Salty Papas Shrimp House — Restaurant in Florida

Tonight, we went to check out Salty Papa's Shrimp House for supper. We ordered two Snowbirds, one mango and one banana. The banana Snowbird was the best thing of the entire meal.

For appetizers, we ordered the fried green tomatoes and the pimento cheese appetizer. I have no idea who planned this menu, but I would be more than willing to help tweak it.

The fried green tomatoes were covered with shredded Parmesan and chopped bacon, with a cup of really good blue cheese dressing. There’s nothing Southern or Cajun about this dish. Where there should be a remoulade was blue cheese. The Parmesan should have been on the pasta dish we got, not here.

The pimento cheese appetizer made me question what the hell they were thinking, really. See the pictures. The toasted bread was covered with fresh chopped red onions and green peppers, with some jalapeños thrown in, for some reason. This dish made no sense, at all. The pimento cheese was bland. When the server asked how everything was, I was at a loss for words. I actually said, ”What the hell were they thinking? That is awful.” I’ve been a chef for 30 years and this is the first time I’ve ever complained about a dish. She took it off the bill.

My wife said, “I hope this isn’t an indication of what’s coming next.” I wish she were wrong.

She got the Cast Iron Shrimp over linguine. I got the Shrimp and Grits, which many on here recommended. I have since learned, there are people in this group who should keep their food recommendations to themselves. This was by far the worst money we have spent in the FMB area.

Her pasta was okay. It would have benefited from a gremolata, some fresh chopped parsley, some lemon zest, something to garnish the dish, definitely some Parmesan cheese.

The Shrimp and Grits tasted like someone who’s had it once and thought it would be a good idea to try it on their menu. I was so disappointed after all the hype. The dish needs salt and flavor. Again, nothing Southern or Cajun or Low Country about this dish, but the name.

The service was good, but we will never be back. Tonight was such a waste. I’ve been a chef for most of my life. I’ve taught culinary school. I volunteer to help tweak these dishes because this could be great. For real Southerners, this was a huge miss and I wish it...

I have always been an avid fan of this place as, per my experiences, they had the best shrimp and presentations to serve them. I honestly haven't been probably since just after Covid but I always recommend this restaurant as one of the best seafood experiences in town on the local social media platforms. My previous experience, not so much. I was really looking forward to a long awaited treat and was sadly disappointed. Before describing the bad, I will describe the good. The servers, including our own (Stacy) were great and she did ask how was everything but I just cannot complain in person because I do not want to make them feel bad, waste food nor did I want to wait any longer to eat. The food was edible, just not fantastic. First, I ordered the Palm Tree Punch. The rum floater was nearly invisible with a heavy hand on fruit-juice fillers. It tasted like baby food bananas. It was only $7.99 but with 2 alcohols, the presence should have been more pronounced. I ordered the Bourbon & Peach Grilled Shrimp, a previous favorite of mine with a side of garlic bread and steamed daily vegetables. The vegetables were fresh with a great texture and that's about it. No seasoning, no butter, just bland. The garlic bread was decent, crispy, soft, and buttery. The shrimp were prepared terribly. They were grilled, yes, but that was it. I am not even sure if they were our local Gulf shrimp but considering the circumstances, that is understandable. They were definitely smaller and not as plump tasting. They were also bland, no seasoning, served on skewers with globs of peachy marmalade on top (no definitive taste of bourbon.) I thought that the shrimp should be glazed and grilled in the sauce as before, not just dumped on top. It was awful, as I choked it down, and a waste of hard earned money and time. The restaurant does not have the same cooks they had years ago. There were a couple of black guys back there and they were good! Food perfect. Every. Single. Time. Now I understand the labor market is tough but you need to get these guys back haha or else, teach these Latin newbies how to cook...

Dined solo, waited about 20 minutes to sit outside. They don't seat at their bartop outside on weekends, as people wait there I was told. Waitress came over after about 10 minutes of me sitting at my table. Ordered drink, app, dinner all at once. The pimento cheese dip came out with celery as requested, but was presented as though a child had plated it. Celery sticking straight up out of the spread and the bowl of spread was on a larger plate with diced lettuce, red onion and green peppers. None of the diced veggies were big enough to dip in the cheese, and it was very odd and wasteful. That being said, the spread was AWFUL. I have no idea what they made it with but it had no flavor and tasted terrible at the same time. I tried adding old bay seasoning to it, and it didn't help anything. I ordered the gluten free cast iron shrimp dish. It sounds delicious with fresh tomatoes, shallots, garlic and herbs. What I ate was very short of delicious. Shrimp were rubbery, the tomatoes were diced and not even cooked with the dish so they were cold. I had mostly the tops of the tomatoes with the section where the stem attaches to the tomato. It was very bland. Midway through my meal I realized I was thirsty and my drink had never arrived! My waitress didn't come back the entire time (someone else served my food), and I watched other tables get checked on multiple times. I tried to catch the eye of another table's waitress, but wasn't able to. When she finally came back, I explained about the no drink, bad tasting dip, and mediocre entree. She did give me a to go cup for soda, removed it and the cheese from my bill, and brought my bill promptly upon request. Her removing these items really made up for the fact that they were not good. I'm giving 3/5 because she did the right thing and removed the items I didn't like, but the service was bad, and the food was not good. I'd not recommend this place to anyone. It's a bummer because they have great reviews, but I was 1 person on vacation trying to make memories and had a...