FreshCo Fish Market & Grill — Restaurant in Palmetto Bay

FreshCo Fish Market & Grill is Five-Star Fabulous.

Are you sick and tired of the Red Lobster TV commercials where they photograph everything UP CLOSE so you THINK you are going to get a good portion?

Tired of paying a LOT for a LITTLE?

Maybe you are fed up with ordering seafood at lesser establishments and not getting that fresh-caught feel?

Your search for Fresh, Fabulous, Fish is over, and their Food is Fenomenal (see what I did there?!).

Forget 5-Stars, I give them 10. Here's why:

If you like venturing out to eat now that COVID is under control, then go to their authentic and quaint locations, where you can see everything laid out fresh before, and more options on the menu than you could shake a minnow at.

You name it, they have it, and no one is doing it better.

This day my wife and I celebrated our 24th Wedding Anniversary by ordering delivery.

This is notable because we are creatures of habit and rarely change who we order from, but I had seen the inside of this location when accidentally discovered, and was intrigued.

Further complicating things, my wife is a phenomenal cook, and known to turn her nose up at inferior fare.

We had the fried Cracklin' Calamari appetizer, crispy and generously portioned and lots of their cilantro dipping sauce. The portion was so generous we both ate well, and had plenty left over. But in your house, why wait?

My wife is a picky eater, so I quaked in fear when she ordered FreshCo's Famous Crab Cakes and yuca fries. She's been known to turn food away just by the look or the smell, but she was strangely quiet as she dug into the generous and perfectly prepared cakes.

If my wife is quiet about her food, 'Happy Wife Happy Life'. She was thrilled, and the portion was so hefty she could only manage eating one of the two cakes, and now has another for tomorrow.

I chose the Shrimp Tostones Overload, a dangerous choice in a Puerto Rican household where the Missus thinks no one makes tostones like her.

As soon as these shrimp and cheese topped bad boys arrived, she was inspecting them, and when I gave her a taste, she had nothing to say but, "Mmmmmmmmm....'.

I subsequently had to pry her fork from her hand and take my tostones and hide in the house to eat them.

The tostones are perfectly fried, and topped with a mountain of fresh shrimp and onions, green and red peppers and their island spices. No using the magnifying glass on your smart-phone to locate the shrimp in this dish!

Again, the portion was so generous I had to save half for my midnight kitchen raid. But what a way to go!

So, if you are sick and tired of throwing your money away at commercially frozen mass-produced unimaginative seafood dishes at bigger restaurants who don't care if you ever come back, you need to give FreshCo Fish Market & Grill a try...and THEN tell a friend.

You'll be...

I have been wanting to visit this place for years based on the positive reviews. I finally convinced my husband to give it a try. I wish I could say it was good but sadly it was far from that. We ordered two fountain sodas and a crab bisque which was not bad despite having to remove pieces of shells from my mouth on several occasions. My husband ordered the seafood fried rice with the addition of a lobster which cost an extra $20. That dish comes with fish, calamari and octopus. I ordered the shrimp in Creole sauce. Both dishes were small for the price. While mine had a decent portion of shrimp, there was very little rice to satisfy a man's appetite. For the $44 dish my husband ordered, you would expect a very healthy portion of seafood. The most visible seafood was the calamari rings. You needed to search for the octopus (tiny pieces) and didn't realize that the lobster was in the dish until we did some digging. I would say that the lobster was no larger than 3 ounces ($20). Not only was there a small amount of seafood, it was all extremely overcooked. The fish was dry and hard while the rest of the seafood was like rubber. Aside from that, it didn't taste very good. My shrimp Creole sauce was good but the shrimp as well was so overcooked that the shrimp were actually curled into a ball and tough as well. We're not people who return food or complain so we ate as much as we could considering that we spent $88 on the meal. All I can say is what a disappointment. If you can't cook a simple shrimp dish then I don't know what the rest of their dishes are like. The place was not full so we can't say that the cook was probably overwhelmed with orders. Needless to say, we ended up having to make sandwiches when we got home because we left hungry. I so wish this would have been a new go to place since we live close by but we won't be going back. Save your money and go to the keys. At least you'll get a view and better food...

We had an extremely enjoyable late lunch at FreshCo. Fish Market & Grill on a Saturday afternoon. The place was busy (around 4PM) but we were able to grab a table right away. FreshCo. is counter service for ordering, and food is brought to your table. The vibe is very casual but it’s obviously very high quality, as evidenced by the delicious-looking options of seafood showcased as soon as you walk through the door.

I ordered the whole Red Snapper, as I really wanted to try a whole fish on our trip to Florida. I was asked how I would like it cooked, and I said however it was recommended, so they grilled it. The whole Snapper came with a choice of two sides, so I went with sweet potato fries and a salad. My significant other chose the Shrimp Philly Sandwich and fries.

Our food took a little time to arrive, but good things come to those who wait! The kitchen is open and right behind the counter, so you are able to see some of the cooking happening, which is pretty cool. A lot of the staff (including chefs) were women – awesome to see! Our food came out nice and hot, and the portions were good for the price, especially seafood in the Miami area. The Snapper was fantastic, and exactly what I was hoping for. The salad and sweet potato fries were great too. My significant other really enjoyed the Shrimp Philly Sandwich; I tried a bite and was impressed as well. You wouldn’t necessarily think shrimp and cheese would be good together, but it was excellent! The regular fries were good as well, with a nice bit of breading for some extra crispy-ness.

I would highly recommend FreshCo. Fish Market & Grill! Do yourself a favor and check it out for delicious food, great customer service, atmosphere, and value. If we lived in the area I would be going back soon, as the menu had a large variety of fantastic...