The Bait House Tackle & Tavern

This little shack tucked away at the end of the pier is a real gem. Best fish tacos I’ve had in a looong time. Blackened fresh catch of the day and three great sauces. Much better atmosphere than all the chain restaurants nearby if you like a small, authentic and down home place. Great place to have a drink too.

I would give this place 5 stars, if we would have had any sort of service. After waiting 20 mins after being seated, we got our own menus. 10 mins later, we asked if we had a server. Finally had someone come by. The food we ordered was fantastic. I had the shrimp tacos, my husband had the grouper quesadillas. We both had salads as well. Food was all seasoned and cooked perfectly. Would happily go back again… just would hope for better service.

I was kinda weary of this place by the looks. But the food turned out to be awesome! The shrimp for appetizer is awesome! Fish is super fresh

This place was a last minute thing while we were trying to figure out the nightmare of parking in this city lot, at the Pier docks and charter area. This little dockside joint had GREAT FOOD!, and Cold drinks… The staff was awesome and helpful as well if you needed a selection choice. I had the Covina/​Ruben, to die for! Fresh catch and salads, while watching the boats go by, very cool!!! And they have tap with lots of beers…

This is a great little place for a quiet dinner. The food was great and so was the service. Fresh fish and cold beer. All while being watched/​stalked by the local birds.

I wish the gentleman I spoke to over the phone explained that my fresh caught fish had to be cleaned and scaled before they will even think about cooking it. Walked a half A mile to throw it in the trash. I also felt like I was ignored while I was there and ended up leaving before my water arrived. This is the third local owned restaurant that I visited while vacationing here and believe it or not I had much better service at franchise owned places. Who comes all the way to Clearwater FL to eat at McDonald’s?

This place is awesome. Asked our parasailing guy what was a great local lunch stop for a fish sandwich. He told us about this place and we are glad he did. Walked in to a bait house and small general store and then around the corner on the water was a small bar and seating area. Sat down up at the bar and was served almost ASAP. A few sweet teas and local fresh catch (grouper and wahoo that day) tacos and sandwiches later we were stuffed and walked out happy! Awesome little hole in the wall place. A++ go there. You won’t be disappointed if you’re looking for a fresh catch!

Waitresses were spot on for all recommendations! Fish tacos and spicy tuna nachos were absolutely legit!

This hole in a wall is a definite must do the food was excellent and the service was great good beer and fresh catch of the day because this restaurant is on the dock wow omg cant do it justice

Great little place. It is a bait shop and looks the part when you enter. Continue to the back where there is outdoor sitting. The two shrimp items we had were terrific, the Buffalo Shrimp app and the grilled shrimp tacos. My wife’s mahi Caesar salad also was great from the small taste I got.

Still as good or even better than my last review. Great food and service. Fantastic view !!!. Sorry to see the clams are off the menu but the Drunken Shrimp are a great replacement if you like something spicy.
The blackened Grouper is the best I have had on the beach. Nice seclection of local beer to wash it all down. Another plus it is dog friendly and my Morkie Jack gives it 5 stars too !

I frequent CWB and only just now came across this adorable little place! We had went fishing on a charter and they told us we could take our fresh fish here to be prepared. So glad we did! We ordered our fish to be put into tacos and also ordered some of the fillets grilled. The price was literally amazing…$ 8.95 for our fish and 2 sides! The preparation was PERFECT… so yummy! And the ambiance is incredible… sitting on a patio over the water at the marina! Also, very friendly staff! Cannot wait to return after our next fishing trip (pending we catch fish, that is!).

Great seafood, chicken and vegetarian options, and excellent beer (and advice/​insights — not limited tot he food) on tap!
We enjoyed our lunch and interactions with the staff — both at the bar while waiting, and at the waterfront seating, and loved the mix of locals and tourists eating here on a BUSY afternoon.
A group of people who don’t take themselves seriously, but take service and good citizenship to the next level — very friendly even to those who happened to stop by with questions etc. A Clearwater beach gem.

I loved this place! After spending a few hours at the North Beach in Clearwater with my younger dog, I was starving. A coworker had mentioned to me that The Bait House was dog friendly, so I tried it out. What a hidden gem! It’s the perfect spot to grab a drink and some food after spending the morning at the beach. I had some really delicious grouper tacos and a red sangria. Everyone was SUPER friendly and even brought Kali (my lab) her own giant bowl of fresh water. The staff pet her and loved on her (even after being all stanky from swimming in the ocean, lol), which she absolutely loved. I wish I could have spent the rest of the day there.
The atmosphere is casual, people are friendly, and it’s so peaceful to sit on the water and just relax. I will definitely be back. I’m excited to make this a part of our weekend ritual.

Easy 5 stars. Love the atmosphere, and the prices are reasonable. Fish are caught locally every day.

Everything we had was delicious. ESPECIALLY the fish tacos. Get the wahoo, if you can!

I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t love this place. It’s a casual, beachy hidden gem in the far side of a parking lot. Once you get inside, all of the seating is outside. It’s a family-​owned establishment. It overlooks the water. I saw two dolphins playing while I waited for a table sipping on a root beer. Pelicans glare at you the entire time you’re eating. It’s been open since the 1940s. They have some pretty exquisite, secret recipes. I mean, they’re not just good. They’re pretty incredible.
Drunken Shrimp: Tender shrimp sauteed in a creamy bourbon creole reduction served with toasted ciabatta bread
— Phenomenal! This is a favorite of mine. Dip the ciabatta in the reduction. It’s just amazing. They are supposed to start bottling the reduction and selling it in their store. I hope to see that soon. It’s just too good.
Corvina: This is the catch that I have encountered as being «catch of moment» the times that I’ve been there. It’s very flavorful, a nice fish. It’s similar to Sea Bass. It’s firm and flakey. I had it blackened on top of a seasonal salad this time. (with a dinner last time) With the bleu cheese, walnuts, greens, strawberries, and incredible raspberry vinaigrette, it was mind-​blowingly good. The raspberry vinaigrette seems to be a pureed raspberry base with vinegar and herbs… maybe oregano and basil. Just a guess. But, it’s so good, very fresh. That salad was the perfect blend of flavors. It just left me satisfied. I prefer the salad over the dinner.
This place is very much a hidden gem. If you’re at Clearwater Beach, don’t leave without going.

Low key spot. Fresh seafood. Lots of nice local beers on tap. Had the fresh catch (Mahi) tacos and seafood cakes. Both were bangin. Washed it down with a local beer called Reef Donkey. Had a ol’ big pelican stare at us the whole time but he was chillin.

This restaurant is such a little gem. It is eclectic and a very authentic place to get fresh fish. We ate snapper that was finished and brought in less than two hours before we were served. The food was delicious, we had many non-​fish eaters in our group that all were incredibly pleased and may have been won over to eating seafood!
The service was fantastic, the people were down-​to-​earth and real, very accommodating and made excellent recommendations. The beer selection is also fantastic with great local options on tap. The wine drinkers and her group were equally pleased.
The menu is a little small, but what they do they do with excellence. They had amazing fish tacos and a Fishcake sandwich which we enjoyed, other members in our group did enjoy the black bean burger and the Keylime tart was a perfect finishing touch.

When I say this place is hidden on Clearwater beach I’m not kidding. I couldn’t see it from the road, I was confused when I was in the parking lot, and it should absolutely stay that way. When someone says ‘lets go to clearwater beach for lunch’ I usually run and hide, make up plans, and go somewhere more local (for me). When the boyfriend said lets try this I was a little skeptical, after all most places on the beaches don’t NEED to have good food, they will have people in there no matter what because they are on the beach. This is one of the few exceptions I have found. We sat at the bar and enjoyed the breeze and looking below at the fish between the slats at the bar.
We started off with a round of beers and the tuna nachos. The nachos were chips laid out with one large piece of tuna on every chip with something drizzled over it (it was a white limey sauce that was delicious). There was a side of salsa and wasabi with it. They were really good, I just think I would go for the regular tuna app next time (tuna nachos just sounded so cool/​different at the time).
The boyfriend ordered the fresh catch (corvina, which is awesome) quesadilla. It had a lot more fish in it than I would think, and was great. We asked for some hot sauce, there was chalupa and 2 homemade sauces. These made our dishes so much better.
I ordered the Fresh Catch (corvina again) tacos. There was a lot fish in them (2 tacos). The only thing I didn’t love about them was there was so much cabbage on top, which I removed half of it. This came with a side of salsa, the same white drizzle from the nachos, and some other sauce I didn’t use. These were really good, but I think the quesadilla was a little better.
Our bartender was busy but still attentive and very nice. Our drinks were never empty and she checked on us a few times. It seemed like she was also taking care of all the tables. It was great.