Over 50 St. Pete

Old Northeast · italian-inspired steakhouse, steak, pasta, seafood, italian contemporary, wood-fired

Elliott Aster is the signature restaurant at The Vinoy, a collaboration between the resort, chef Lee Wolen and Chicago's Boka Restaurant Group. It opened on 20 May 2025 and was added to the MICHELIN Guide Florida a year later. The guide describes an Italian-inspired steakhouse with high ceilings and large chandeliers ... wood-fired steaks, house-made pastas, focaccia rolls, radiatore alla vodka and a caramel coffee budino. There is an antipasti bar, a lounge that opens before the dining room, and a Sunday brunch. Wolen was a 2025 James Beard semifinalist for Outstanding Chef for his Chicago work.

St. Pete Pier · seafood, american

A deck-wrapped restaurant on the downtown marina seawall near the Pier entrance, in business for more than 20 years. Its future is unsettled: the city's $165 million marina rebuild calls for the building to come down so the seawall beneath it can be replaced, with construction expected to start in late 2026. In April 2026 the city had not said whether Fresco's would return afterward, and council member Gina Driscoll said she had 'a lot of concern about this restaurant being displaced'.

4th Street North · american, seafood, burgers

Dan Harvey opened the grill on 1 April 1984 and the third generation of the Harvey family now works there. The room is built from pieces of old St. Pete: decor from the Vinoy, Soreno and Albermarle hotels, and doors from the Sunshine School. The house claims more than two million grouper sandwiches sold, and the Tampa Bay Times named it one of Tampa Bay's 25 most iconic restaurants, per the venue.

Pass-a-Grille · seafood, american

The Falkenstein family from Baltimore bought the site in 1977 and built the restaurant out of what was left of an old hotel. The spot had held Page's Pavilion bathhouse, built in 1912, and later the Casa Bonita Hotel. The family added the first floor in 1986 and the upper floors, a banquet room and the rooftop bar in 1990. The roof deck, the Hurricane Watch, has two bars and a full-circle view of Pass-a-Grille. The grouper sandwich is the dish the restaurant puts forward.

Beach Drive · new american, coastal, steak, seafood

Opened in August 2024 in the space that was 400 Beach Seafood & Tap House. Shawn and Jeanna Damkoehler bought that restaurant in 2021, ran it under the old name until 2023, then rebuilt it with the design firm AvroKO around Aesop's fable of Juno and the peacock. St. Pete Catalyst reported it as the only Florida restaurant serving Dean & Peeler steaks, dry-aged 45, 65 or 90 days. The Pluma lounge next door keeps more than 1,400 wines, and the patio faces North Straub Park and the yacht basins.

Gulfport · greek, seafood

A family-run Greek and seafood room on the corner by the Gulfport pier, open since 2011 and run by Dia and Gus Vartsakis. Helene put more than four feet of water through it in September 2024 and nearly everything had to be replaced. 'We saw our time, energy, passion, and livelihood destroyed,' Dia Vartsakis told St. Pete Rising. It reopened on August 29, 2025, in time for GeckoFest, and The Gabber's publisher called its return a marker for downtown Gulfport's recovery. Two shops that shared the building, Qi Crystal Energy and Paw Paw's Pet Boutique, did not come back.

Pass-a-Grille · american, seafood

A walk-up counter on the sand at Pass-a-Grille, open from 7 a.m. until half an hour after sunset. An old ship's bell beside the seawall is rung every evening as the sun goes down, and the bell came through the storms intact. Helene and Milton pushed sand and saltwater through the kitchen and it was closed for about four months, reopening in early 2025. Live music runs Friday to Sunday. A second counter operates at 6850 Beach Plaza.

Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.

Beach Drive · modern american, seafood, steak

Open since 1996 and, in its own words, the first major restaurant on this stretch of Beach Drive. Executive chef and partner Tyson Grant runs the kitchen; the site says he was voted Best Chef of Tampa Bay in 2025. It also runs full catering for weddings and corporate events.

Pass-a-Grille · seafood

This is the old Sea Critters Cafe on the bay side of Pass-a-Grille. Regulars Charles and Helen Collom bought it in 2022, renamed it, rebuilt the dock and kept most of the staff. Boats can tie up at the dock and the kitchen will cook your catch. The restaurant's site carries a memorial to Charles Lee Collom.

Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.

Pass-a-Grille · american, seafood, breakfast

Founded in 1938 as one of the area's early drive-ins, the Seahorse was given historic designation by the St. Pete Beach Historic Preservation Board in 2024. Months later Helene and Milton put several feet of water through it and it stayed shut for more than a year. Owners Carlos Calvillo and Anayeri Gomez kept the wooden booths, the memorabilia and the taxidermy when they rebuilt. Breakfast runs to omelets, pancakes and shrimp and grits; lunch to seafood platters, burgers and Cuban-style grilled chicken.

St. Pete Pier · seafood, coastal american

The full-service restaurant on the fourth floor of the Pier Point building at the very end of the St. Pete Pier, with the bay on every side. Chuck Prather, who owns The Birchwood on Beach Drive, runs it along with the Pier Teaki rooftop bar above and the Driftwood Cafe at ground level. The Pier's own listing gives it lunch, dinner and weekend brunch.

St. Pete Beach · seafood, raw bar, new american

Heidi and Michael Butler opened The Helm in 2021 at 7736 Blind Pass Road as a raw bar, restaurant and seafood market. Helene's surge wrecked it in September 2024 and it reopened on February 21, 2025. The Butlers also had a South Carolina restaurant hit by the same storm and closed it to stay here: 'We decided to stay here where our roots are.' In July 2026 they moved across the street into the former Verducci's, which never reopened after the storms, nearly doubling their space and adding a private room for 30 to 40. The old room becomes The Scullery, a kitchenware shop with cooking classes. Known for Maine lobster rolls, she-crab soup and Florida sour orange pie.

Grand Central District · seafood, oysters, steak

The Oyster Bar spent 24 years at 249 Central Avenue downtown, from 1999 until it closed there in 2023. Owner Josh Cameron of Craft Hospitality Group brought it back on 14 October 2025 in a new 3,200 square foot Grand Central room with 120 seats, 22 of them outside. The old signatures came with it ... buffalo shrimp, bacon parmesan-crusted grouper and raw oysters, with a dollar-oyster 'Aphrodisiac Hour' from 4 to 5pm. The site now names Daniel Walter as executive chef.

Live music some nights. Go before the band starts if you want to talk.