Indian Pass Raw Bar — Restaurant in Florida

My husband and I stopped in around 5 on Saturday night to eat because we had heard such great things about this place- It was a laid back place with great food. We added our names to the list and waited outside for about 1.5 hours. That wasn't a problem, though we weren't given a timeframe, we were in no hurry. Beverages were available and there were plenty of seating around the TVs.

We got seated with another family at a table inside and marked our paper to order. Someone came by, said "are you done?" grabbed the paper and walked away. Our fish dip appetizer came out within a few minutes. It was good, however it was served as a cold tuna salad type of dip in a styrofoam bowl with a bunch of crackers that were all smashed in the packets. We weren't that impressed but we were there for the oysters and shrimp anyways. While we waited for our meals, due to the "honor system" for alcohol many people were completely intoxocated and I had beer spilled on my feet twice as they shuffled past our table with their refills. About 30 minutes later, my husband was handed his baked shrimp. Then about 20 minutes later, after I watched a server go to about every table in the restaurant, I was asked if I had the oysters and got the plate. The two pieces of toast that came with my oysters were so hard I couldn't eat them. The shrimp came with no sides, just toast as well. It would have been nice if we could have eaten our meal together. Also, there has to be a better way than going to every table in the restaurant and asking if anyone there ordered the dish in hand. The stuffed shrimp was good. I wouldn't come back for the baked oysters - just grated Parmesan cheese and butter. We waited in line for about 10 minutes to pay our $50 bill for 12 baked shrimp, 12 baked oysters, fish dip, and 3 sodas as the couple in front of us angrily argued about something.

My husband wanted to watch more of the game that was on so we went outside and sat. Fortunately I could hear him talking now that we were outside. However the intoxicated people continued to trip over people sitting watching the game, while spilling beer, and yelling across the patio to one another. Surely, allowing patrons to over-serve themselves is not okay and should be regulated.

I wouldn't recommend this place- especially for families. It's really a chaotic self serve bar that has...

The Indian Pass Raw Bar is described on the website for the restaurant as being in a "pristine" and "wilderness area." That is a good description. It can be difficult to find. A GPS is a good way to locate it for those not familiar with the area.

I first learned of the restaurant from the Wall Street Journal. It described the restaurant as "The lively Gulf seafood shack is renowned for its oysters—raw, steamed or baked and plumpest in winter and early spring."

We were not disappointed. The stuffed shrimp were excellent. The steamed oysters elicited a similar reaction. The baked oysters were slightly salty but contained cheese which is probably the reason. They still tasted very good. All were fresh and plump and a contained good size oysters.

This is a self-service kind of place. Neat and clean but informal. A great experience and a unique one as well.

The unique nature of the restaurant was anticipated. Nothing screams "informal dining in a country restaurant" like the menu written out on a chalkboard above the grill, plastic forks, grilled white toast on top of the oysters, and a "serve yourself" cooler for drinks where diners pick out their favorite drink and let the cashier know what they purchased to add to the bill.

The ambiance of the restaurant in a rural area was anticipated as this restaurant is on a county road that is not easy to find and cell phone service on the highway is...spotty. The restaurant apparently started serving turpentine workers in 1903, the building was built in 1929 and food has been served there since the 1930's. It was very neat and clean, the staff was very friendly, and the restaurant was still full at 2 PM.

The oysters were fantastic--fresh, moist, plump and tasted as good as any oysters I have ever eaten. No doubt, these are reasons the restaurant has been in business...

We came to eat on sept 1st and got there within 5 mintues of the place opening and all the tables already filled. No big deal.. we didn't mind waiting and having a couple beers while hanging out. We were told we would be the very top of the seating list and got in as soon as possible. After 50 min they started seating other groups ahead of us. We said something to the staff and they apologized and sat us right away. We were still happy and not upset. We then turned in our order to the waitress up by the door and she said she had it and all was good. After seeing all the tables around us who were seated after us getting their food we then went up to inquire where our food was. The exact waitress who we turned our order into said they lost our order then accused our designated driver as being drunk and to to not yell at her. The nice gentlemen at the door then started helping our friend with locating our order. The same waitress then came directly to our table and said we had to place a new order, when I politely questioned why when I specifically turned in my order to her, she yelled at me and told me that she couldn't handle all this and i needed to not raise my voice. At that point our friend who was helped by the nice gentlemen up front came back and said all was good and our food was on the way. The food was absolutely delicious, the beers were cold, overall the if it had not been for being forgotten about being seated and then the absolute rudeness of the waitress to us and specifically to accuse one of our group (our designated driver) of being drunk.. we would be...