7 of the Best Places to Eat in Clearwater Florida

I have been to Clearwater, Florida a couple times in the past year or so and one of my favorite things about the area is all of the delicious food that it has to offer. Sure, the beach and all of the local attractions are great, but is there anything better than enjoying fresh seafood by the ocean?! I think not. 

The most difficult part of visiting Clearwater can actually be choosing where to eat because there are so many options. While I’ve never had a bad meal in the area, there are some restaurants that stand out more than others. Whether you’re craving fresh grouper for dinner or want “pizza” for breakfast, the restaurants below will have you covered. It’s also important to note that all of the restaurants featured in this article are wheelchair accessible. 

So, without further ado, check out my recommendations for 7 of the best places to eat in Clearwater Florida –

Best Places to Eat in Clearwater Florida

Caretta on the Gulf

Located in the Sandpearl Resort is Clearwater’s only AAA Four-Diamond restaurant, Caretta on the Gulf. The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor seating, featuring phenomenal views of the ocean. Out of all of the restaurants on this list, this is hands-down one of the best places to eat in Clearwater for a date-night or a more upscale dining experience. 

Sandpearl Resort

Caretta on the Gulf is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. I ate dinner at the restaurant twice during one of my Clearwater stays because it’s just that good. Service was top-notch and their safety protocols for the pandemic were spectacular. Tables were well spaced apart and all staff wore face coverings. 

Everything that I ordered at Caretta on the Gulf was delicious, but my absolute favorite item was the wonton tuna tacos. It’s a starter and honestly, one of the best dishes I’ve ever eaten. Two small hard shell tacos had spicy tuna, avocado, cucumber, and cilantro inside them and I cannot recommend getting this as a starter enough! If you’re not a fan of spicy tuna, there are a plethora of other options for starters as well, including salads, crab cake, braised short rib, scallops, and more. 

Wonton tuna tacos

For my entree, I tried the Chilean sea bass one night and the gulf grouper another night. The Chilean sea bass was served with spaghetti squash and was cooked perfectly. The gulf grouper was served with English pea risotto, foraged mushrooms, parmesan, and sage béarnaise. I’d heavily recommend both dishes, but the gulf grouper was probably my favorite since it was served with risotto. You can never go wrong with risotto! 

Chilean sea bass
Gulf grouper

Other entrees included ahi tuna, steak, pork chops, chicken, and more. There’s something for everyone on the menu and you can even request an all-organic menu if you prefer.

Columbia Restaurant

Columbia Restaurant has seven locations across the state of Florida and luckily, one of those is in Clearwater Beach. If you’re looking to get away from the seafood-heavy restaurants for a meal during your trip, this Spanish-Cuban cuisine restaurant is a must!

Columbia Restaurant

Columbia offers indoor and outdoor seating. The interior is beautiful, but if it’s a nice day, there’s no better view than the one from the outdoor deck. You will see the Intracoastal Waterway while indulging in some fantastic food. 

A variety of foods are on the menu at Columbia, including paella, steak, shrimp, and more, but here are some of the items that I’d definitely recommend:

Columbia’s Original 1905 Salad – This is the item that made Columbia Restaurant famous and it’s a must-get every single time. The salad has iceberg lettuce, baked ham (I always get it without ham and it’s still phenomenal), Swiss cheese, tomatoes, olives, Romano cheese, Worcestershire sauce, and Columbia’s famous garlic dressing. Sooo delicious! 

Columbia’s Original 1905 Salad

Tapas – Columbia has a lot of tapas, so I usually like to just get 3-4 tapas for the table instead of a regular entree. Some of my favorite tapas are the black bean cakes, queso fundido, and croquetas de pollo. 

Black bean cakes
Queso fundido
Croquetas de pollo

Cuban Black Bean Soup – Before I ordered this dish, I thought “How good could black beans be?!” I didn’t think it’d taste any different than other black beans that I’ve had, but I was certainly wrong. Columbia’s black beans are served over white rice and then topped with raw Spanish onions. It sounds simple, I know, but it is very tasty and one of the restaurant’s most iconic items. 

Cuban Black Bean Soup

Lastly, try not to fill up on salad and tapas so much that you can’t get dessert. Columbia has one of the best dessert items in the world, so you have to try it. Never turn down their white chocolate bread pudding. Sounds delicious, right?! Well, it’s even better than it sounds, I promise! 

White chocolate bread pudding

Columbia Restaurant is a must-visit for me every time that I’m in Florida. While in Clearwater, you should certainly dine here and enjoy some of the best Spanish-Cuban cuisine that the Sunshine State has to offer. 

Caffeinated Bakery

Caffeinated Bakery is exactly what its name suggests – a coffee shop and bakery. It serves breakfast items, a large selection of pastries, and delicious coffee drinks, making this the perfect place to start your day on the beach. 

The bakery is open every day from 8am-2pm. They have tables inside and even a couple small tables outside. There are no nice views of the beach from here, but it’s only a 2-3 minute walk/roll away from the beach. And trust me when I say that with food this good, you won’t even miss the beach views.

Caffeinated Bakery has omelettes, breakfast sandwiches, bagels, and more, but I had their breakfast pizza and it was to-die-for. I’m usually not even a big breakfast fan, but this pizza turned me into a breakfast superfan. The pizza is topped with white gravy, scrambled eggs, cheese, and usually bacon, but I got it with no bacon. I took the breakfast pizza back to my room at the Sandpearl Resort and ate the entire thing in record time. 

Breakfast pizza

The owners of Caffeinated Bakery were also incredibly nice and mentioned that they have struggled to get customers during the pandemic, so they will truly appreciate any business that you can give them during your Clearwater visit. If I lived in the Clearwater area, I’d probably be at Caffeinated Bakery every day. From the exceptional service to the mind-blowingly delicious breakfast pizza, you just can’t beat it! 

Bob Heilman’s Beachcomber

Another upscale dinner restaurant that you should visit is Bob Heilman’s Beachcomber. This restaurant is not open for breakfast or lunch, but it opens every day at 5pm for dinner. As one of the oldest restaurants in Clearwater, there’s a reason why people have been dining here since 1948.

The interior of Bob Heilman’s Beachcomber is lavish and cozy, and they even have a piano player that will take requests. There is an extensive wine list and enough food options to please any palate as well. 

After asking the waitress what her recommendations were, I decided to try the escargot en casserole appetizer. I had never tried escargot before and the thought of it made me nervous, but it actually turned out to be delicious. The escargot had melted cheese over it and was served with buttery crostini. It was so good and absolutely ruined all other escargot that I’ll probably have in the future, but I would highly recommend that you try it. 

Escargot en casserole

For my entree, I enjoyed the fresh gulf black grouper. The grouper was topped with garlic butter and cooked perfectly. This was truly a perfect piece of fish. 

Fresh gulf black grouper with potatoes

While there are a variety of seafood, lamb, steak, and other dishes to choose from, the most popular item is the “Back to the Farm” Fried Chicken entree. The fried chicken is prepared to order, so it takes about 40 minutes to receive it after ordering, but according to my mom, it was well worth the wait. You get a half chicken, whipped potatoes, gravy, old fashioned cream slaw, and the vegetable of the day. It’s quite the feast! 

“Back to the Farm” Fried Chicken

If you’re looking to enjoy a nice dinner, Bob Heilman’s Beachcomber is easily one of the best places to eat in Clearwater Beach. You’re sure to love it!

Salty’s Island Bar & Grille

Salty’s Island Bar & Grille is an open-air restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week. It’s across the street from the Opal Sands Resort and the beach, so it’s easy to get to. This is also one of the newer restaurants in Clearwater Beach. In a short amount of time, it has become a favorite for both locals and visitors alike. 

I had breakfast at Salty’s Island Bar & Grille during my most recent trip to Clearwater. I enjoyed the avocado toast, which had the housemade avocado spread on toast with sliced grape tomatoes. It was served with two eggs, any style. To drink, I had a strawberry mimosa. My entire breakfast was spectacular and I would absolutely order it all again. 

Avocado toast with eggs

Other breakfast items include biscuits and gravy, crab cake eggs benedict, pancakes, waffles, huevos rancheros, breakfast tacos, and even shrimp and grits. They also have a smoothie bar and plenty of breakfast cocktails available. 

Strawberry mimosa

I’d highly recommend stopping in Salty’s Island Bar & Grille for breakfast, but their lunch and dinner options sound just as tasty. Their dinner menu has a strong seafood emphasis, including oysters, but tacos and chicken are available as well. Everyone can easily find something they’ll like on the menu. 

Frenchy’s

As you are driving toward Clearwater, you’re sure to see quite a few Frenchy’s billboards. Frenchy’s is hands-down the most well-known restaurant in Clearwater. In fact, it’s so popular that there are now five Frenchy’s restaurants in the Clearwater area. Each one offers something a bit different, but all locations have their most ordered items. 

I dined at Frenchy’s South Beach Cafe and loved it. There was a large outdoor dining area, but it can get packed since it’s such a popular spot, so be sure to arrive early or be prepared to possibly wait for a table. 

The menu at Frenchy’s is huge and offers everything that you can possibly imagine. There are burgers, salads, pasta, baby back ribs, steak, and a ton of seafood options. Two items that Frenchy’s is most famous for are the smoked fish spread appetizer and their grouper sandwiches. I didn’t try the smoked fish spread unfortunately, but I will definitely get it next time I visit. I’ve heard nothing but good things about it. 

I did eat the grouper sandwich though and it was great! The grouper was fresh and you can choose to have the grouper grilled, beer battered, Cajun style, Caribbean style, or buffalo style if you want it to be spicy. I opted for the grilled grouper sandwich with street corn on the side and it was delicious. 

The grouper sandwich

Frenchy’s also has an extensive drink menu with cocktails, frozen drinks, wine, and beer, so in addition to being the most popular, it’s also one of the most fun places to eat in Clearwater Beach. Whether it’s your first visit to Clearwater or your 30th, Frenchy’s is always a must-eat. 

O’Hai Lanai 

The last, but certainly not least delicious, restaurant that I’d love to recommend is O’Hai Lanai. This restaurant has Asian-inspired food, but is only open from 5-10pm on Monday and Tuesday. It’s at the Wyndham Grand in Clearwater and features only outdoor dining. From every table, you can have a stunning view of the beach. 

If you won’t be in Clearwater on a Monday or Tuesday, you can still enjoy a lot of the same foods at Ocean Hai, the Wyndham Grand’s signature restaurant. Ocean Hai is open for dinner Wednesday-Sunday from 5-10pm and every day for breakfast. 

O’Hai Lanai’s menu offers small bites like chicken pot stickers, Mongolian meatballs, calamari, and fried brussel sprouts. I had the vegetable spring rolls as an appetizer and they were served with an apricot Thai chili peanut sauce. Delicious! 

Vegetable spring rolls

For entrees, O’Hai Lanai has fish tacos, flatbread, a burger (my mom loved the burger!!), and several sushi options. If sushi is ever on a menu, I’ll always choose it, so I got the “Candy Stripe” sushi. It was made of spicy tuna, cucumber, avocado, white tuna, tobiko, spicy mayo, and kobachi. To say that I loved it would be an understatement. 

“Candy Stripe” sushi

If you will be in Clearwater and want some delicious, authentic Asian food, I’d definitely suggest checking out O’Hai Lanai or Ocean Hai, depending on when you’re there. 

The seven restaurants above are some of the best places to eat in Clearwater FL, in my opinion anyway, but they are by no means all of the great restaurants in the area. Clearwater has so many wonderful restaurants with a broad variety of foods. No matter what you’re craving, there’s a restaurant for you in the beautiful coastal city of Clearwater.

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