Florida's Seafood Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Cocoa Beach

My husband, daughter, and I left there about an hour ago 2.27.21. First, we were told the wait would be about 35 minutes. I was handed a pager and we went back outside to wait.

While waiting, I watched a man work on getting his son out of the car to place him in his wheelchair as they parked near the Sunset Waterfront Grill and Bar. He shouted across the parking lot to his wife walking back from Florida’s Seafood Bar and Grill that it was an hour wait at Sunset. We had already been sitting there for about 15 minutes.

About 10 minutes later, our pager went off. We walked back over and went inside and I was told we were not paged. I said well it buzzed at us three times. The hostess said sorry, but we didn’t page you, and a gentleman came over and said, nope, we didn’t page you. She said let me reset it for you and handed it back to me. Back outside we went.

I went to check back in after it had been over an hour of waiting, also that party of 3 that I had watched park and get their son in a wheelchair had gone in about 20 minutes before, and hadn’t come back out. I thought that maybe they had just gone inside to wait instead of being outside.

Well I was quite surprised to see the party of 3 I had watched park and arrived to the restaurant a good 15 minutes after us, sitting just caddy corner from where we were seated, and already eating. So I don’t know if when the hostess ‘reset’ our pager, if it also reset our arrival time but we waited about 1 and 15 minutes to 1.5hours to be seated - way beyond the 35 minute wait time we were informed.

Now we understand that wait times are approximate, but I truly believe our arrival and beeper were reset - causing our wait to be much longer.

When I went back in to check too, I was told it would be very soon, and it took an additional 15 minutes for the pager to go off.

Now to the meal.

I was excited to try this restaurant as a friend of mine has been telling me repeatedly that its her favorite restaurant beach side. I looked at the menu before we left, and was set on a Shrimp PoBoy. Apparently I didn’t realize I was looking a a lunch menu because I was informed by our server that it was a lunch menu item only. So I struggled to find something else, but settled on the shrimp and grits.

My husband ordered Fish and Shrimp, and my daughter wasn’t hungry so she ate two fritters and was satisfied with that.

The first bite I took tasted of paprika. The grits were super runny and had zero flavor, despite them being cheesy bacon grits. Salt barely helped. I tried my corn muffin and found the inside of the muffin to be raw... picture below.

My husband said the shrimp and fish batter was not crispy but soft. I tried a piece of his fish and the battered crust was very soft. I also found it very amusing that the tarter sauce came in prepackaged cups. What seafood place doesn’t make their own tarter sauce? And don’t tell me either its because of COVID because the other two sauces he got were in ramekins.

It was just an incredibly disappointing meal especially after waiting for so long. Neither of us barely touched our meals and I immediately texted my friend and told her its a one and...

You read all the reviews and you think, finally this is it!

Can’t tell you if is the best or not. But it’s definitely, real shrimp that I had last night—or so it seems—The whole two dozen of them.

I had ordered the Rock Shrimp, but when they’re out of it, they substitute with Sweet White Shrimp. The truth is, I wouldn’t know the difference. I was under the impression, rock shrimp had a lobster-type shell. And if so, I can’t see how the sweet white shrimp can be compared. It seemed, the shell was exactly the opposite—thin, very thin.

Had the shrimp broiled. It was alright. Not great, not bad, not memorable. Just alright. But here, alright is way pass the good mark. Been here a month and this is by far, the best food, I have encountered.

The one thing I did not understand is the so called ‘fritters’— According to them, they’re their ‘famous’ fritters. Complimentary with every meal and as the menu suggests, the reason why the restaurant is now charging a fee for credit card payments.

Well, if you need a reason to charge a fee because you are looking for cash payments only so you don’t need to report the sales, offer a complementary glass of wine instead and not the so called, ‘fritters.’ All they’re is fried thick ball of perhaps cornmeal with powered sugar on top. Soggy, dark, not warm little balls of something deep fried in oil.

And speaking of soggy, I had sweet potato fries with the shrimp. Soggy, and not crispy at all. It was very obvious, they were sitting on the counter for a while. I think, a baked potato would’ve been a much better choice.

Lastly, I had cole slaw. The portion was quite small, but it was good and homemade too!

If I ever go back, it will definitely be for the Fish Tacos. It seems, that’s one of the best items on the menu, and not the so called, ‘fritters.’

Disclaimer: It seems that in this area of Florida, restaurants have found it comfortable to charge the patrons for credit card fees. Customers should be aware, the charge can be declined. What the wait staff should really do is announce, company policy of credit card processing sur charges will be added to the bill, prior to them taking the order. I can guarantee you, patrons will appreciative of respect shown.

I lived in the Disney area of Florida for 3 years prior to coming here. There, not once I encountered a credit card processing fee being passed on to the customer. That’s so funny,...

We read good things about Florida's Seafood Bar and Grill. We arrived in time for Happy Hour but wanted a nice dinner so requested the dining area. We were seated right way.

Our waiter came in moments, but advised the Happy Hour only applies to the bar seating. So we said ok , well we will pay full price then. Waiter came back 5 minutes later to say they didn't have the vodka brand we requested.. so we chose a different one. Waiter came back again about 5 minutes later saying he was sorry it was taking so long but the bar was busy. He brought us the fried dough bites covered in powdered sugar. ( basically Beignets), still no cocktails. They finally arrived 3/4 full, the ice was melted and pretty much no vodka in them. I kept mine ( no idea why ) Husband sent back and got a beer. That took several more minutes.

So we now get to order or food after being there for about 30 minutes. Ordered steamed clams , they were good but plain with no butter on the side. Asked for butter but by the time it came the clams were cold. Ordered the special of day which was wahoo - chose scampi style and fried combo shrimp and scallops. Food came fairly quickly but both of us got the wrong prep. ... Wahoo came out blackened and other dish was in a sauce.

Waiter came by to ask how things were long after we sent the food back and we told him the order came out wrong. We didn't make a fuss at all, and then service manager stopped by three times before we finally got our food about 20 minutes later she very apologetic and said our waiter was a very good waiter. Mind you there no other tables that we could see that he was attending in our area.

Food was not great. Frozen pre-breaded small shrimp and scallops - dumped on the plate, scampi was still not scampi but an odd herb and no garlic or butter sauce., fish ( was it really wahoo?) was tough and dry. Bacon cheese grits tasted bland and had no real cheese or bacon flavor. Fries were cold ( i had to remind them to bring them. For $30 per plate you would expect a bit more.

No one came by to fill waters or ask if we needed anything else. Waiter came after plates were taken away and handed us the bill. didn't ask if we wanted desert or anything else. Mumbled something like sorry. but I got a ten top right after you came in.

Just fair warning , you may want to try something else on your list rather than...