eating in St Pete Beach, Fl
 

Would someone please advise some "dining" places for dinner in St. Pete Beach or environs. Also cheap eats for lunch. Thanks.
P.S. We ate dinner at Hurricanes - ok. Lunch at Leverocks - very good. Lunch at PJs=ok.

Popular veteran <b>Gigi's</b> has locations in Pasadena and St. Pete Beach. Great pizza and other traditional Italian dishes.

For breakfast, the venerable <b>Seahorse</b> in the heart of Pass-a-Grille.

(Alas, Robby's Pancake House has closed to make way for a steak restaurant.)

We liked Heilman's Beachcomber - we had lunch there.

Some of our favorite places:
1.Backfin Blue cafe in Gulport (wonderful!)It's in a converted house and a little pricey but worth it.
2. Billy's in Tierra Verde for stone crabs. They even give free water taxi rides.http://www.billysstonecrab.com/
3.Mid Pennisula Seafood. You can buy fresh seafood here and take it home for cooking or they have a restaurant and it's fresh, fresh, fresh! This would be great for lunch.
4. Cajun Grill on The Bayou in St Petersburg Also a great place for lunch.

topping for OP

Mid-Peninsula Seafood must be good. I was checking out Chowhound, and it was mentioned.
Any thoughts on Sea Critters or Skidders, or Habana Cafe?
Gigi's sounds promising, and it's nearby.
Thanks so much.

wopel
Mid Peninsula is good. We had a condo and bought fresh fish from them a couple of times that was very good. Joan is a poster here and she and her husband own it. He makes a wonderful spread for crackers that we could not get enought of.
We did like Sea Critters. We ate outside and enjoyed it.

Thanks, will give them a try. After all, ths is vacation!

Hey wopel, be sure and say hi to Don or Joan! Thanks for the thoughts, cd. It sure has been fun over the years meeting chowhounds and fodorites.

Wopel, I like Skidders - I read Wayne's post about it, and it has somewhat of a Greek diner feel, but solid food. I had an unusual gyro there, served open faced, but I really liked it.

Sea Critters is good especially for sitting outside. President Clinton ate there, if that means anything. For Cuban sandwiches, be sure to try the Floridian on 107th Ave on Treasure Island, it is across the street from the Pearl, the new place I mentioned to you on Chowhounds.

The Seahorse in Pass A Grille is the real deal. They only put A/C in a year ago. You can watch the boats at the Merry pier if you get a seat by the window. They're open for breakfast too (so is Le Croisette - mmmm). If you want Italian, IMHO skip Gigi's and check out either Vito and Michael's (on Blind Pass Rd) for pizza type place, or Alfredino's (Gulf Blvd) for authentic hand-kissing heavy duty romantic Italian.

We love the Wharf on Pass-a-Grill. It's not fancy, but the food is good and so is the view. Try the blackened Mahi-Mahi!

I dined at Alfredino's last week and was very unimpressed -- overpriced for the mediocre food.

We ate at Billy's Stone Crabs and Steak last night. Excellent waiter, Rich, and the best drink prices EVER! The food was good. Their house salad is excellent. I believe it's in Tiera Verde.
Any thoughts on Habana Cafe? We ate at &quot;the&quot; Columbia restaurant in Tampa last year. It would be hard to beat, but we love Cuban food and don't want to drive too far.
Again, thanks for all pointers.

I haven't eaten at the Habana in a few months, but I have always enjoyed it. The food has been consistently good over a period of several years, which doesn't happen in this area unless the restaurant is good.

I'll also re-endorse Skidders. Never saw anyone go away unhappy with the food or service. They don't take reservations, but they seem to be able to accommodate most people within a few mintues of their arrival--a feat that some restaurants can't accomplish even with reservations!!

Good basic family dining on Gulf Blvd can also be had at Crabby Bill's if you want seafood. The food isn't fancy, but it's fresh and well served.

However, I must tell everyone about a lovely restaurant that I fail to mention every time I post about St Pete Beach. This time, I remember: It's called Mangia, and it's located right on the main street (Corey Avenue) of the village of St Pete Beach. It's right across from the old-fashioned movie theater, which has some great movies that you might have missed. Mangia is family owned and operated, and Maria (the owner) along with her daughter Jill are wonderful people who have a nice moderately priced menu with most of the typical choices, plus a tapas menu that is very good. Mangia is especially good for a nice lunch if you want something more than a burger, and their dinners always feature something special. I would rank Mangia right along with Skidders as the two best places in St Pete Beach to eat, whether it's lunch or dinner.

Gekko, Alfredino's is disappointing, isn't it? Looks like it might be good, but noooooo. Your best Italian in SP now is Bella Brava downtown -- but it's a little pretentious and glitzy. Another spot that's only take out in SP Beach is Alberico's Pizza and Pasta on Blind Pass Road. Excellent but no dining room. Traditional with a touch of new age.

Honestly you'll do better driving into Tampa, a city with longtime Italian roots. Two really great spots in Tampa are Spartaco and Vino Y Pasta. Very very Italian. And if you like homemade pasta, the Ravioli Company makes it fresh all day long. Take out or make it yourself at home. All these are in South Tampa.

One more question. We have a birthday to celebrate, and the out of town folks are thinking of going in to St. Petersburg for dinner at Marchand's Grill. What are your thoughts? Can one have a &quot;special&quot; dinner at the Don Cesar?
That may have been more than one question!
Thanks,
Wendy

I had a &quot;special&quot; dinner at the Don. They have a wonderful dining room. It is also tres cher, quite pricey.

I don't know Marchands but it sounds vaguely familiar. Where is it? What are you looking for? If it's steaks, then you should go to Berns in Tampa for worldclass dining.

But if you want to stay on your side of the Howard Franklin Bridge then I'd suggest a short drive to the Island Way Grill in Clearwater. For a special dinner south of Clearwater, I'd go to the Lobster Pot in Redington. Or the Don. Both are very nice. The Don is wonderfully elegant.

I believe Marchands is in the Vinoy Resort. We may check out the DC as it is so close. Also the Lobster Pot. Close is nice for dinner.
Thanks again.

I've enjoyed my meals at the Vinoy but not because they were fabulous. The building is beyond fabulous, the food never quite excels. But I would not say don't go there. Just go expecting it to be good, the service is good, the food never seems to reach the heights of the surroundings. Maybe it is an impossible task though.

I know what you mean about close. Be sure to go to Groupers for lunch or dinner. It's a small place with very good very fresh food.

Thanks. The problem is I'm a Libra, so I'll never be able to decide, and will go to all! I'll be in touch with reports!

I'm back with reports! Ate dinner at the Lobster Pot - very good - ain't cheap!. Had lunch at Habanas - good and reasonable.
Since parking is $10 (for 1 minute or 1 hour) at the Don Cesar, I haven't gotten in to check on things. The chef's table sounds interesting, except that it's $140 each. Yikes!
Any thoughts on the Island Way Grill in Clearwater? Is it touristy?
Will be around the &quot;pier&quot; in St. P this weekend. May try the Columbia.
Thanks again for all your pointers.