17 Incredible Restaurants in Clearwater, FL You Need to Try
Eating in Clearwater means choosing between two very different settings. Clearwater Beach is a barrier island about 2.5 miles long, reached by the Clearwater Memorial Causeway, and its restaurants lean on the Gulf: grouper sandwiches, decks built for sunset and, from October 15 to May 1, stone crab. The history runs deep. Crabby’s Beachside Pavilion stands where a beach pavilion has operated since 1926, and Frenchy’s opened its first café on a side street in 1981. On the mainland, downtown’s Cleveland Street, home to the 1921 Capitol Theatre, and the neighborhoods along Belcher Road, US 19 and Drew Street hold Italian, Croatian and Greek dinners, diners and bakeries.
This guide covers 17 places, from a beachfront grill that has been on the sand since 1991 to a seventh-floor dining room with Gulf views, with steakhouse dinners, Italian and Croatian tables, Mediterranean plates and breakfast at a diner, a neighborhood café and a Greek bakery along the way. Ratings and review counts come from each restaurant’s Google listing in October 2026.
Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill
Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill sits at 7 Rockaway Street on Clearwater Beach, with open-air decks right on the sand and the Gulf of Mexico in front. It opened in 1991 and is the biggest restaurant in the Frenchy’s family, a local group that began in 1981 with a small café on a side street. Hurricane Helene flooded it in 2024, and the remodel that followed replaced the bars and floors and turned an upper bar into a dining room.
Rated 4.5 stars from more than 17,000 Google reviews, it is the most reviewed restaurant in this guide. The Super Grouper sandwich is the signature, and you can have it grilled, blackened or fried, with Cajun or Caribbean jerk seasoning as options. Round things out with she crab soup (a rich, creamy crab soup), crab fries or grouper nuggets, and look for rum runners at the two big bars.
Live music plays daily, and sunset is the busiest time of day. Come for a late lunch, or arrive early to get a table with a view, and expect a short wait at peak hours. Parking near the beach can be tight, so leave extra time. Frenchy’s has several other cafés nearby, so make sure you are headed to 7 Rockaway Street.
Address: 7 Rockaway St, Clearwater, FL 33767
Website: frenchysonline.com/frenchys-rockaway-grill
Crabby’s Beachside Pavilion
Crabby’s Beachside Pavilion, at 10 Bay Esplanade, is billed as the oldest beach pavilion in Florida, and its history dates to 1926. Many locals still call it the Palm Pavilion, the name it carried while the Hamilton family ran it for nearly 65 years. St. Petersburg’s Beachside Hospitality Group bought it in January 2026 and renamed it, keeping the pavilion, the staff who wanted to stay and the old menu favorites.
Its Google listing shows 4.5 stars across more than 9,500 reviews, and the kitchen still makes the dishes locals know: grouper nuggets, coconut shrimp and gator bites (fried alligator). The beach burger, shrimp and crab chowder and smoked ribs are also on the menu, along with tropical drinks, and there is ice cream if you want a cold finish on the sand.
This is a relaxed beach stop with live entertainment on the deck most days. Breakfast is served daily, and the kitchen stays open into the evening, so it works for a morning meal, a sunset drink or a full dinner. Call ahead if you have a large group, since the website’s reservations section gives no booking details.
Address: 10 Bay Esplanade, Clearwater, FL 33767
Website: crabbysbeachsidepavilion.com
Clear Sky on Cleveland
Clear Sky on Cleveland is a global bistro at 418 Cleveland Street, in downtown Clearwater’s historic Cleveland Street District and across from the Capitol Theatre. It opened in July 2017 as part of Clear Sky Restaurants, a local group founded by Dan Shouvlin and Michael “Frenchy” Preston, the same Frenchy behind the beach restaurants. Inside there is a bar, a private Garden Room and a back patio.
Rated 4.6 stars from more than 3,500 Google reviews, it serves a menu that draws on Asia, Latin America and modern American cooking. The PB&J Brussels sprouts get the most attention, and other good orders are the calamari fries, lamb kebabs, coconut grouper and a Cuban sandwich. Breakfast and brunch bring dishes such as short rib eggs Benedict.
Book through OpenTable or walk in, but the restaurant warns that you may wait ten minutes or more for a table even with a reservation. Parking is free. Weekday afternoons have a happy hour, and live music, comedy nights and open mic nights are on the calendar, so check the events page. Breakfast is served daily as well.
Address: 418 Cleveland St, Clearwater, FL 33755
Website: clearskyrestaurants.com/cleveland-home
Bascom’s Chop House
Bascom’s Chop House has been serving steaks and seafood at 3665 Ulmerton Road since 2001. The dining room has warm lighting and refined décor, and an upstairs lounge hosts live music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. The restaurant has collected Best of the Bay awards, a Wine Spectator award and an OpenTable Diners’ Choice award, and it has private dining rooms for groups.
Rated 4.6 stars from more than 5,700 Google reviews, Bascom’s is built around beef. The slow-roasted prime rib is the house specialty and roasts for at least 12 hours, and the menu also lists USDA Prime steaks and wagyu cuts. Other things to order include Billionaire’s Bacon, a signature appetizer sold by the slice, pecan crusted grouper, lobster mac and cheese and fresh shucked oysters.
Reservations are easy to make on OpenTable or by phone. Tuesday is Tomahawk Tuesday, with a discount on the 38-ounce tomahawk ribeye, and a late-evening Night Owl menu starts after 8 p.m. Specials change, so check the website. It is one of the pricier restaurants in this guide, and a 20 percent gratuity is added for parties of six or more.
Address: 3665 Ulmerton Rd, Clearwater, FL 33762
Website: bascoms.com
Island Way Grill
Island Way Grill sits on the water at 20 Island Way on Clearwater Beach, and you can arrive by boat as easily as by car, since dock slips are available daily on a first come, first served basis. The patio and bar overlook the water. It is part of Baystar Restaurant Group, which runs several other local restaurants, and its Sunday brunch is advertised as award winning.
With 4.4 stars from more than 5,200 Google reviews, Island Way Grill is known for fresh seafood. Guests praise the oysters, sushi and tuna sashimi, as well as the sea bass, the hogfish (a mild white Florida fish) and the crab dip. Chocolate espresso cake is a favorite dessert, and the bar is known for smoked cocktails and a deep bourbon list.
Reservations are available on OpenTable or by phone, and Sunday brunch is the meal to book ahead. Reviewers describe a big spread with sushi, oysters, salmon and mini desserts. There is sometimes live music, so ask when you call. The outdoor bar and waterfront seating are popular when the weather is good, so ask for them when you book.
Address: 20 Island Way, Clearwater Beach, FL 33767
Website: islandwaygrill.com
Ocean Seven
Ocean Seven is on the seventh floor of The Hiatus Hotel at 385 South Gulfview Boulevard, with Gulf views from the dining room. Guests enter through the hotel lobby and ride the elevator up. The hotel is part of Hilton’s Curio collection, but the restaurant is privately owned. The kitchen cooks Floribbean food, meaning Florida seafood with Caribbean flavors, in a space designed by Celano Design Studio.
Rated 4.5 stars from more than 300 Google reviews, it has gathered recognition quickly. The restaurant lists a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence and a 2026 Best Seafood title from Tampa Magazine. Order the Coconut Shrimp Crunch Roll, beef empanadas, baked Florida grouper or the Jamaican coffee-crusted ribeye, and share the Ocean Seven Seafood Tower if the table is hungry.
Book ahead. The restaurant strongly encourages reservations, especially for sunset hours, weekends and holidays, and bar lounge seats may be open to walk-ins depending on the night. Valet parking is complimentary with a minimum spend, so ask about current terms. This is one of the pricier dinners on the beach. The hotel’s Sielo rooftop bar is open to the public and serves dishes from the same kitchen.
Address: 385 S Gulfview Blvd, Clearwater Beach, FL 33767
Website: oceansevenclearwater.com
Cesare at the Beach
Cesare at the Beach is an Italian restaurant at 794 South Gulfview Boulevard on Clearwater Beach. It was started by two founders named Cesare and Carlo, both born and raised in Italy, and it has served the beach for more than 15 years. You can eat indoors or outside, with a view across the water to the Sand Key Bridge.
Its 4.5 stars from more than 1,200 Google reviews come from classic Italian cooking, with plenty of pasta, veal and fish. Pastas include gnocchi alla Sorrentina, agnolotti (house-made pasta pockets filled with spinach and ricotta) and pappardelle with wild mushrooms. Good mains are ossobuco alla Milanese (braised veal shank), veal saltimbocca alla Romana and grouper Francese, and homemade desserts finish the meal.
Dinner is served seven days a week, and you can reserve on OpenTable or by phone. The restaurant adds an 18 percent service charge for parties of four or more. The wine list focuses on Italy, with a few bottles from California and Oregon. Pasta here is priced at the upper end for the beach, so check the menu, and confirm hours before you go.
Address: 794 S Gulfview Blvd, Clearwater, FL 33767
Website: cesareatthebeach.com
Café Massé Ristorante Italiano
Café Massé Ristorante Italiano is at 1443 South Belcher Road, run by Chef Massé, who often comes out to greet guests in the dining room. The room feels calm and traditional, with candlelit tables, Italian frescoes and comfortable booths. Visit St. Pete-Clearwater includes it on its list of the area’s best new restaurants, calling the Italian cooking authentic.
It holds 4.9 stars across more than 400 Google reviews. Start with the white truffle mushroom ravioli, then try the salmon champagne pasta with dill, the pasta with meatballs or the eggplant parmigiana. Tiramisu is praised for dessert, gelato is also offered, and gluten-free pasta is available if you need it.
This is a dinner restaurant with a small, mostly European wine list, so it suits a slow evening. Call ahead for a table, especially on weekends, since the room is cozy. Check the days and hours before you go, because the restaurant keeps a limited evening schedule.
Address: 1443 S Belcher Rd, Clearwater, FL 33764
Website: cafemasse.com
DeLukas Restaurant & Bar
DeLukas Restaurant & Bar is a family-owned Croatian restaurant at 1343 Cleveland Street. Zdravko and Darina Talanga moved from Croatia in 1999 and opened it that year, and the name honors their grandson Luka. Darina is the executive chef and cooks from scratch, using organic ingredients, according to the restaurant.
Rated 4.7 stars from more than 500 Google reviews, DeLukas pairs Croatian classics with Italian and seafood dishes. Look for cevapi (seasoned beef and veal sausages served in flatbread with onions and sour cream), goulash over mashed potatoes, stuffed cabbage and a lamb shank braised for five hours in red wine sauce. Dessert choices include walnut strudel and baklava.
Reservations are recommended. The website lists dinner hours that begin in the late afternoon, so plan on an evening meal and check before you go. The menu is large, with steaks, pasta and fresh fish alongside the Croatian dishes, and a private ballroom handles big groups. Holiday hours are posted on the site if you are visiting around a holiday.
Address: 1343 Cleveland St, Clearwater, FL 33755
Website: delukascroatianrestaurantbar.com
Soul Mediterranean Cuisine
Soul Mediterranean Cuisine is a dinner restaurant at 486 Poinsettia Avenue on Clearwater Beach. The menu blends the flavors of Italy, Greece, Albania, Croatia, Turkey, Spain and Montenegro, and most of the team comes from overseas. The room has white chairs, pendant lights and a bar, and there is outdoor seating too.
With 4.9 stars from more than 500 Google reviews, it is one of the best-rated restaurants on the beach. Reviewers single out the creamy hummus and the gnocchi. Other dishes worth ordering are the charred octopus, sarma (rolled, stuffed bites common across the Balkans and Turkey), cigar burek (a rolled phyllo pastry), branzino and the Mediterranean seafood stew.
The restaurant recommends booking ahead, and reservations are taken through Yelp. It serves dinner only, from late afternoon on, and it has advertised a daily Golden Hour with discounted shares, beer, cocktails and wine, so ask about current specials. The full bar and regional wines pair well with the shared plates and dips.
Address: 486 Poinsettia Ave, Clearwater Beach, FL 33767
Website: soulmediterranean.com
The District Bistro
The District Bistro is at 412 Cleveland Street, a few doors from Clear Sky on Cleveland and close to the Capitol Theatre. It has an art deco inspired dining room, a bar and outdoor seating, and Visit St. Pete-Clearwater calls it the area’s first full-service restaurant that cooks without seed oils. The kitchen says it uses avocado oil, butter, olive oil and beef tallow instead.
Rated 4.7 stars from more than 200 Google reviews, it leans on hand-cut steaks and comfort food. Try the braised short rib, the grilled ribeye, the ahi tuna appetizer with bang bang sauce (a creamy, spicy sauce), a smash burger or the crab cake. For dessert, the San Sebastian cheesecake, a creamy burnt-top cheesecake, is the one to get.
Reservations are on OpenTable, and the restaurant recommends booking ahead. It also serves brunch, with dishes such as crab cake Benedict and shrimp and grits, and weekday happy hour starters run in the afternoon. There is regular live music, and it is a handy spot for drinks and appetizers before a show at the Capitol Theatre.
Address: 412 Cleveland St, Clearwater, FL 33755
Website: thedistrictbistro.com
Badfins Food + Brew
Badfins Food + Brew is at 215 South Gulfview Boulevard, inside the Wyndham Grand Clearwater Beach Resort, with an outdoor patio and beer garden near the pier and across from the beach. The restaurant says it is owned and run by a local family. It mixes Mexican street food with Gulf seafood, and the bar keeps about 34 beers on tap, mostly from local breweries.
Rated 4.7 stars from more than 10,000 Google reviews, Badfins is best known for its tacos. The menu runs from El Pastor and Sweet Tuna to Primo Grouper and Banging Shrimp, and there is an Ahi Tuna Tostada, Mexican street corn ribs and the Square Grouper Sandwich. For something rich, the Fire Lobster Mac Daddy is a signature.
Seating is outdoors, with shades that can close in the patio. Reservations are available through the restaurant’s online booking link, and sunset is the busiest time. Weekend brunch runs until 4 p.m., with a make-your-own Bloody Mary or unlimited mimosas, and there is live music several nights a week plus a Wednesday pint night, so check the schedule.
Address: 215 S Gulfview Blvd, Clearwater, FL 33767
Website: badfins.com
Cabanas Coastal & Beachside Grill
Cabanas Coastal Grill is at 655 South Gulfview Boulevard on Clearwater Beach and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. The Cabanas restaurants trace their history to Bon Appétit, opened on Dunedin’s waterfront in 1976, and are owned in part by the Loder family’s Crabby Bill’s Family Brands. The dining room is indoors, and live music plays on weekend afternoons and evenings.
Its 4.8 stars from more than 2,400 Google reviews put it among the best-rated seafood restaurants on the beach. The signature is Mary’s Crab Cake, a jumbo lump crab cake, and other good orders are the Gulf grouper sandwich, the Real Grouper Dinner, Alaskan snow crab legs sold by the pound and the 12-ounce Braveheart Ribeye. The restaurant also pushes its big burgers.
You can reserve through OpenTable. Breakfast is served until late morning, with a Floridian omelet and crab cake Benedict on the menu, so it works as a first meal on the beach. Live music runs Friday through Sunday, so check the schedule. Crab legs and market priced items are sold by weight, so ask about the price before you order.
Address: 655 S Gulfview Blvd, Clearwater, FL 33767
Website: cabanasgrill.com
Ryan’s Island Cafe
Ryan’s Island Cafe is a breakfast and lunch spot at 432 Poinsettia Avenue, Suite 5, on Clearwater Beach, open seven days a week. Owner Ryan was inspired to open a restaurant by working alongside his family in New York as a teenager, and he built the cafe around family comfort and the sunshine of Clearwater Beach. The menu is long, with omelets, Benedicts, burgers and sandwiches.
Few places on the beach match its 4.9 stars from more than 4,000 Google reviews. The Steak Benedict, made with sirloin cooked to order, and the steak and eggs are starred favorites, and the breakfast burrito, breakfast quesadilla and Ryan’s Breakfast Burger, a half-pound burger with bacon bits, American cheese and a basted egg, are all recommended. Lunch brings mahi and chips.
The kitchen closes in mid-afternoon, so come for breakfast or an early lunch. Daily specials have included half off mimosas on Mondays and a discount on the fried grouper sandwich on Fridays, so check the specials page. Online ordering and delivery are available if you would rather eat back at your hotel.
Address: 432 Poinsettia Ave Ste 5, Clearwater Beach, FL 33767
Website: ryansislandcafe.com
Wildflower Cafe
Wildflower Cafe opened in September 2000 at 1465 South Fort Harrison Avenue, tucked under oak trees near the Pinellas Trail. Friends Leslie Alfred and Joan Dragon started it as a neighborhood destination with an open-air feel, and renovations in 2011 made it comfortable year-round. A market on the property sells bread, cookies, grab-and-go meals and kombucha, so you can pick up lunch to take home.
Rated 4.6 stars from more than 1,500 Google reviews, Wildflower is known for breakfast. The Mile High Baked French Toast comes with brown sugar syrup, toasted pecans and whipped cream, and the cheesy grits with eggs and a buttermilk biscuit and the biscuits with maple sausage gravy are marked as signatures. At lunch, try the deep dish quiche or the chicken pecan tart with mango chutney.
Breakfast is served on weekdays until 11 and on Saturday until noon, there is a Sunday brunch menu, and the cafe closes in the early afternoon. Mimosas are poured any day. If there is a wait for a table, you can pass the time in the market. Check hours before you go.
Address: 1465 S Fort Harrison Ave Suite #105, Clearwater, FL 33756
Website: wildflowercafe.net
Bacon Street Diner
Bacon Street Diner is a family-owned diner inside Countryside Mall, at 27001 US Highway 19 North, Suite 1065. Owner Adam Imburgia comes from a family of caterers and produce sellers, and the diner blends old-fashioned nostalgia with modern favorites. Bacon is in the name and all over the menu, and breakfast is served all day.
Rated 4.8 stars from more than 3,200 Google reviews, it has plenty to order beyond bacon. Try the Bacon Caramel Pancakes, filled with bacon and topped with banana and caramel, the peameal bacon (Canadian back bacon), the Classic Canadian Poutine of fries, cheese curds and gravy, or a half-pound bacon burger with the bacon blended into the patty. Breakfast platters come with a maple bacon cream puff.
The diner serves a full menu of burgers, sandwiches and homemade breads, plus a full bar with signature cocktails and boozy shakes. Gluten-free options are available, including bread, pancakes and waffles. It closes in the evening, so check hours before you go. Online ordering is available if you want to pick up.
Address: 27001 US Hwy 19 N Ste 1065, Clearwater, FL 33761
Website: baconstreet.com
Manos Bakery Cafe
Manos Bakery Cafe is a Greek bakery and café at 1971 Drew Street, with a gourmet market in the other half of the space. The family traces its baking back to 1922, when Gregory Kranias opened his first bakery, and bakeries in Greece are still run by the family today. The baked goods are made from scratch, from European breads to pastries, cookies and cakes.
With 4.7 stars from more than 400 Google reviews, Manos is a good stop for both breakfast and lunch. The Greek pies include bougatsa (a custard pie in flaky phyllo), spinach pie, feta cheese pie and a meat pie. Croissants and breakfast sandwiches cover the morning, and at lunch the gyro and the Cuban sandwich with oven-roasted pork are the favorites.
The cafe opens early on weekdays, closes by late afternoon and is closed on Sundays, so plan around that. A notice on the website says online ordering is unavailable and asks customers to call in orders. The pies are priced low, which makes this an easy grab-and-go breakfast, and the gourmet market in the other half of the space is worth a look.
Address: 3028, 1971 Drew St, Clearwater, FL 33765
Website: manosbakerycafe.com
Final Thoughts
Beach restaurants fill up around sunset, so book ahead where you can. Bascom’s, Clear Sky on Cleveland, Island Way Grill, Cesare at the Beach, Ocean Seven and The District Bistro all take reservations online, and Ocean Seven asks guests to book early for sunset hours, weekends and holidays. Walk-in spots such as Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill and Crabby’s Beachside Pavilion are easiest at a late lunch or an early dinner. Several of the Italian, Croatian and Mediterranean dinner restaurants serve evenings only, so check hours before you go. Stone crab season runs from October 15 to May 1, so a winter visit can include it, and downtown’s Cleveland Street pairs easily with a show at the Capitol Theatre.
Planning the rest of your trip? See our guide to the best things to do in Clearwater, FL.
Main photo, from left: Amie Watson, Frames For Your Heart and Yuval Zukerman / Unsplash
