Shrimp Boat

Visited on valentines day. Very good experience.
Food was good, service was good.
We will be returning soon.

Best seafood in E Hillsborogh County! Really FRESH fish and the best crab fried rice!

Have only been there a couple of times, but have had a terrific experience. Food is great. You should try it.

There is only ONE place in Brandon to get a true, craft cocktail and this is it. There’s food for the people that love it fried and comforting, and then for the more adventurous, specials every night where Albert Paone works through various flavor profiles featuring an ever-​growing quiver full of cuisines. Truly a rare find in a fairly vacant area for talent.

My husband and I stopped in for dinner Sunday Evening. The food was exceptional. The fish was perfectly cooked. I do not think we have ever had a bad experience at Shrimp Boat. I would highly recommend trying it.

The food and service is paramount! This locally owned business blows away the chains! We have been going to Shrimpboat for years now and the current location is impeccably designed and decorated.

My very 1^st time at the Shrimp Boat!!!
I loved it!!! Great happy hour, jennifer and Dave behinde the bar were wonderful!
Best Ceviche I have ever tryed! With chips made to order. wow I have found my new favorite place for seafood. Prices were great portions perfect!
Keep up the great work!

I thought this was going to be really good. The atmosphere is –let’s say, different. It looks like they decided to wow you when you walk in by their cool, hip bar area. And then it ends there. The dining room has none of that glitz, none of that glamor. Plain, blah, boring. It’s like they forgot to update that part. That, or they ran out of money. Who knows, maybe it was all done by design. To lure you in.
We had the order to-​go.
The food was just okay. We had calamari as an appetizer, and though that was okay, it was kinda boring. Sauce was adequate, but maybe a little too acidic. For my entrée, I ordered a BLACKENED grouper sandwich, which was not blackened. I added blackening spice at home, but it’s not the same if it’s not grilled into the fish, but rather, just sits there as a big fat fail. Disappointing. It was served with something called a potato pancake. It had a crispy outside, but the overly-​garlicky potato inside wasn’t good. My daughter had the fried tilapia, and she said it was unmemorable. She was supposed to get 2 sides with her «plate», but they forgot the cole slaw. The other side was cheese grits. They looked gross and chunky, and she said they were not smooth like normal grits and didn’t taste good. Different and not in a good way. She didn’t eat but one bite. The bread was the only good thing.
The worst part was the horrible service. Nobody seemed to know what they were doing, except one guy who kept coming out from the back (with a disgusted, angry face) to help the waitress ring up her orders. We sat at the bar and waited –no lie– 40 minutes for our food! It took our waitress 25 minutes before she asked us if we wanted a drink while we waited. Um.
I think the clientele who go here don’t know any better and think it’s really good. I was not happy with any of it (except the sweet bar), and expected much more for the price point. Not my kinda place.

This is a case of bad branding because I thought, by the name, that this place was a cheap seafood fast food joint, a la Arthur Treachers or that other place with the yellow awning. This place was nothing short of excellent. It gave Bonefish a run for their money, in taste, but Bonefish beats them in price. I had a special with shrimp and scallops over fried rice and it was EXCELLENT. My friend had the same fried rice, but it was topped with pan seared tuna and shrimp… again, EXCELLENT. Price wise again, I believe both entrees were $ 20 and $ 22, respectively, but it was worth it for a, maybe, twice a month trip. My money was well spent, but if I were a resident, Bonefish would be the better deal, price wise, but not on taste. Look at the lines at both places. There’s no competition at all and there should be.

The Shrimp Boat continues to impress every time I go. The menu encompasses local and foreign ingredients and flavors. Definitely not a run of the mill seafood restaurant. The tasting menu featured on Saturdays is a prime example of this.
First time I tried the tasting menu:
Started off with a lump crab and goat cheese beignet served with a spicy sauce. I’ve never had anything like it. That’s why I ordered 4 to go after the meal.
Next was blackened swordfish filet served over
crab fried rice. I asked to have my fried rice made spicy. The filet was cooked and seasoned perfectly.
For dessert our server also asked us if we wanted a chocolate pave or would like to try the chef’s new homemade ice cream. She said the chef had recently started to make his own sea salt caramel, and Belgian chocolate ice cream at the restaurant. So we opted for that considering everything else was delicious. We were blown away.
The service was great and the food was amazing.
It also recently relocated to a larger space, which is very elegant and makes the experience all the more enjoyable.

Shrimp Boat is a local gem — a must try for anyone in the area. I’ve been for both lunch and dinner multiple times and I’m consistently blown away by the inventive, delicious food and friendly service.
During my last visit I tried an awesome seafood trio on special, including shrimp, sea scallops, and stuffed oysters. Everything was cooked and seasoned to perfection. My friend had a delicious grouper entrée served over vegetable fried rice, and topped with lobster sauce and shrimp. Her entrée was also excellent.
For dessert we tried the homemade salted caramel ice cream. This is one of the best ice creams I’ve ever had! Can’t wait to try the rest of the flavors.

The shrimp boat really delivers. Last night we had a girls night out it started very badly when the business we wanted to visit was not open (on a Tuesday night) but as a Brandon native I wanted to impress my neighbors from Temple Terrace.
so I took them to the Shrimp Boat.
I’ve never had a bad meal from this place and last night they proved my point. made me the hero.
The place was clean and comfortable felt great just sitting down in front of the fireplace talking to my friends. when I had a special order Chris stepped up as my waiter, had nothing but love for the man! highly professional staff here. As one of the girls even wanted to take home a meal for her homebound friend Chris was right there johnny on the spot watching to make sure that she had what she needed as well. what a thrill this place always exceeds expectations thanks Chris and thanks from all of us, I’ll be back.

Our experience: We were Ripped off by requesting Double Tips, both verbally and in writing. We were over charged for food. And we were not offered substitute items. And the killer — my non dairy food came with dairy.
What you get: Homemade recipes heavy on the thick cream sauces and butter based cooking. It’s delicious for the most part but not for those watching their waistline or lactose intolerant. If you can eat it, the food is mostly good and even the live music is nice.
What happened to us:
I ordered the lunch special of the day along with others — fish smothered in cheese and 2 sides — which was posted on the marquee as $ 7.99. I asked for mine without the cheese. The only non dairy side item available was broccoli because everything else had dairy, even the rice was prepared with butter, she said. The waitress suggested that she could give me the «Fish Plate with no dairy». Assuming this was the special with no cheese and no 2^nd side I said yes. So I get a plain, very thin slice of fish and one side of broccoli. So, why was I charged $ 8.99 for less food?
We ate there as part of a group of 25 people where the average age of our group was 75. We all paid for our own dishes. When the bills arrived the waitress clearly told everyone «Be sure to sign your receipt» As the youngest person there, in my 50’s, I was confused because I actually looked at my bill and could see it was too high. In Very Bold Type my total was $ 14.85. Then on the receipt I was supposed to sign I see $ 14.85 followed by a line to write in a TIP. So I calculated a tip on the $ 14.85, like everyone else was doing, but the $ 14.85 already included the Tip & Taxes. If we all double paid tips then in our group alone, the waitress made an easy $ 75 with her suggestion to «Sign» when we were clearly not supposed to. By the time I figured it out, it was too late to alert my fellow elderly group members, but I am sure our waitress got all of them to Add a 2^nd tip by suggesting they sign their receipt. I snapped a quick pictures so I could alert my fellow Unilocalers.
The waitress disappeared until nearly everyone was gone before she came back to collect. As we left someone told me that the tip had already been included. Supposedly there is fine print on the menu saying they automatically add a 19% gratuity. But on the slip on the right (I attached a picture) you can clearly see a line for TIPS after that has been added already.
You can also see in Smaller print that No Signature is Required.
So between the Shrimp Boat owners and their deceptive paperwork and the waitresses and their misleading instructions, you are really getting gouged!!!
Now the killer is — moments after leaving, my system tells me that I have indeed had dairy. My best guess is the fish was grilled in a grilling sauce with butter.
I will NEVER Go Back to this deceptive, unhealthy and dangerous place for those with special dietary needs.
What??? I quickly cross out my additional tip.
I think this is criminal to deceive people both with wrong instructions and unclear receipts.

At first, we waited a bit to be served but they made up for it by serving us delicious food. Loved my grilled shrimps and scallops. Shrimp Boat, which we found by chance, is a hidden gem! It’s conveniently located on Bloolingdale Rd., Valrico. My husband had the coconut shrimp and he said“these are the best shrimps I’ve had, I’m definitely coming back again.”

Really love this place and their customer service is outstanding. First of all, made a reservation for a table of four. They kindly set the table and put a nice «reserved» sign on their best table for us. It really made me and my parents feel special that they reserved their best table for us.
I ordered their stuffed flounder. WOW! Was sooooo good!!! Stuffed with a delicious seafood filling. I also tried their french martini, was a nice blend of chambord, grey goose & pineapple juice. Quite tasty! Also, tried their calamari. Was nice & crispy not chewy like most places that under cook it. Finally tried the upside down pineapple cake. Was nice and warm with a side serving of homemade ice cream.
This is definitely going to be my new local seafood spot. The staff was very friendly and accommodating. Thoroughly enjoyed our dining experience.

Delicious coconut shrimp & ceviche. I love sitting at the bar to enjoy a ruby red martini.

I ordered the coconut shrimp. It was okay. The coconut shrimp itself didn’t have a lot of flavor, and the sauce that came with it was too sweet, like icing. My sides were broccoli and bacon & cheese potato pancake. The broccoli was good, but I didn’t care for the potato pancake.
Inside was nice. It was also very clean. Oh, the service was not good. I only seen our waitress a few times. She didn’t come by often enough, or she would have known our appetizer was missing.
There are still a few things on the menu I would like to try. I might give then another chance in the future, but not very soon!

I’m always excited to try new seafood restaurants. Sometimes, you never know what the experience is going to be. It can be really good, or it can be really bad. My experience today was slightly on the bad side.
Let’s start with the food. Being lunch time, & I was in the mood for seafood, I thought a po’boy sandwich would be the perfect meal for my mood. This was far from a traditional po’boy. Normally, the bread on a po’boy consists of a New Orleans style French bread. I’m not sure what bread they were using on my sandwich today, but I did not care for it. It was a little too hard. Everything else about the sandwich was pretty good. I tried the coconut shrimp, but did not care for that either. It just seem to lack in the flavor department.
The service was terrible. As a matter of fact, it didn’t look like anyone there was really happy to be there. Our server, Morgan, took our order and then disappeared. Didn’t see from her again until it was time to pay. Someone else brought out our food, and when we mentioned our appetizer had not arrived, they didn’t seem to care. We never did see the calamari, and asked to have it removed from the bill. If I was writing this review on service alone, I would be writing a one star review, but I’m not going to let the actions of one person (Morgan) dictate my review.
It’s just not a fun place to go. I left in a bad mood. I think everyone’s bad attitude rubbed off on me a little bit. The place is nice and clean, and the food is… well, not great, but not terrible either.

What a hidden gem! My daughter asked me if I wanted to meet her here for dinner & I am always up for trying new things & Wow!
So 1^st I put our name in for a table, about 10 minutes into our wait a hostess came out & said a high top just cleared in the bar area if you don’t want to wait for a regular table. (we were the only party of 4 waiting) What? who does that? That was awesome!
But we decided to wait as grandma here doesn’t like her legs dangling while she eats. We were seated by a decorative fireplace & some guy was crooning out Pack Rat aged tunes & he was really great at it.
Our server ‘Brent’ was phenomenal! So attentive and patient as we asked questions about drinks & specials (even after he already told us what they were)
I liked their twist up on the Shrimp Scampi served in an asiago scampi sauce with bowtie pasta & fresh spinach & mushrooms (outstanding!)
We had the shrimp wontons as an appetizer, which were excellent, they have a touch of wasabi in the wonton with the shrimp, fried & served with the best ginger dipping sauce ever!
My daughter got the chef special seafood trio of crab cake, scallops & shrimp & loved it, she actually ate every bit. (which is unusual for her)
I will definitely come back to this place, the prime ribs coming out & served to other tables looked like a must try for next time!
LOVED their drink menu! And I also saw ice cream served in ice cream parlor dishes & was wishing I wasn’t so full because I LOVE ice cream.
I am just going to have to bookmark it to come visit again.

We came from Miami to spend Valentines weekend in Tampa. On our last day we decided to come here for lunch before driving back.
I would really like to emphasize on service. It was very refreshing to have such good service! Robert was very knowledgeable and made great recommendations. He was very attentive and you could tell he cares about his customers.
We ordered the mixed ceviche and honestly, it was nothing special. I felt like there was something missing but I couldn’t quite put a finger on it. The chips that came with it were pretty oily and it looked like they were cooked in old oil and were sitting out for a bit.
As an entrée we ordered the Shrimp Scampi Florentine and a side Caesar salad. Our server was kind enough to separate the salad onto 2 plates for our convenience. The pasta was «okay» also. I felt like it had way too much sauce. I saw other people’s scampi florentine and didn’t look like a soup. Just like the ceviche, I felt like each ingredient stood out but the flavors would not come together. There was no umami.
I will still give 4 stars mainly because of how much I enjoyed service and the food was decent compared to the price. The portions were super big so shareable between two people.