all things considered (all things = 10 years in Florida, no Crab-​topia), this cake was not bad. No, it was… adequate! Yes, exclamation point. If you’re from the northeast, you already know (or will soon be crying into your seafood seasoning) that «Maryland-​style Crab Cake» is a painful, hollow, cold string of words designed to lull you into a false sense of optimism. Maybe the chef is from there? Maybe someone’s finally taken a stand against mango salsa?
No. Mango salsa will still haunt your nightmares. The Taste of Boston crab cake, however, is close enough to comfort you when you’re crying out in the wee hours of the morning for your Utz Crab Chips and Natty Bo.

I really really want to give this place 4 stars. But I can’t.
It’s at Ballast Point Park — 5 stars
It’s on the water with a great view — 5 stars
The place is nicely done inside and has outdoor seating — 5 stars
The service is good, I’d give it a 4.
The food, although decently priced and portions are pretty big, everything was so bland… I was so sad.
The corn on the cob had no seasoning whatsoever. NONE. Dry.
The baked beans had some onion in it, they were pretty good.
The cole slaw was pretty wet, but also pretty good.
But the fish — my hogfish snapper — the star of the show was fried (and I did not have another option to broil, blacken… nothing… just fried) was a large portion, served whole (including the teeth) and had ZERO flavor. Even the breading was not seasoned. I squeezed as much lemon as I could on it, I tried not to use very much cocktail sauce with it. I like my fish simply done… not full of sauces, etc. But should have flavor and seasonings when you cook it. I really like the place. I wanted the food to be better…
My husband had the shrimp and clam strips, those tasted pretty good… they were also unseasoned but fried nicely. The fries had no flavor either.
I think I’d be back and try some other items because location and view are great and prices are right, but maybe I’ll bring my own seasoning to sprinkle on next time.

So we’re out for a Sunday drive and end up in Tampa. I love exploration drives, never know what you may find.
So we ended up here. Felt like an ice cream so got some. It was good, Apple pie ice cream, one of my favs. Like how there is a wharf you can walk out on to and a park for the kids. Will have to bring the grandkids here sometime.
Will return to try a meal and will post a better review when that happens.