Blue Marlin

Had a nice date night with the hubby while on our 2016 visit to AMI. Our server was nice, but not overly friendly or helpful.
Pre dinner: Edamame. Yummy! Fun little snack.
Appetizer: Garlic shrimp. Delicious!
Entrée: We easily split a low boil. Also yummy. A little spicy, which was good.
Cornbread side: We’d call it a «corn cake.» Too sweet and heavy for me.
The restaurant had a nice, casual feel – people wore clothes from bball jerseys to «night on the town.»

Solid dining experience and will return. We loved the food. Had the grouper special and loved it. Very small dining room but had good service. We had to park a couple of 100 yards away in a church parking lot but got their shuttle service.

A very quaint spot. The service was great and the shrimp & grits are a must! I would highly recommend this place

Best meal we had the entire vacation hands down! Brussels sprout side dish was amazing. Shrimp and grits were exquisite. You should make it a point to eat here. The tropical bread pudding … I just cannot find the words… Very small so reservations are recommended. Kudos to the Chef. Wow!

Ate here twice this week. Delicious!!! Great service. One of the best on the Island!

Awesome service, and amazing food! A must stop location for anyone passing through! A
Garlic shrimp appetizer is a must! 5+ stars!

This place is awesome. I had Thai red snapper. And my wife had the special red snapper. We have been coming to Anna Maria island for 20 plus years and this is our new favorite place. And Drew our waiter was great.

Truly a fantastic place with so much personality and killer food. The menu is well put together with great options and everything we ordered was delicious, the recipes are well thought out and the components of each dish well prepared. I highly recommend sitting outside as well, good live music and a really fun vibe, great date spot.

The ambiance of this place is great. We sat outside which was beautiful. They had a little street food stand and cash bar area outside. I got the garlic shrimp and my parents got the pecan prepared black grouper and the black grouper Alfredo. The shrimp was delicious. Definitely remember to squeeze the lime on them! The Alfredo black grouper was good but a little heavy on the sauce. The pecan grouper was tasty, but if you don’t like pecans stay away, there is a thick layer of crushed pecans. The cornbread and honey butter was also yummy. For drinks we had the sparkling sangria which was amazing! I would say the dessert was the best part! I got a Cocoa crème brûlée. It was perfect. My parents got the guava key lime pie. It was very fresh. All in all I would say this place is a must if you are stopping in Bradenton beach.

Great dinner, food was very fresh, fish delicious! We had a large party and because everything is cooked to order there was a delay in getting served but the Management certainly made up for it by topping off our glasses of wine! Definitely recommend…

Absolutely fabulous! Great meal of shrimp and grits and grouper on our Anniversary! Topped off a great meal with the tropical fruit bread pudding! They treated us so nice and made us feel special! The food was and service (Drew was top notch) were GREAT! We can’t thank them enough and encourage all friends and family to visit the Blue Marlin!

Call ahead for reservations. Parking is horrible. Food takes awhile to come out. When it does, it’s really really good. With better parking and speed easily a 5 star review. Shrimp and grits where great, fish special was good.
Best cornbread I have ever had. Period.

Great atmosphere. Live music tonight. Band was so so. At times annoying. We sat outside bar side. John, our bartender, was pleasant and maintained a positive attitude and smile. Our food was timely delivered. We ordered grouper bites. Felt guilty since the fish is terribly over fished and not sustainable. Fish was delicious and delivered with potato salad with bacon and pineapple slaw. Potato salad was found to be unique and tasty while Cole slaw was acceptable but pineapple flavoring was lacking. Then we ordered coconut shrimp. Shrimp were over processed with chemical called STTP. It causes the shrimp to have a soapy slimy feel and this causes the breeding to easily disconnect in overly thick gel of a dip. It wasn’t pleasant. I would highly suggest adding canola oil, rice vinegar and a touch of chili paste or siriracha to boost a little more flavor. It needs to be a dippable sauce. The shrimp also need to be western cut prior to breading. The whole breaded round shrimp is not that appealing. Grouper=5, Band=2 and shrimp=2.
Total score tonight is a 3.

With a few (mostly negative) changes to its atmosphere, this restaurant would fit in at the high-​end of the restaurant scene in any major city. This is the best meal in the Bradenton/​Anna Maria/​Sarasota area we have had in several visits — and it is miles above the rest.
For drinks, you need to know that this restaurant does not offer a full bar. But it makes up for it with a fantastic wine and beer list. We enjoyed the selection of approximately a half-​dozen local beers, and the servers were great in offering us a taste before we decided. We enjoyed a JDub’s Passion Wheat and a 3 Daughter’s Beach Blonde. Both at the proper temperature and very enjoyable. This reminds me that the servers were ultra knowledgeable about everything on the menu.
For food, we could not help but eat every part of every meal. The shrimp egg rolls were dynamite! Two large egg rolls arrived piping hot and with two delicious dipping sauces. The price was a bit steep and reminded me of Pulp Fiction, but those were mother f*ing good egg rolls. We then enjoyed a couple of the multiple fresh caught seafood options. I inhaled a special of black grouper and clams ($ 26). This was probably a 6 – 8 ounce portion of the freshest fish possible and 8 little neck plus-​sized clams served in a fish fume. Slightly salty, but it was so fresh and delicious. A companion enjoyed pecan crusted grouper with sweet potato disks and asparagus. That pecan crust was a surprisingly delightful sweet and slightly accompaniment for the fish. Wow. A pleasant surprise.
If you go here, you should know 3 things. First, the food and service is impeccable. Second, it is a leisurely meal. This is probably a 90-​minute meal start to finish if you order multiple courses, and you should. Third, this is not a moderately-​priced, fast-​casual tourist trap. You will spend a few dollars to enjoy a serious meal. Go here.

YOU MUST TRY: The Tater soup. The blackened fish Alfredo.
The salads are good.
Don’t come here expecting fast service, but the quality of the food more than makes up for the kitchen speed. Kitchen: please don’t sacrifice quality for speed because what you are doing works perfectly.
Completely amazing!

I love Unilocal!!!
It lets me find places like The Blue Marlin.
We visited this place the night after Thanksgiving. I was really glad that I had made reservations. They were packed!
We walked in and they greeted us. I said that we had a reservation and, without even looking down, the woman said, ‘Stephanie? Right this way’. There was zero wait (as there shouldn’t be when you have reservations, but it often doesn’t go that way) and there was one open table waiting for us.
I cannot say enough about the service here. We were seated promptly, drink orders were taken promptly, specials were told to us, wine glasses were never empty, we didn’t have to wait on our check, they answered my questions without having to check with anyone and didn’t over-​explain anything, etc… but we never felt rushed or bothered.
The food was absolutely out of this world! We all loved everything we ate. .ok except for the squash… for some reason. We started with a bottle of wine and apple juice for my son. For the appetizer we ordered garlic shrimp. It was TO DIE FOR!!! I probably could have eaten 3 plates of that alone, but suddenly my 12 year old son decided that he now loves shrimp after he tried it. Fortunately, they brought us complimentary edamame, too! You really can’t make me happier than that. Unless maybe I could have gotten more than one shrimp before it was gobbled up.
And it got better.
For our ‘sides to share’, we ordered carbs… mac n cheese and brown butter potatoes. Mmmmmmmm! My son and I ordered the special which was potato crusted redfish in a beurre blanc sauce. My friend ordered grouper and clams in a pesto sauce. We all tried each other’s food and it was all delicious. The fish came with the squash and zucchini and red peppers.
If you don’t like seafood, this place probably isn’t for you. But, in my opinion, this is one of, if not THE BEST, seafood place I’ve been to in Tampa Bay. And I’ve lived here for almost 20 years. I also believe that you get what you pay for when it comes to good, well-​prepared seafood. The fish is clearly fresh and will be whatever was brought in that day and can be served 3 ways, plus whatever specials they have.
For the dessert (which I ONLY order if the food has completely blown me away as I’m not a fan of sweets) was also delicious. Picture attached. Again, we shared. My favorite was the key lime guava pie with passion fruit juice. Hands down. My son liked the chocolate pecan pie. My friend and I both liked the fruity bread pudding.
What a wonderful experience! My only complaint is that The Blue Marlin isn’t in Tampa! I’ll be back next time I’m down in Bradenton, though. Fantastic!

Worth it’s weight in gold!
Make a reservation because you’re not getting in without one!
This place is glorious!!! Delicious food great wine epic deserts!!!
Cute outside live music now!!!
Seriously go and eat!

Don’t let the quaint exterior mislead you into thinking that the food here is mediocre. My wife and I had a fantastic dinner here: the filet mignon appetizer was amazing; we shared a Caesar salad (excellent house made dressing); I had the GLT which came with expertly cooked garlic green beans. My wife had the burger… which was fantastic.
Can’t wait to go back…

My family and I visited this past Monday, reservations were recommended so we made one for 7:30. Running a bit late we call and they were able to switch our party of 4, to our new requested time of 8:30. When we got there our table was waiting for us with menus already for us. It is a funky little joint with tons to look at, overall it was pretty laid back. We received edamame for the table instead of bread, which was a nice change.
My father ordered the Cortez Chowder as his appetizer which he loved. I ordered the Filet (it was super tender, could of used a bit more seasoning for me) and the Lobster Mac and Cheese (BEST I HAVE EVER HAD). My mom ordered the Shrimp and Grits, which she raved about. My father ordered the Pecan Crusted Grouper, he thoroughly enjoyed it along with his green beans and sweet potatoes with pesto. My boyfriend ordered the Tuna special which came with wasabi mash potatoes that were to DIE FOR! I have never seen him enjoy a meal more then this one.
To finish our meal off we ordered the Guava Key Lime Pie and the Bread Pudding for dessert, both were good. Overrall the prices are a little high, but we were in AWE of how amazing everything tasted and we can’t wait to come back.

This was our second visit to Blue Marlin and it wasn’t as good as we remembered. Parking is difficult however they offer a shuttle to a church parking lot. Pull up to the restaurant and let them know you need a ride. You follow a golf cart to the lot and then give you a lift back.
The meal starts with edamame instead of bread, which was a nice touch. We had the Cortez Chowder which is a tomato saffron broth with grouper cheeks and shrimp. This was the highlight of the meal. It was really tasty with a lot of grouper.
I had the catch of the day, black grouper, prepared fulford style. It was sautéed with lemon butter and served with rice and peas. I got the smaller, 4 oz portion and I didn’t feel like it was a great value. It was good but not amazing.
My husband got the blackened fish alfredo. Again good, but nothing completely stand out for the price.
We got the pecan pie to go and that was pretty delicious. I don’t think you can go wrong with pecan pie with bourbon whipped cream!

Wir haben den Fisch des Tages gegessen — einen Red Snapper. Man hat 3 Zubereitungsarten zur Auswahl. Ich habe mich für die asiatische Variante entschieden, mein Freund für die mit der Pekanuss– Kruste.
Es gibt zwei Größen, ich nahm die kleine, er die Große. Dazu gab es eine Flasche Weißwein.
Die kleine Portion war echt winzig, die Große war gut. Die asiatische Variante hat mich nicht so von Hocker gehauen — mein Freund war mit seiner Pekanuss-​Variante sehr zufrieden.
Wir saßen draußen, es war ein Freitag und es gab eine Live Band. Der Wein war gut, aber auch nicht günstig.
Insgesamt war ein teurer abend!