Groupers Seafood Grill

My parents had gone to Grouper’s when it was a rinky-​dink hole in the wall out near the bridge from St Pete Beach. They raved about the fresh-​caught fish they were served. By the time I made it to the place they had moved to the Thunderbird resort on Gulf Blvd, which has very little parking out front. It’s a private lot but it’s shared with the resort, so you may have to find parking elsewhere across the street and brave the crosswalk.
The last time I went was 3 years ago, so things may have changed since then… in any case, the food was served on plastic plates and it was meh, nothing spectacular and I couldn’t tell you whether it was fresh-​caught off the boat or fished out from the freezer.
My problem was the service. Our waitress was homophobic and the service showed it. She hid in the back near the kitchen entrance and avoided us, we saw her looking out into the dining room by sticking her head out, we never had drink refills, extra napkins or anything. Thank God for us neither one of us needed the Heimlich. She put our food down, never came back and we had to go flag her down to get our check. I hate to admit it, but I made sure to put down ZERO as a tip.
Beware. This joint is close to Gulfport, St., Pete has the biggest Pride parade and yet, this place has not got a clue. Eat somewhere else and take your chances with another tourist trap on the beach or drive 10 minutes north to Indian Rocks Beach and eat at Guppie’s or drive up a few miles from Grouper’s and go to Osaka — both have excellent service and much better food.

Tasty food though today they seemed to
be out of everything. Prices were good though. Live band. Good ambiance. Portions were normal sized. Would go back.

Good food, good service. Had the buffalo shrimp, tasty. House salad, ok. Credit machine was down, had to pay cash. Would have been good if the waiter said so before we ordered and ate. Nice outside seating.

I’m a seafood lover and I had a great breakfast at Grouper’s. I ordered an omelet with scallops, crab, onion and tomato. The scallops were incredibly fresh tasting and nicely cooked. I can’t comment on the crab because I’m a northerner and we don’t have crab in these parts but I can say it was fresh.
Grouper’s is known for off-​the-​boat fresh grouper which was out of season on my visit. I had the Grouper Nuggets which the waitress pointed out weren’t Grouper. It didn’t matter — the fish was fresh and sweet and the deep fried batter was very light and nicely spiced.
Service was terrific. Perfect.
If breakfast was any indication of Grouper’s, their lunch and dinner must be fantastic.
Grouper’s is now inside the Thunderbird Beach Resort. It offers covered outdoor seating at one end of a garden & pool area at the center of the resort — nice. Parking is tight but there are plenty of retail parking lots all around.