Walt’z Fish Shak

A quaint and homey seafood restaurant that looks like it was picked straight up off the beach in Key West and dropped into John’s Pass, Walt’z is a much needed local restaurant in an area that is about as touristy as it gets. Much of the menu is caught the day of, giving a real freshness to each item.
I started with the Cuban Black Bean hummus, served with pita bread and vegetables. A unique, florida/​cuban take that worked very well. Truth be told I’ve been on a hummus kick lately and I was nervous this wouldn’t really mesh well, but I was put at ease with my first bite.
The snapper was incredibly tasty and blackened to perfection, served under a house salad. It tasted like it had been caught right before my order and brought straight into the kitchen.
We finished with some Key Lime Pie which really made for an overall fantastic trifecta of food. I would recommend this place to tourists and locals alike.

Pricey but definitely worth it! Dress up or dress down, the beachy environment really adds to the authentic flavors of the seafood. Our server, Natalia was great! She’s been there for 6 years and really knows her stuff! All around good time, definitely recommend checking it out!

Real deal… actual good fresh caught seafood… get there quick, they only have what was caught that day and once it’s gone that’s it

We have officially become regulars at Waltz’s (recognized as we walk in). Fish here is amazing and always fresh. Tried the fish spread last night for first time. Awesome. Sandy always takes care of us and makes us feel at home.

This place was great. Only about 10 item on the menu, whatever is fresh. When they run out its crossed off the menu so get there early. Fish is super fresh and sides are plentiful and delicious! Its a tiny place thats hard to find but definitely worth the search!

Charming restaurant, delicious fish, arrogant and rude service. I say if ya got it, flaunt it… But you should be nice to your customers. This is the back alley in Florida, not high falutin NYC or Paris. I’d rather eat a McDs fish sandwich and be told thanks for stopping by!

Highly recommended! Small place, very crowded, good service and incredibly fresh food. The chalkboard menu changes every day depending on the catch, and as things run out, they are crossed of the list. Grouper cakes were amazing, the snapper was delicious too! The side dishes were a bit bland… but who goes to a seafood restaurant for the side dishes? And yes, they only serve seafood. You will not find any chicken/​beef on the menu. Not a good place for children due to the tight quarters. Parking can be difficult due to the area.

Holy seafood.
Walt’z is obviously a passion project built out of love. As stated in previous reviews, there is a sign at the door basically stating that if their heart isn’t 100% in it (or they’re out of fish), then they close for the day. I respect that.
I stopped in with my three fellow tourists and we pretty much took up the whole bar. We seemed to be the only ones there and felt a little bit like intruders upon entering. However, Sue, who was behind the bar, warmed up to us rather quickly and introduced us to Walt, who was posted up at the corner seat in the bar so deep in thought that I don’t think he looked up from his phone. Sue was an absolute gem and is seriously generous with her wine pours.
The vibe is super chill and intimate. The tiny little shack is straight up old fishing village digs. The view of the water is dreamy. Just the atmosphere alone is impressive. And then there’s the food… oh sweet mother… the food.
They have a classic chalkboard menu loaded with all the fresh goodness that they have available for the day. We had already been eating all day so we got a couple of small bites to share.
We ordered the fish spread which came with some fantastic cherry peppers, capers, and carrots. The spread tasted smokey, yet clean and fresh, with a perfect creamy texture. It was divine. Paired with the various toppings, it just can’t be beat. Walt freakin’ nailed it.
We also got an order of Grouper Cakes. I know, I know. Who goes in to a magical little gem like this and orders fish cakes? Well, I am really glad we did. They were just the perfect amount of tender and crumbly and creamy and everything one could ask for. Perfectly seasoned with a texture to die for.
I could feel Walt anticipating our reactions and he lit right up as we began to rave. Within the first couple of bites, I fell heartbroken knowing that home is so so far away from this treasure. Walt and Hubby got into a pretty exciting conversation about the fish and informed us that he gets his crawfish flown in from a guy in Thibodaux, Lousiana… As I live a stone’s throw away from the Thibodaux border (literally), I know that Walt is damn serious about the quality of his fare. After we got all bouncy in hearing this news, the bartender came out with a small sample cup of the Crawfish Bisque they were offering. I could have died. It was PERFECTLY seafoody and buttery and creamy and I wish I had a gallon of it right now. I wonder if he’d fly it back here… hmmmm. As we chit chatted and got informed that the restaurant doesn’t use Red Grouper because it tends to have parasites (ewwwwww), I was startled by the commotion of some unfortunate souls that had been locked out (I didn’t even know they had decided to close!). Sorry guys… so deeply sorry.
As I had a good bit of wine to finish, we decided to split a slice of key lime pie. Man alive! Walt’z mama knows her pie! It was just the perfect balance of tart and sweet and thick and creamy, and the crust was superb!
Walt’z has definitely made it to the very short list of «places I would travel for». He set the bar to a height that a lot of poor suckers can only dream of.

Great food and atmosphere. Had the scamp last time and grouper this time both were perfect. Service was great as well, hope you like a healthy pore on your wine as you get about half a bottle.
Saw a couple poor reviews of this place but those people either went somewhere else or their just on some bad drugs. Someone was complaining they couldn’t get tartar sauce, people don’t ruin your fresh fish w tartar sauce go back to McDonald’s and get a mcfish. I’ll take your seat at this place.

Every time I see a good review for this restaurant I want to pass out. To hear people say the food is fresh, fish is fresh I’m like, this is Florida the fish is always fresh. I can’t stand this place so much, that I want to write a bad review every month just so people know what to expect. Horrible horrible horrible service condescending owners and an adequate menu. Not to mention, it doesn’t even taste that good.

If you are in St Petersburg,
Florida, I highly suggest you stop at Waltz Fish Shack. I had the grouper that was grilled to perfection. It was a healthy serving. For desert I had scrumptious Key Lime Pie. Everything on the menu looked tasty. Make your way here and you won’t regret it.
Oh, and did I not mention the great waterfront view and cozy atmosphere. I came here from Dayton, Ohio on a recommendation and they were spot on.

As described!
Delicious food. There aren’t a lot of places you can get fish caught that day cooked that well. I had my fish prepared on a fresh salad, and it was very good. The shrimp scampi is very flavorful.
The service is okay — I went once right at 5 and got excellent service and was seated very quickly. I went a different day and didn’t get seated or even noticed for a good 15 — 30 min. Definitely hit or miss.
But still, the food is worth it!

Amazing place! The blackened & lightly fried grouper was delicious and the glasses of wine are generously poured as well :)

Let me start by saying, I don’t usually complain when I get my meal and I don’t like it. I suffer through, eat it, then pay for it.
We ordered the gator bites for an appetizer and it was delicious. We had two choices for an entrée, either grouper or snapper. We could either get it blackened or fried. I chose blackened (because, normally, it is lightly spiced and I normally don’t eat fried food.) When it came out I had a bite and it was BEYOND spicy. I couldn’t stomach it to eat it. When the waitress came out, I asked her if I could have something different because those was very spicy for me. The waitress said «we don’t do that. We aren’t going to bring that back. You have to eat it.» I replied «I just want something different, it is really spicy. Can I at least have Tartar Sauce to calm down the spice?» The waitress replies «we don’t have Tartar sauce here. I’ll go get the manager.»
She leaves and the manager comes out. Let me say, I have never been treated SO RUDELY in my life by a manager. I can’t even open my mouth to explain myself before she starts scolding me. She yells «you don’t know what you’re talking about. This isn’t spicy. Everyone else doesn’t think it’s spicy. You’re the only one. We will NOT be giving you anything else. You will eat this and pay for it. You don’t know what you’re talking about. This is not a chain restaurant, that fish cost me $ 20.» I tried to explain that it was just too spicy and I wanted something different. She then says «if you won’t pay for this I will call the sheriff on you and you’ll go to jail!» Before I could even respond, she storms off.
Five minutes later, the POLICE show up to the restaurant!!! She actually called the police…
She showed the officer to my table, I explained the situation to the sheriff; I was very calm. I told him «I will pay for my glass of wine, I will pay for the appetizer that I ordered, but I just wanted something different because the fish was entirely too spicy for me. I’m not asking for anything for free, but if they won’t just exchange the fish I would like this taken off of my bill.» I also told him «I own a produce stand at home and if a customer comes in with a complaint about the fruit they brought home, I exchange it and give them something different or give them their money back. I never treat them as I was treated tonight in this restaurant.» At the table next to us the man was making comments such as «they are probably scam artists and do this all the time.» If I was a scam artist, I would have just left without paying. I waited until the sheriff got there, obviously not a scam artist.
The sheriff then left to speak to the owner and came back to inform me «you either can pay your bill or come with me.» I am the stubborn type of person that says «take me to jail». My friend that was dining with me (this was our mothers get away weekend, we both have 3 kids and this was our weekend away). My friend paid the bill so I wouldn’t go to jail.
It’s truly sad that a restaurant would treat their customers this way when they really do have good food. I’ve never experienced this kind of treatment in my life. Please, do not go here, they don’t deserve to have nice customers when they call the police on their customers for asking to exchange their meal that was too spicy.

We are visiting from out of town and were excited to try this place because of the great Unilocal reviews. We were looking forward to trying a slice of their famous Key Lime Pie.
Unfortunately, we left the restaurant right after we were seated. The owner that «greeted» us at the door was very passive aggressive and rude. This is not a child-​friendly place.
We brought a very well behaved two year old and they would not let him sit by the window to look out at the dolphins, afraid he would break it. They were not accommodating of our «large» party (5 adults and 2 children), wouldn’t/couldn’t seat us together, and would not allow us to bring a stroller into the restaurant.
We select our dining experiences based on Unilocal reviews, and were extremely disappointed in our experience at Walt’z. I cannot recommend it.

Enjoyed the Blackened Grouper Sandwich with my wife. It was absolutely delicious. Waltz is far and away the best place to eat at John’s Pass. Clean, quaint, and great service.

Delicious meal! The mad beach grouper cakes were perfect for my small appetite and my sister’s snapper dinner was wonderful. I think we should get the key lime pie to go!

This place is a home run for sea food. It’s a very small restaurant that is a sea food only place, so keep that in mind when being kids or people who don’t like sea food. Whatever fresh catch they have is what is on the menu and once they run out it’s off the menu. I do love sea food and this place is some of the best in the area. When I was there last I had a grilled Black grouper over their spring mix salad with a balsamic vinaigrette and it was mighty tasty. Everything at the table looked amazing. Check it out if you haven’t tried it yet.

It seems they don’t even want you to be there. There’s actually a sign outside, that I hope is tongue-​in-​cheek, about how they don’t want to deal with you.
It’s also way overpriced! The food is good, but not exquisite or all that plentiful. For $ 30, you get a piece of fish with beans and slaw.
I would not go back.

There are no words to explain how satisfying our meal was. We absolutely love the little fish shacks. Walt’z exceeded our expectations. Between the décor and amazing staff, we would come back every single time we visit.
We started with 2 glasses of Chardonnay, fish mix and crackers. The thickness and consistency of the mix was excellent. Lumpy fish meat, crackers and sliced veggies! For our entrée we had the blackened grouper and rice mix. Fish was perfectly cooked and blackened nicely. It was moist and succulent. Needless to say, it disappeared very quickly.
We finished with their homemade key lime pie. Wow!!! So good! I recommend this place to anyone. We loved that the menu is constantly changing. We will have to eat there again before we leave.
Thank you for an amazing meal!

Walt’z is a very unique restaurant due to the fact that you never know what they will be serving that night, anyway it’s sort of special because it’s like a surprise. Their menu is made up of what they catch in the morning. They don’t have a closing time because they once told me «we close when we run out of fish». I have eaten here at least three times and it is perfect every time. If you’re looking for extremely fresh Fish I Highly recommend this restaurant.