Roosterfish Grill — Restaurant in Largo

Update as to why my rating changed to a 1 🌟

I have been a loyal customer for about 9 years, eating her several times a month. This is the first time I have a serious complaint, a less than stellar review, and it will also be my last time eating at Roosterfish. I had lunch on Tuesday, 5/7 and ordered the catfish. It wasn't nearly as good as I expected; in fact, the fish itself had a funny flavor, no seasoning, and the breading was overpowering and quite hard. I switched it for their regular fried Pollock and thought, 🤷🏽‍♀️ everyone has an off day. I returned for lunch on Monday, 5/13,this time with a friend who is new to the area. I really wanted her to love Roosterfish as much as I and my family did. I talked her into the Fiesta Salad based on past experiences. It was supposed to have tomatoes, red onion, black beans, Jack and Cheddar cheese, and crispy tortilla strips, and she added chicken. I ordered my regular oysters on the half shell. My friend's salad looked absolutely NOTHING like it had in the past, no red onions, one unripened slice of tomato, no tortilla strips and about a tablespoon of black beans. The chicken was a pasty white, obviously unseasoned. It was, quite literally HALF the size it had been. My oysters were the worst I've ever had~ there was even a bad one on my plate. They were small, and had an extremely aggressive taste, nothing like their usual plump and sweetly salted oysters. We both made do with what we were served, had our margaritas and left as quickly as possible. My friend didn't finish her salad because it was mostly just plain lettuce, and no she didn't want a to go box. I was completely embarrassed, especially since I made such a big deal about the food and have even promoted this restaurant on many local Facebook groups to which I belong. I feel we have been very understanding about the several price increases this past year or so, but cutting the quality of the food and skimping on the portions is just wrong. No amount of good service can atone for that. As I stated previously, this was my last visit, and unfortunately, I can no longer recommend Roosterfish to the tourists who come looking for "the best places to eat." The photo is what the Fiesta Salad used to look like. It's nowhere near as appetizing any more. The oyster, too, are a photo from before. They no longer look like this. As a proprieter, I would have been embarrassed by what was served to my friend.

Original review: This restaurant is a hidden gem that I only recently discovered. Although I've driven past probably hundreds of times , I have never seriously considered eating here. Let's just say the place seriously lacks curb appeal. I ventured in with my three year old grandson on a holiday weekend and got a very pleasant surprise. I had been craving really good fish and chips and boy, did this place deliver! Fresh, not frozen, hand battered and lightly fried, the fish was awesome. The same goes for my grandson's meal of fresh, not frozen, battered and fried chicken strips. The French fries were some of the best I've had and I loved the coleslaw. I had no trouble inhaling my food and neither did my grandson. As picky as we both are, there was nothing left to take home! I've since been back, both alone on a sneak, and also with several family members. I'm introducing them all one by one to my new favorite place. I've even gotten fish and chicken and chips takeout for the nights I keep my grandchildren. The decor is dated and kitsch but very clean. The staff is friendly...

Mothers day was wrecked my one of the owners of this establishment. ive been to this restaurant 50 times or so over the past 2 and checks ranging from 45$-150$ and a half years and never had any issue with the staff , management or the food. when I comes to management I normally talk to Shawn one of the owners just in a casual "how are you and how are things" convo .But today was horribly different with another gentleman that looked to stand over 6ft but slouched with grey hair and slightly jaundice colored skin. Reservations where at 6pm seated at 6:08 and the Server came to our table at 6:24 ....late I know but its Mothers day and it was busy and I can understand that but our drinks didn't reach the the table till 6:41 and then the Server took our order .... again I can let all of this go because its mothers day and it was hopping busy. 7:12 our dinners came and my sister crab legs came in two clusters with 5 legs each clean looking and large where my mothers was 3 clusters with 4 legs and 3 unattached claws and the total portion looked to be 33% smaller that what my sister had. so told the server that this didn't look right and she said she get the manager. So the manager shows up and asked whats the problem and We told him there was a difference with the crab legs between my sisters and my mothers and he leaned over the table and squinted at the crab and said that he did not see a difference and what did I want him to do about it..... I calmly asked If I could speak with him privately and we walked over towards the bar and he was already in a defensive posture, I said look and I listed off all the wait times with seating, drink orders, food timing and the fact that I understood all of that due to what day it was but the fact was that my mothers and sisters same order looked nothing alike. he responded with I'll give you free desert and I said no I dont want your desert , and all I want is that my Mother on Mothers day gets what she Ordered and for it to look and weigh within 90% of the other same order. so in a snarky voice the said fine Ill take care of it and stormed off. 5 or so mins goes by and he shows up with 1 and a half clusters of crab legs and sits them In front of me and not my mother and said I guess you all can share them as if he was implying that I was trying to get something free.... grrr I talked to the server afterwards and asked if he was a manager and she stated no, that he was the Main...

I decided to try this place out and i think it is a “good” place overall. It was busy but we were lucky that there were a few seats available at the bar. We sat down and the bartender wasn’t to friendly at first as it seems she was just going through the motion. It is always nice to make a guest feel welcome as first impressions are important. The second bartender came and was a little bit more helpful. At the end of the meal they were both a little bit more friendly. Aside from that, they did a great job of taking our food and drink orders compared to a lot of other restaurants that takes a long time to even get a drink or menu.

For the food, the Rockefeller oysters were on point as their spinach and cheese oppings was flavorful. Most of the oysters were not over cooked and the dish came out hot. I was glad that they had a good runner to deliver the food when it is still hot. Some other places require the bartender to bring out the food which they usually can’t get to it because they are making drinks. Good job for that!

The Caesar salad was ok as the salad was not very crisp and a little soggy. They need to raise the temperature of the cooler and do a better of drying the salad when it is washed.

Again, the runner bought out my seafood pasta. Kudos for that as the entree arrived hot. The red sauce was not so acidic but wished they had some chili flakes. The amount of seafood was lacking given the price point of the dish. Wished they added some squid to the dish. The pasta was just a little over cooked as it was a little soft to the bite. I found a few large bones in the pasta. I don’t think I will order this dish again but glad that I tried it.

Overall, the restaurant does need a good spring cleaning but the operation runs really well! Most of the staff are nice compared to some other places. The food is above average and the prices are competitive. One thing they do need to do better is for the server to check on the drinks and to see if the customer would...