Whistle Stop Grill and Bar — Restaurant in Safety Harbor

This review may be lengthy, but it is long overdue so I apologize in advance 😎. For customers just looking to see if it’s worth a visit or a takeout order, this part is for you:

As a new implant to Florida, Whistle Stop seems to be a staple within this community. From home made ice cream, to local beer, and Floridian food favorites, this place has a certain sense of a perfect fit for the Safety Harbor area. As a dine in experience, this is a smaller venue with primarily outdoor seating. Your head is covered, but if you can’t stand heat, or have people with you with medical issues, an outside experience may not be the answer. But if you are game, it’s Florida so don’t miss out! My favorite appetizer is the Buffalo Shrimp and Fried pickles. Shrimp are nice size, always fresh and well prepared. Every single item I have tried is excellent, but my favorite is the spicy chicken wrap, burgers, grouper sandwich, and Cobb salad. Prices are reasonable and very much worth it.

Now, the next part is what sets Whistle Stop apart from other places:

I am a health care worker, and prior to COVID-19, the restaurant has always been clean, food was hot and fresh, and I can tell that anything fried was in fresh, new oil. I moved to Clearwater about one year ago, and in between jobs I worked as a Server Trainer at a beach bar. I absolutely love to watch how restaurants operate and the effectiveness of the staff, especially the owner. My first experience included the owner visiting tables and offering a new menu item to try. This was at a perfect opportunity because the restaurant was slow, it was during the week, and mid-afternoon right before the dinner rush. My visit felt extremely personable and the owner did not make me feel like hay I’m important because I’m the owner. Now, fast forward to “COVID times”, and I ordered takeout from them. I picked up my order, and the owner included a roll of toilet paper that said thanks for supporting us. Additionally, every single take out order I ever received has been unlike any other place. For instance, I ordered a wrap and normally you get your take out home and it’s soggy or cold. My wrap had CRUNCHY, fresh vegetables and was hot. That has been each time! I cannot speak for other bad reviews because I do know that each experience is a case by case sort of thing. I know that some servers in the business are very good and others not so much. I also know that sometimes a server will go to a table, and the client needs a lot of assistance and attention which makes it difficult for the server to attend to other tables. Other mishaps include poor communication from the hosts. Rest assured, this is NOT something the owner condones because I have seen it in action. I’ve had my share of visiting and waiting long waits, but the leadership really cares. Thank you for being an example of caring for people. Sometimes in the health industry, I do not see this level of dedication. If I had a choice and went back to the restaurant industry, I would love to work here. Also, I hope Mary Lou is doing well (I am pretty sure that’s her name), she is truly an awesome server and advocate for the establishment. Thanks...

I am a resident of Safety Harbor. I used to think of the Whistle Stop as my neighborhood go to place. However, on February 18, 2022, my experience was so bad that I will not be returning. I walked in the door about 6:45. The hostess had her back to me, engaged in a conversation with two other people who appeared to work there. The three of them looked up at me, and did not so much as nod before returning to their conversation. I walked through the restaurant looking for the friend I was meeting. Not seeing him I returned to the hostess, who was still deep in conversation with her co-workers. I addressed the group of them and said I needed a table and asked if I was supposed to seat myself (which I’ve never done before there). She then said she would seat me. A very nice young lady came to wait on me. She could not have been nicer, but obviously had absolutely no idea what she was doing. A sign indicated it was “happy hour” all evening. I asked her what happy hour prices were. She had to go ask. She returned and told me the prices, including “$5 call drinks.” I ordered a bourbon I like for myself and my friend. He arrived, we ordered another cocktail, we shared an appetizer, and each ordered an entree. I ordered fish and chips which were really bad. The fish was like a piece of rubber. I left most of it. We sat there talking for awhile until it looked they were closing. By then it was about 8:30 (not 10:00 or midnight). We asked our waitress and she advised they close at 9. This is new to me, but okay. We were finishing our drinks and asked for the bill. She brought the bill and it was $101.00! Seriously! Two entrees, an appetizer, and a couple of drinks, AT A BAR, and it was over a $100! This is not fine dining people! Our waitress did not originally provide an itemized bill, just a bill for the total amount. We asked for an itemization and saw where our drinks were $10 each, when I questioned this, she once again went back to a man who had been sitting at the bar this entire time. She returned to tell us that our bourbon was considered “Premium call,” and therefore $10 per drink rather than $5 per drink as we had been told. By this time, we were sitting IN THE DARK, as THEY HAD TURNED THE LIGHTS OFF ON US! I am not kidding! We were sitting in the dark! We walked out of the place at 9:10. The man sitting at the bar, playing something on his phone, did not even look up to say good night or anything. I guess The Whistle Stop no longer needs customers since we obviously were of no importance to him. It is sad. It used to be a place I could go where I felt like there were people I knew and I would be well taken care of. I loved bringing friends and family from out of town there. Now it is just another place set up to rip off tourist (I guess) since no one local would put up with...

My significant and I were out busy shopping for Mother’s Day and wanted to eat out for dinner. We have driven through down town Safety Harbour and I do that on a daily basis driving a school bus right past this restaurant. We decided to give this place a try since we wanted something different.

So here is the review.

Appearance: The establishment looked very clean and inviting to the different eating areas. Plenty of seating and with our current status of dealing with COVID, spacing was also plentiful without having the place look empty when dining guests were present.

Service: Our server was on point with real attention to detail. She greeted us within 2 minutes of us being seated. She took our drink orders and got our drinks out to us in a timely matter. We then placed the order for the Potato Chips appetizer where she answered our questions about said appetizer with confidence and good knowledge about the food order. After about 5 minutes the appetizer came out and then she was ready to take our entre order. We were not ready and she asked if we needed more time. After saying yes to the extra time, she then came back verifying we were ready and promptly took our dinner orders. Again, answering questions about the different entrée’s, it was clearly evident she knew the menu well and even made some suggestions to enhance our dining experience.

Environment: From what we saw, it looks like most of the eating areas are set up to let in the outdoors. A stage for musicians to perform and the musician who was playing this evening had a wonderful selection of music to cater to many. Music volume was at a pleasant setting where it was not too loud but was not too soft to not hear details of the music. Sound quality was superb and clear.

Pricing: The prices were very reasonable and affordable to the average everyday customer. Between the 2 of us, we spent about 45 dollars, not including the gratuity for the server between the appetizer, entrée’s drinks and desert. I would say that would be the average a party of 2 would spend when not ordering cocktails or other mixed drinks.

CONS: If there are any, there would only be few. BUT I did not see any except the fact that this place is close to a RR crossing. So, when the train is making a crossing, sounding its horn, it can be loud.

Final Thoughts: This is a really nice place that offers up good tasting food and provides a great fun atmosphere. I would highly recommend the place to...