During my trip to Treasure Island to see the Rays play (and etch out one of the greatest baseball stories in the history of the sport) I decided to tackle a very old seafood restaurant that’s located on an older section of the Tampa Bay area. Roaming around since 1978, Friendly Fisherman Seafood Restaurant has been serving locals left and right, and somehow someway grabs a few tourists here and there. I mention the “somehow” part because when I visited, the entire John’s Pass area was quite empty. There’s something mildly depressing about seeing empty gift shops and eateries left and right, especially when just two hours away Magic Kingdom’s biggest merchandise store makes thousands of dollars every dozen minutes.
Friendly Fisherman was just as empty inside as it was outside. And this was a shame considering it has a nice view of the quiet side of Tampa Bay, the Treasure Island/Madeira Beach section. Their menu isn’t too extensive, and it ranges from freshly caught seafood to a few Floridian favorites and even some pasta. Their frozen drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) come from the Island Oasis company. The two times I went I ordered one of their drinks: I had a pina colada and a coco butter drink (butterscotch schnapps with some pina colada and vanilla ice cream). For the appetizers I went with the peel n’ eat shrimp, and alligator bites. Lastly, I ordered their most popular item (Grouper: a Floridian favorite) and a Mahi/Shrimp Baked Parmesan dish.
While this place is very old-school, they still work at a steady pace, with an attentive staff. The peel-n-eat shrimp was mildly disappointing. I asked for them cold, thinking that they at least enhance it with something—kind of like the pepper seasoning added to the peel-n-eat shrimp in Margaritaville. Not these babies, they came out with just cocktail sauce. While this shrimp tasted very fresh, and while it was plentiful in size, one would wonder how they would be with a little more effort attached to them. If you like them plain and simple, and this is perfect for you. But if you are hoping for some added flavor, you won’t find it with this appetizer.
The alligator bites were amazing however. If you do come here to eat, this is what you should order as an appetizer. I have had gator before, but these bites even top those of Charley’s Steakhouse, a fancy joint in Orlando. They weren’t too big, but contained just enough meat and batter to hit the spot. The accompanying sauces worked well too, but I am a purist and can eat these things by themselves. The drinks both times were very good, and they didn’t hold back on the ice cream or the quantity (I swear, alcoholic drinks have become smaller over the years). Both times the main course took a little longer to prepare, but remember I am always used to waiting long periods of time for food.
The grouper I ordered broiled and in the dinner portion. The fish itself was huge, as it was resting on a bed of rice with French fries and their popular corn fritters. The grouper came out fantastic, some of the thickest I’ve had in recent memory. While it’s not my favorite fish, its still a very flavorful one if done correctly. This grouper didn’t disappoint, as it tasted fresh, had plenty of meat, and made up for the disappointingly tasteless rice. The French fries were steak-cut and decent, but there weren’t enough of them. Same goes with the corn fritters. These things are delightful, like a sweet hush puppy, but they gave me only two of them. Let’s compare this to the infamous seafood platter from Crabby Bills: two filets of fish, one strip of shrimp, and several other sides and a smaller price tag too.
The baked parmesan dish was a very mixed bag of quality---which is very unfortunate considering its potential. The parmesan cheese mix that was baked on top wit the mahi-mahi and shrimp was phenomenal. It was very rich, had a sweet afterkick, cheesy, and mixed perfectly well with the chunks of mahi (my favorite fish) and shrimp. That being said, this dish would have been perfect if I had meshed up the plate and mixed it with the spaghetti underneath the first layer consisting of seafood and cream sauce. Instead, I ate the top layer, and was surprised to see that the pasta had not been drenched in any sauce, did not have any added flavor, and didn’t benefit from the first layer in the least bit. Usually in a baked dish, the cream and sauce finds its way to the bottom. Not this time, the pasta was left virtually untouched, leaving me with plain pasta after such a great beginning. If they had put any of the sauce on top and mixed it with the bottom before baking it, the dish would have been absolutely perfect. Instead, I got a mix of fantastic and disappointing. It was a very odd eating experience.
Bottom Line: Not sure how to feel about this restaurant. You got to respect the old-school seafood places, but in this case when they didn’t fully deliver on some dishes and you have a decent Bubba Gump Shrimp right next door, why should I recommend this place? For its history? Friendly Fishermans is a nice place, does have some nice food, but dropped the ball too often to warrant a return visit. They have some good ideas with their seafood; they just need to execute them better. The staff was great, but the food, mildly underwhelming.
Final Verdict: Do Not Recommend
Friendly Fisherman Seafood Restaurant
150 Boardwalk Place West
Madeira Beach, FL 33708-2625
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