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Fresco's Waterfront Bistro
Category: Restaurants Seafood Seafood [Edit]
300 2nd Ave SESaint Petersburg, FL 33701
(727) 894-4429
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
16 reviews for Fresco's Waterfront Bistro
16 reviews in English
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Review from Ross M.
St Petersburg, FL
2/5/2012 1 Check-in Here
I'll admit that my review is slightly biased because Fresco's has sentimental value to me, but it really has a lot to offer anyone. You can't go wrong, lunch or dinner, but dinner will be a bit pricier.
Before I moved from the Detroit area down to St. Petersburg, this was the first place I got a meal at. My father and I landed around 10am and grabbed lunch here. That would be the first of so many times I cannot even begin to count. This is also the first place I took my now fiancée for a date. Obviously it went well... because we are now engaged. After dinner, we walked around the parks and shoreline and talked for a while. It was a very wonderful evening. We recently celebrated our 2 year anniversary (from our first date) and came back here for dinner. So, if you had any doubts, the sentimental value of Fresco's sure weighs into my review.
When you consider each quality in isolation, no one thing really seems to be five stars. But I really love this place and when I think about the whole package together, it has to get 5 stars.
Location. It is right off the pier. If you are visiting St. Pete, you should check out the pier and the Dali museum. While I have my complaints about both the pier and the Dali museum you should still go check both out. Fresco's is smack dab in the middle, so you can get lunch, and you should have a 5 star experience. Its not on the beach, but it is on the marina. You can sit on the deck overlooking the sailboats.
Crowd. I have never ever been irritated by the crowd here. While the food is good, it is just never that crowded and there has never been much, if any wait.
Staff. The staff are friendly, polite, and pretty formal for the casual dining atmosphere.
Food. The food is my favorite. I love the Thai Peanut Chicken Skewers for lunch. They cannot be beat. They are not always available at dinner, but always at lunch. The staff has, on occasion, made them for my dinner even when not listed on the menu. They have one of the best Caprese Salads around. I have ordered it many times, always the tomatoes and mozzarella is so fresh. The Yucatan Spring Rolls are amazing. I cannot write about them without making my stomach crave them. And as other reviews have mentioned, both the Wedge Salad and the Salmon Flatbread Pizza are utter deliciousness. The Oyster Rockafeller was not New Orleans, but nevertheless it was pretty good.
Like I stated before, when you consider the whole Fresco's package, it is a 5 star experience, you should not be disappointed. -
Review from Hung D.
Largo, FL
9/4/2011
APPETIZERS:
1. Fresh tuna sashimi: awesome!
2. Spring rolls: sweet and crunchy...
3. Oysters: not a fan in general, but didn't taste terrible
4. Portobello Caps: friends ate all the mushroom, but the sauce was good!
ENTRÉE:
1. New Orlean Trio: shrimp crawfish scallops mixed in gemelli pasta. Pretty good overall, although a bit "fishy" at times. Kind of expected in a seafood pasta.
2. Smoked salmon flatbread pizza: very salty salmon sitting on spinach and flatbread, and covered with cream cheese. Pretty small portion but filling nonetheless (probably from all the cheese). It came with a side of pickled cucumbers which helped with the saltiness.
THE VERDICT:
A little too pricey for the subpar cooking. -
Review from Pamela M.
8/14/2011 1 Check-in Here
I'm not so sure this is a five star view but the food is probably a notch above the venue. Some real interesting items grabbed me on the menu.
I ended up sharing the Smoked Salmon Flat-bread Pizza with my girlfriend along with a Wedge Salad. The Flat bread was great! Fresh quality ingredients, not to fishy and just perfectly filling. The Wedge was good as well. Plenty of tasty bacon and wonderful plum tomato's. I hate it when you get a wedge salad and the tomatoes are not ripe, these were great. Looking forward to trying some more of this eclectic menu on my next visit.
Ginny at the bar whips up some tasty drinks as well. Enjoy! -
Review from Shawn H.
St. Petersburg, FL
7/31/2011 2 Check-ins Here
A five star view with three star food and just a little inconsistency results in my four star rating after two visits.
The view is the absolute best part of this place. Fresco's sits right at the foot of the St. Pete Pier bridge and overlooks St. Pete Municipal Marina. Sitting outside yields a great relaxing waterfront view of all the boats in harbor.
The food is a little bit of a mixed bag but if you know what to order, then it can be truly good. Both of our visits were for Sunday Brunch, so we can only comment on items on the brunch menu.
A perfect example of the inconsistency comment is the Caprese Micro Salad. We ordered it on two separate visits and it was somewhat different both times and was different than the menu description both times as well. The menu states that it is served with Cherry tomatoes. It is, in actuality, served with full sized sliced tomatoes. On the first visit, we were given a large ball of mozzarella sliced and placed between each piece of mozzarella. On the second visit, we were given eight or ten small balls of mozzarella on the side. On both occassions it was served with a thick balsamic reduction that was very good. In spite of the inconsistency, the salad was good both times.
Garlic Mussels - these aren't award winning and I have had better, but they were still good enough that I would order them again.
The Chicken Veggie wrap is very good.
I was not a fan of the Blackened Salmon & Goat Cheese Carbonara. It's way too heavy and needs something to lighten it up. The 4-cheese tortellinis alone provided plenty of heaviness , but when topped with a light cream sauce that wasn't very light and then goat cheese, it was just way too cheesy and heavy for me. Some might like it, but I did not.
My favorite so far was the Shrimp & Spinach Eggs Benedict with bacon. The eggs were poached absolutely perfectly. There were only two shrimp, so consider that a garnish, but the flavor was wonderful with the crispy bacon, a perfectly cooked muffin, and a perfectly light and creamy hollondaise sauce.
The Mojitos are good as well.
Overall, I recommend this restaurant and it's one of my absolute favorite waterfront locations for the view alone. -
Review from Kylin B.
Saint Petersburg, FL
10/22/2011 4 Check-ins Here
I love the atmosphere and location. A Burg staple. Well done!
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Review from Tim H.
Hobe Sound, FL
5/23/2011
If you want waterfront in St Pete you better go to the beach as this was about it near downtown. Frescos has a large covered outdoor deck. Not crowded at lunch because this is not located with the grouping of popular places. Nice view of boats and marina. Food was above average. I had a spicy dish with crawfish and seafood. Bread was very good unfortunately. Service was very accommodating however it was a large deck for the staff. Probably gets better at sunset with a few cocktails.
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Review from Rachel A.
2/21/2010
Fresco's on the Waterfront is a decent choice for a relaxing dinner. Being that it is right on the water down the street from The Pier, I thought there would be more tourists but Fresco's seemed to be a neighborhood spot. There were tons of locals and regulars. I heard one lady complain to the waiter that sometimes they change up the pasta noodles disregarding the menu description. Maybe inconsistency is a normal thing at Fresco's. A few tables were happily feasting on bread. I never got mine.
I went for the the linguine with clams. I was hoping for a clam sauce but got something more alfredo like. Nonetheless, the serving was big, full of clams, and rich. It wasn't spectacular or anything. Given the options down the street, Fresco's is definitely one of the better choices.
Overall, nothing beats eating dinner by the water and enjoying some peace and quiet. It's really a casual place, service is friendly, and very low key. The place was dead on a Friday night and the clientele was on the older side. It would be easy to slip in a Florida joke right about now but that would just be really offensive and rude. -
Review from gene x.
San Francisco, CA
8/23/2008
This is based purely on drinks as our group met up here for our conference and had a great time drinking. The rest of the group got there earlier and I heard the food was good too (and most of our peeps are cuilinary nazis).
Anyhow, the owner David was really nice and did a round of shots with us as well which is always nice. I had a large mojito too and it's right on the water which is pretty cool.
Our conference was at the Vinoy which is pretty close by too so it's pretty centrally located. Good times and nice Irish Car Bombs! -
Review from Jonathan D.
Santa Monica, CA
5/17/2008
It's kinda dumpy but lovable nonetheless. Didn't eat there so I can't comment on the food but the atmosphere was nice as a bar and that's what I am giving 4 stars for.
It's a walk down the street from the Vinoy which makes it a cool place to drop by if you are staying there as I was.
Sitting outside by the water and having a drink on a warm Florida night. Heavenly.... -
Review from Jessey Q.
Houston, TX
8/11/2010
The place itself is located at a wonderful location. beautiful view of the water and surrrounded by 100's of little yahcts. The decor isn't is very romantic. Don't sit outsit for a romantic evening because it's connected to the bar and generally filled with lots of loud people.. The food itself was only okay. Had the escargot which was above average. the oysters were only okay. Tried the mahi mahi and it was way too over sauced. killing the taste of the fish very spicy too. Next we had the lobster pasta and it tasted like something you got out of a can except really spicy and then they just put a lobster tail on top. not a good dish at all. this place was saved by the scenery.
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Review from Anjie G.
Apopka, FL
4/8/2011
I love this place!! Since moving to Orlando from MN 18 months ago I have been here 4 times already! It is a family favorite. We like the location, the outdoor dining and especially the food! I will be back again and again.
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Review from Russ K.
Riverview, MI
4/25/2009
Great views from the deck. The food was presented beautifully. Outstanding food. Don't let appearances fool you. When I walked into the lobby I almost turned and walked out, that would have been a mistake. Great mojito.
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Review from Stephen B.
Rye, NY
9/8/2009
Great food, great view, service OK. Will definitely be back.
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Review from Mark S.
Tampa, FL
9/25/2006
Had lunch in this place the other day (tuna nicoise salad)...the dish tasted very good (fresh high quality salad mix, seared tuna steak, egg, vinaigrette dressing). Our friends had different dishes and they liked them, too. The service was so so...bread (a bit crumbly with soft crust-not exactly the best quality, the butter was a bit rancid-no surprise, considering the land-o-lake industrial grade stuff...message to the chef: get some euro-style butter going (plugra will also do), for crissakes!!) came only after asking, ice tea refills took their time etc...The lunch prices ($10-12) are very reasonable considering the prime location and the decent quality of the food. Bottom line: Give it a shot if you like to sit nicely and care about good food. Kick the wait staff a bit in the butt, and you will get what you need.
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Review from Andy F.
Oldsmar, FL
5/9/2010
Good choice for waterfront dining (I mean really waterfront). It has a menu that is a lot better than you'd think just walking by. But, it is also a little more expensive than you'd think just walking by. Locals do come here, especially to the bar. You can get in some good (or bad) conversations. Service is sometimes good, sometimes OK. But, it's sure a great location and fun atmosphere!
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Review from Gina L.
Fort Lauderdale, FL
9/23/2007
eh. the service was good but the food was just ok. i ordered something that was notated as spicy and it just wasn't. i was expecting a kick and it was salty at best. i don't think i would go back. the portions were really big, but it was still overpriced.
