Service was good, but very disappointed about the food had no taste. Don't get me started on the drinks. I got a double vodka Cran it tasted like straight water and I'm not an alcoholic. The fries were bad. The macaroni salad tasted like straight macaroni that just came out the pot. Do not come. Not worth the money read more

We love the atmosphere here, and we like breakfast, so we came back. This time on a Sunday so it was slightly busier than last time. It took almost 15 minutes before anybody acknowledged us being seated. Coffee was eventually brought and then our order was taken. There were 4 of us, two couples, but they don't allow more than 1 check per table. Why is that? This time I ordered an omelet with ham, bacon, cheese and onions. The omelet was very good, but I forgot the home fries aren't good, and they weren't. Toast came cold and unbuttered. Ugh. Service was awful the whole time. We couldn't get another cup of coffee and they never came to see if we needed anything else. The server doesn't bring your food, so we never saw her until the bill arrived. read more

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Shrimp was good but vegetables, carrots and green beans, were spongy. Everything served on paper plates and plastic cups, utensils. Paying prices that are closer to top of line, I'd expect a lot more here. Service was weak. They had one bathroom, which there was a line to use. That's absurd read more

Food, drinks and service was awful. Nothing redeeming. Had a "wedge" salad that was a few lettuce leaves laid out flat on the plate with some tomatoes and inedible chicken. The margarita was straight from a mix. Just not good. Especially for $100. read more

This place is AWESOME! The food is fantastic, the service is stellar - and it's got the best view one could ask for - literally on the beach itself. No issues with parking whatsoever. This is a MUST-GO for tourists and locals alike. read more

Food was pretty good. Great atmosphere with a view of the beautiful sunset. Our waiter had a ton of personality and provided great service. read more

Fantastic food and experience! The best part was having Cailyn as our server. ive been around the culinary world and know how important it is to have anyone in your business representing the "face of your dining establishment ". Promote her or reward her for her exceptional service to all your customers. Cynthia read more

This place was awesome, the location of this place is excellent, the view is great, the service was excellent, our server Aron was friendly and helpful, knew about the food and drinks and was very helpful. The food was very good read more

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Traveled from Boston with my daughters and was really looking forward to dinner by the beach. Even though beachfront tables were empty, we were seated at a wobbly bar table while others who arrived after us got the better seats. Food was overpriced and average, and overall the service felt unfair and disappointing. The waitress was nice but the lady in the front who was in charged of seating ruined my experience! read more

The owner was extremely rude and told me that if I wanted to park in his lot to eat at his restaurant it would cost me $40. I found street parking because the people I was with were already seated. The food was okay but extremely overpriced and there was a billing error. ***PSA: Check the total after you leave the tip.***The waiter's app added an additional $15 after the 20% tip. The location is perfect, there was live music, the servers are friendly, but there is no reason for the owner to be belligerent to patrons regarding parking. I will never go there again! read more

Had an issue with the manager on 08/16/2025 at 1PM. Had problems with the food and billing, was told by the manager it was a Language barrier problem when I'm right there and she walked away with an attitude. Emailed them to speak with a senior manager. Susan responded quite short at the beginning. Eventually she asked what was the problem, I explained. She asked me to call and gave me a number. Called and it went to voicemail. She stated she did not receive a call. Called a few minutes later, the same. So I emailed her back with the phone number she gave me and gave her mine to call me. Later on, she says that now she can receive calls. Even though I gave her my number, she never called. That's how important our complaints and concerns are to these people. read more

We spent a week in the Ana Maria Island area and this place became one of our favorites. First, you are literally  on the beach. No, really - on the beach. Nothing between you and the water. We sat outside under the umbrellas and just chilled. It was great. The food for the most part was excellent. Highly recommend the Ana Maria Salad. Light, refreshing, filling. Probably not as healthy as it appears, but perfect for a hot Florida afternoon on the beach. The Club sandwich also a fan favorite. Again, great flavors, big portion, just right for a beach restaurant. We were disappointed when we tried the burger. Was hoping it would be as good as the other menus items we had tried. Unfortunately, it was a pre-formed processed burger. Edible, but not worth the raves of many of the other items on the menu. Of course there's plenty of boat drinks and other adult beverages that would make Jimmy Buffet jealous. The service was okay. In that, orders got taken. Food got delivered to the table. Speed of service was good. This is a no frills place. Don't expect any above and beyond. For example, we asked for Tabasco the first time in. The server didn't think they have it, but would check. Low and behold they did. The next day, different server, same ask for Tabasco. "Don't have it."  -- "yes you do" and explained our previous experience. Some back and forth and finally server agrees to go check. Low and behold - Tabasco! Third time, not the charm. Similar to second experience. Request Tabasco. Debate, begrudgingly checks, like magic Tabasco appears. Don't let the place being busy scare you away. Plenty of parking across the street. If there is a wait, there are plenty of palapas to sit under, enjoy a drink and the view. read more

Gulf Drive Cafe - Seafood Near Me - Bradenton Beach, Florida

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over priced the waitress was more interested in serving from the bar then taking my order had to ask more then twice and still didn't get the order right and forgot two items on top of that won't ever go back read more

Great beach restaurant, even with the construction. Only two bathrooms which means get in line early. Typical bar/beach food done well. Free parking across the street, live music when we were there. read more

Looking for a meal in paradise? This is the place! Crystal blue water, tiki bones & good food. You will not want to leave read more

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I'm guessing this use to be the Kokonut Hut. Whatever they did, it's been a great improvement. The food, drinks and service was fantastic. And you can't beat the location on the beach. Get there for sunset and it will be the most memorable moment of your vacation. One tip to management - bigger bathrooms. (Only 2 single room bathrooms for 300 people is not good.) read more

Gulf Drive Cafe - Seafood Near Me - Bradenton Beach, Florida

Nice ambiance, good food, friendly servers. Ask for Zack! The beach is beautiful and the sunsets are amazing!

We tried this place twice but were disappointed both times. The drinks were very weak, bartender was fairly rude. Told a fellow patron at the bar not to try and get her attention or wave her down or she will not come. Said she will wait on him when it's his turn. I felt she talked down to that man and that put a bad taste in my mouth. Food was alright and served on paper plates. Pretty pricey for what you get. read more

Is it possible to build an entire vacation around the promise of a "Grouper Sandwich"? I'm here to tell you the answer is YES! We came for the Grouper Sandwich once, and came back to stay for a week! A few months ago, we were in the Bradenton area and stopped at the Gulf Drive Cafe for a grouper sandwich ON the beach. It was so big, so crispy, so utterly perfect that we decided we needed to come down for a staycation immediately. The water view and great food reminded us that we live where most people dream of taking a vacation. I'm a big fan of a proper grouper sandwich. The best one I've ever eaten was at a small cottage restaurant in the out islands of The Bahamas. It is the gold standard to which I compare EVERY other grouper sandwich I eat. I've got to say, this grouper sandwich is as close to that sandwich as I've come. Dining through Covid times is not always enjoyable. The masks and gloves, the spaced out tables, let's be honest, it can ruin a vibe. When the restaurant is literally ON THE BEACH, all that other stuff just melts away. Sea breeze, salt air, and crispy fish are all you need!!! The restaurant is adhering to all applicable restrictions but since it is all outdoor dining, you don't have to be miserable. You're at the beach! Breathe that fresh air and soak up that Vitamin D. We ordered a Piña colada and it was STRONG! Glad we only had one. The second visit, I ordered the Grouper sandwich again but my son ordered the Chicken sandwich and it was even bigger than mine. The portions here are HUGE!! They have a large covered dining area and plenty of umbrella tables. Come for the food, stay for a sunset! You can't beat the view from your table! We stayed within walking distance so it was a convenient location. Maybe we should have enjoyed more Piña coladas! Prices are fair for your portion size. Menu items seem to have a little bit for everyone. I'd drive back from Tampa to eat here for lunch without hesitation. All in all, this is the perfect beach dining experience. read more

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Oh man lol. Came here a few times before and everything was fine for the most part. Food overall was decent but maybe the laziest service ive ever had the displeasure of having. Dumb staff and doesnt help when the server doesnt take accountability for anything they messed up. The view was nice but if you want everything you ordered to come out off timing and to be chastised for it after then go here! read more

Breakfast food was sub pat and all came out at different times. Server seemed to be annoyed and when the check came out we were told since it was a larger party (7) they couldn't split the check and the gratuity was already added. Likely won't be back. read more

Have eaten here for years and enjoyed it. Yesterday, we stopped in for lunch and won't be going back. We both ordered fish and chips and a glass of wine. Service was poor. The fish, was frozen cod, tasteless, the fries were warm and the coleslaw bland. We would have never ordered it had we known the fish was frozen. Wine was mediocre. The total was $75.75.00. Save your money, and try Dry Dock or Lazy Lobster for excellent meal. read more

Another visit and great service, great food and great ambiance watching the sunset over the gulf. I definitely recommend the crab dip. We waited for our table over at the Coconut hut and had drinks in the tiki patio and walked the beach. Good amount of parking across the street read more

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Grouper was sub-par and over-salted. Drinks were watered down. Nice view but if you walk towards the beach to take a picture they hassle you For a $40 "beach use " fee. The beach is public guys! read more

I went here on Monday and they charged me double of what my order should have been. When I asked for my receipt the guy said it's up in the clouds and the managers were out on lunch so they couldn't retrieve it for me read more

Food was decent. Typical beach fare. Nothing special. Service was good. The view is beautiful! We asked for water in addition to ordering cocktails. The server informed it was bottled water which is fine. So I'm thinking a nice brand--maybe Fiji or similar? However, they brought out Sam's Club water bottles. And charged $4 each for them!! This alone will make me never return. Greed at its finest. If you must serve bottled water (why?) at least make it a decent brand--or make them complimentary! read more

Right on the beach! Can't beat the views. The tables right on the beach can be a bit uncomfortable but worth it. Large menu with lots of seafood choices. We started with their clam chowder. Really tasty. Not a thick chowder but great flavors. Next was the seard ahi tuna. Nice crust. I thought these were great. I had the grouper tacos blackened. Pretty tasty but could have used more of the mayo. Solid beach food right on the beach. Would be a great place to stop in after a long day on the sand. read more

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hostess with the mostest - NOT! Ridiculously juvenile...I get you hate your job but taking it out on an 80 year old who can't walk or hear. I specifically asked for a table - not a high top as my father visibly and physically could not sit at one - even said we would wait as not overly busy. shameful - she with RBF from hell tried to seat us at the high top right opposite the band - got another table but menus slammed to the table ...horrible person! read more

Atmosphere - Great! A casual restaurant located right on the beach. There is a tiki bar and restaurant. There are lots of tables located on the patio that have great views of the beach and gulf. Service - Excellent! In fact, our server was extremely attentive and pleasant. We never had to ask for coffee refills and he anticipated everything. Food - Very Good. We were there for breakfast. The menu is huge and varied. I ordered an omelet with cheese, onion and peppers, home fries and an english muffin. Everything was very good. Overall Value - very good. Given the quality of the food, excellent service and location, I highly recommend this restaurant read more

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I don't know how this place is open...The food service took forever but I can't blame the staff. Our server was sweet and tried her best. We asked for a manager and this blonde lady came over whose name I regrettably forget with a sour look on her face before I even spoke and all her answers where snippy. Can't understand basic customer service..Sad because the location is amazing. read more

Pretty bad experience tonight. My fish and chips tasted old. The breading was so thick and the shape of the fish was like that of a hot dog. Really weird. We had a party of six and everyone else ordered dinners. All but one was mediocre. Our waiter took our order and we never saw him again. We had to reach out to other workers walking by to get whatever it was we needed. We would have ordered another round of drinks but he never asked. As soon we finished we left and went elsewhere for after dinner drinks and dessert. I would have sent my dinner back if I ever saw my waiter again. Ambiance is always good. We have had much better experience with service at the bar. Afterall, you are right on the ocean. How can you go wrong with that? I'm sorry but our rating tonight has to be low. read more

This spot came highly recommended by my director at work so we decided to check it out for Easter lunch. Bonus it's located in and area we both very much enjoy! We called ahead and were assured no reservations were necessary, even on Easter. It proved to be accurate. The place was busy but we had only a 7-8 minute wait to be seated. The hostess was very friendly and sociable during the wait. Once seated our server was there promptly to take drink orders. Wife asked for a few moments before ordering food as she couldn't make up her mind. It's a fairly niche menu but they have both breakfast, lunch and dinner offerings. Wife opted for the Anna Maria salad. I decided to step out of my comfort zone and ordered a Shrimp Po'Boy! Man. When the food came we were amazed. The salad was too pretty to eat LOL But that Po'Boy... that sandwich had folks coming from other tables to look at it and ask me about it! LOL I felt like a celeb for a bit but it was all the Po'Boy LOL The food was absolutely scrumptious and the portions were large. The spot itself has a blended tiki bar/beachside resort vibe. Some of the tables are actually in the sand. There was also plenty of space for tots to play in the sand while waiting on the food, or afterwards. I've seen other posts talking about aggressive seagulls but we didn't see any. There WERE a few unafraid pigeons walking around under the tables but they were entertaining and not a nuisance at all. Great spot and a great experience! read more

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The owner of the restaurant is incredibly rude. He would've had a nice group of people coming to eat if he hadn't told us to leave and not come back for parking on property we weren't even sure was theirs. And before people start jumping on me about where we parked, he could've said it in a nicer way, and could've been not rude. read more

Great place to literally eat on the beach and watch the sunset. There are tables on the sand. Great staff. Aaron M. was very nice. It's a Pet friendly place, which is nice. The hummus is great! There are pictures on Tastyfun.co on Instagram so check it out! www.tastyfun.co read more

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My girlfriend and I spent a nice afternoon at Coquina Beach and decided that a sunset dinner would be a perfect way to end the evening. We decided on the Gulf Drive Cafe since she had been there before when she was younger and remembered the perfect view the outside dining area had. We ventured over around 6:30pm. The sunset was at 7:30pm. We walked in to the restaurant, which starts out as a touristy gift shop selling typical beach souveniers. We didn't look too long at it. We were immediately taken out to the seating area. We had the option to choose a specific place but said no preference. The outdoor seating wasn't fancy, wooden tables and metal chairs that were decently comfy. It was also pretty quiet when we sat, only a few other people dining. Our server came around pretty quick and got our drink orders. I had one beer, a miller light draft that was $4. Not too bad. After a few minutes we ordered our food. They have a specific dinner menu for the timeframe that I believe was 4pm-9pm. The selection wasn't too bad but if you didn't like seafood, there wasn't too many options for you. Our server was great the entire time, she was attentive and kind. She checked on us regularly and offered to get me another beer at one point. The burger I ordered was $13 dollars and I wanted fries, which was a $1.50 extra. (In the end, I wasn't charged for them.) The burger had options of coleslaw, potato salad, chips, apple sauce and a few other items at no extra cost. My girlfriend doesn't eat seafood and she was looking for a sandwich she had last time. Unfortunately, the menu did not have it. She settled for 10 boneless wings for a whopping $13 as well. She was also charged $2 to split the flavors that wasn't mentioned to us when the server offered the option. We also had to pay an extra $1.50 for the sweet potato fries with the boneless wings. After waiting for the food, the sweet potato fries never came. They didn't show up until after we were done eating. The burger was ok. I've had better but it is hard to mess up the burger. The fries were also just ok. The boneless wings were kind of a joke. They looked like they were probably Tyson wings? They were small, unimpressive and disappointing. The sweet potato fries however, were pretty good. They came with a sweet, cinnamon dipping sauce. All in all, our meal was $45 for a beer, burger and wings. As I noticed in other reviews, the redeeming quality of this place is the view. The food and bill hurt a little less staring out over the white sand and watching the sun slowly set over the still ocean in a clear sky. Picturesque to say the least. All that being said, I don't think we will be back. This place seems like a great location to grab a drink and watch the sunset but that's about it. I would have given this review 2-stars but the that sunset gave it 3. read more

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This place and the Kokonut Hut are the same restaurant. It is confusing due to both having different menus and buildings, but when you walk into gulf drive cafe, they send you to the check in stand at the Kokonut Hut. We have eaten at both now and highly recommend the view and outdoor seating and some menu items, but the service is very slow and inattentive. It gets frustrating when the server keeps looking at you and you have to wave them down or yell toward them to get their attention and have them to bring water, napkins, salt/pepper etc. both times we have gone they are not busy so there is no reason for lack of attentive service. We ordered the skillet, the caprese omelet and the beignets. The beignets did not disappoint. The omelet was ok but needed considerable salt and pepper to flavor it. The skillets were plentiful but mostly made up of the hashbrown potato chunks. Everything tasted good, but attention to service and quality could increase considerably. Due to location they will always have business as this is a prime spot on the beach. read more

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Our server Gina ...rocked it out of the park!!!! She was the bomb. She commented/complimented on our daughter behavior and looks. Bonus points!!!! She helped get my friends table ticket added on to my ticket. Reminder if you eat by the beach there WILL be birds.... Not a big deal for my group - just a warning for others. The food was not the rating for such high stars...the service was. Food - 3 star maybe... I was expecting a little high quality...but not disappointed with what I received. I did clean my plate...so there's that. Miller lite came out ice cold and delicious. My wife ordered the custom omelette and I ordered chicken and waffles. The beignets were tasty! I can't say enough about the service! When in the area again I might wait until lunch to give it try. Hoping that Gina will be our server. Respectfully, Bryan OKC PS....no high chairs in the building read more

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Awesome service especially!!! also great food. Brandon is the bomb!!! We loved Veronica and Sasha too! We coming back here on our vacay! Love it! Beachside read more

Don't mind paying $35+ per person when it's worth it, but the paper plates and cheap quality food were . Would go back for drinks/music/sunset but save your appetite for somewhere else! read more

My wife and I ate dinner here. We were quickly seated. We ate outside on the brick patio area. They actually have tables in the sand we just was not seated in that area. Jessie was our waiter and he was amazing. We never wanted for anything. We got peel and eat shrimp and it came on a bed of lettuce with small pieces of fruit, this was very good and they actually had saltine crackers which I have to have to fully enjoy peel and eat shrimp. The cocktail sauce was also good. For our meal we split the grouper sandwich with homemade tarter sauce, this sandwich was good and our side was macaroni salad and it was good, for dessert we always order key lime pie but they was out so we settled for ice cream peanut butter pie and it was good. This place has a great view of the ocean and we caught the sunset. Great place. I will add they don't have fans outside to move the air so the air is still. The flies and Nat's did pester us but it was ok. We did some swatting lol. read more

Gulf Drive Cafe - Peel and eat shrimp on the bed of lettuce and small pieces of fruit - Seafood Near Me - Bradenton Beach, Florida