A Minted Location day guide
Dock & Dine in St. Petersburg & St Pete Beach
Boca Ciega Bay is the rare bay where the sandbar, the marina and the dinner dock all sit within a mile of each other — and downtown adds a second act on Tampa Bay. Every welcome below is the venue's own published word, or the city's.
Pass-a-Grille — the bayside inlet
Red, White & Booze — the former Sea Critters Cafe under new ownership — says it plainly: set on the inlet with docks for your boating pleasure, catfish for the kids to feed and live music besides. Two doors up the same inlet, The Wharf has fed Pass-a-Grille from a building that started life in 1912 as a fish-processing plant — its site is silent on dockage, so check local dockage options and walk the block. Across the island on the Gulf beach, the Hurricane has held 809 Gulf Way since 1977, with the Hurricane Watch rooftop's 360-degree views — it faces the beach, not the bay, so it's a stroll from the bayside docks rather than a tie-up.
Tierra Verde — staging island with a raw bar
The Island Grille & Raw Bar states it outright — Boat Docks at our Restaurant — alongside the marina, with a pool, indoor and outdoor bars and weekend live music. Billy's Stone Crab works its waterfront decks with its own crab boats and traps through the October-to-May stone crab season; its site doesn't address patron dockage, so check local dockage options — PORT 32 Tierra Verde's slips and fuel dock are minutes away on the island.
Downtown — the Pier does the docking
The play here is the Pier's own short-term slips: first-come, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., six hours maximum, boats to 40 feet, no PWC or dinghies. Tie up and Doc Ford's Rum Bar & Grille is at the south end of the Overlook, with Fresco's Waterfront Bistro near the Pier entrance behind its wrap-around deck. Bigger boat or longer evening? The 640-slip Municipal Marina is next door on VHF 16, with a 500-foot transient dock in a minimum of 10 feet.
Gulfport
O'Maddy's Bar & Grille holds the corner across from the Gulfport waterfront, open daily 11 a.m. to midnight, watching the boats sail by — its own words. Its site is silent on dockage; the city's 25-ball mooring field south of the Gulfport Casino and Williams Pier is the sourced way to arrive, a block's walk away.
Before you go
Boca Ciega Bay carries a patchwork of year-round and seasonal manatee slow-speed zones — run the FWC maps, not memory. Gulfport's basin is no-wake, the Pier slips allow no overnight stays, and Johns Pass runs hard enough that NOAA publishes dedicated current predictions for three points inside it. Bigger plans than dinner? The form on this page reaches the brokers who work this bay.
The stops, as their own docks describe them
| Spot | Where | Arriving by boat |
|---|---|---|
| Red, White & BoozeThe former Sea Critters Cafe under new ownership — seafood, award-winning margaritas and, by its own claim, the best key lime pie on the beach, with catfish for the kids to feed and live music on the inlet. 727-360-3706. | Pass-a-Grille — 2007 Pass A Grille Way | “Set on the inlet with docks for your boating pleasure” — its own words; open daily, breakfast from 8 on weekends |
| The Island Grille & Raw BarTierra Verde's boater standby — pool on premises, indoor and outdoor bars, and live music Saturday and Sunday. 727-767-0020. | Tierra Verde — 210 Madonna Blvd | “Boat Docks at our Restaurant” — alongside the marina, in its own words |
| Doc Ford's Rum Bar & Grille — St. Pete PierOpen 11 to 10 at the south end of the Overlook — the dockage is the city Pier's, not the restaurant's: no hook-ups, no PWC or dinghies, rates topping out at $15 for six weekday hours ($18 weekends). Marina office 727-893-7329. | Downtown — south end of the Pier's Overlook, 610 2nd Ave NE | Tie up at the Pier's short-term slips — first-come, 6 a.m.–11 p.m., 6-hour max, boats to 40 ft |
| Fresco's Waterfront BistroA wrap-around deck over the open water and the boat-filled marinas at the Pier entrance — lunch, dinner and weekend brunch, specializing in fresh seafood, steaks, burgers and pastas, per the Pier's own page. | Downtown — near the Pier entrance, on the Municipal Marina | Tie up at the Pier's short-term slips (boats to 40 ft, 6-hour max) — the Pier's own site places Fresco's near its entrance |
| Billy's Stone CrabTierra Verde's stone-crab house — waterfront decks and its own crab boats and traps working the October-to-May season, by its own account. | Tierra Verde | Check local dockage options — PORT 32 Tierra Verde's slips and fuel dock are minutes away on the island |
| The Wharf Restaurant & Sports BarPass-a-Grille's landmark fish house — the building began in 1912 as a fish-processing plant for the local fleet; restaurant 11 to 10, bar to midnight, dolphins off the deck by its own description. (727) 367-9469. | Pass-a-Grille — 2001 Pass A Grille Way | Check local dockage options — Red, White & Booze's docks sit two doors up the same bayside inlet |
| Hurricane Seafood RestaurantOpened in 1977 on the site of the old Casa Bonita Hotel — topped by the Hurricane Watch rooftop deck and its 360-degree views of Pass-a-Grille and St Pete Beach. | Pass-a-Grille — 809 Gulf Way, on the beach side | Check local dockage options — it faces the Gulf beach, a short walk across the island from Pass-a-Grille's bayside docks |
| O'Maddy's Bar & GrilleThe Gulfport waterfront institution — open daily 11 a.m. to midnight, watching the boats, the pier fishermen and the sunset from its outdoor seating, in its own words. 727-323-8643. | Gulfport — 5405 Shore Blvd S | Check local dockage options — Gulfport's 25-ball city mooring field lies off Williams Pier, a block away |
Dockage notes are what each restaurant publishes on its own site — space is first-come and dinner-hour rafting is real, so hail ahead. Where a venue states nothing about docking, we say so rather than guess.
Planning more than lunch?
This run is our backyard — the same docks where we shortlist, survey and sea-trial boats for buyers. Tell us the mission and we'll tell you which boat, and which slip, it calls for.