Need advice on Restaurants in and around the St. Pete Beach area, would be willing to drive some but prefer things within 15-20 minutes of Tradewinds. Family of 5 with all kinds of tastes. Will splurge for some meals and want budget for others so all suggestions welcome. Also, our final day we check out at 11:00 and don't fly out until 5:00, any quick stops on the way to the airport in Tampa that might take up an hour or two? Thanks.

Silas Dent Steakhouse is good & will suit all tastes. It is just across the street from the Tradewinds. Crabby Bills is a short walk down the beach & has great seafood. Bermuda's & Flying Bridge right at the Tradewinds are Ok too. There are lots of restaurants within walking distance. If you've not yet tired of the beautiful beach, the Tradewinds will hold your luggage for you after you check out. You could then eat lunch on the premises & take one last stroll or swim. I was there for 1 week in both May, 2000 & 2006 & would return every year if I could. Enjoy!!!

fun2travel
I will list some of our favorite restaurants in the area, all moderate in price except one.

Crabby Bills
Mid Peninsula which is a restaurant/market and locally owned by a fodorite in St Petersburg
Sea Critters - St Pete, eat outside on the docks
Backfin Blue cafe in Gulport (expensive)
Frenchy's Rockaway on the beach in Clearwater
Billy's in Tierra Verde for fresh stone crabs - they were wonderful, the rest of their food just so-so. Billy's also offers free boat rides at 5:00pm Mon thru Thur If you go to the site listed above there is a coupon you can print out.
Caddy's On the beach in Treasure Island for grouper sandwiches
Canjan Grill on the Bayou(sp?)in St Petersburg for Crawfish. Yummmmmmmm

Billy's no longer has the coupon. I just looked. http://www.billysstonecrab.com/

Thanks for the recommendations, we'll try lots of them I'm sure. I'll be sure and stop at Mid Peninsula (want to patronize a fodorite establishment if possible!) I can taste all the wonderful seafood now!

fun2travel
Our fodorite's name is Joan. She cannot advertise here of course, but we can recommend her establishment. Her husband's name is Don.
400 49th Street, South
St. Petersburg, Florida 33707
Pinellas County
Telephone: (727) 327-8309

My favorite is the Salt Rock Grill which is in between St. Pete and Clearwater Beach. I think it's in Indian Rocks. It's expensive but well worth the price.

On our last visit, we also loved the Backfin Blue Cafe. The Gulfport area offers a few blocks of interesting walking, if you are looking to spend some time before dinner.

Sea Critters and Frenchy's Rockaway on the beach are also pretty good.

We spent the few hours before our flight at Sunken Gardens. It had an adjacent children's science museum that looked interesting, like it would only take an hour or two, in case you are interested in that type of attraction on your departure day.

Crabby Bill's? And some of the others?

Snow Birtds Delight!

Here are some suggestions for places on the more casual side:

Gennaro's pizza! They have a small dining area, or you can get it to go and eat at your place.

The Seahorse for breakfast -- every morning except Tuesday (that's the day, they're closed, no?).

Snapper's for good seafood in a nice setting.

There are a couple extremely casual burger places we walk to on the beach sometimes ... I think one might be called the SandBar; you can watch people playing beach volleyball there. I can't remember the name of the other one.

For nicer places, we usually go to Tampa.