Restaurants That Cook Your Fresh Catch

You catch ‘em, they cook ‘em.

The fishing trip isn't always over when the rope is tied to the piling and the boat cuddles the dock.

Relax. Let the fun seep into the night. No need to swap clothes. Head into one of the few Tampa Bay area restaurants that will cook your fillets. Come dipped in ladyfish goo. Come with fresh fish and stories still dripping with saltwater. Hand the cook your catch, and watch nature's smoke bomb blow the horizon orange.

• In St. Petersburg, , at 3125 MLK St., will prepare your fresh catch, Thai style, including with garlic and ginger, sweet and sour sauce or fried. No need to call in advance. Clean your catch first and then just show up.

• Gulfport has (1350 Pasadena Ave. S.);
• Tampa has 220 East on Davis Island;
• Bradenton boasts and the Mar Vista Restaurant on Longboat Key;
• Sarasota has , in business since 1918.

There are a few more. But not like in the Keys, where charter captains nearly outnumber the grains of beach sand.

Again, don’t sweat the perspiration under your pits or the scales glued to your board shorts. That’s expected. Welcomed even.

“We’re casual fine-dining,” said Dave Chapdelaine, owner of 220 East. “You don’t have to have white table clothes. We don’t mind one bit. We’re in Florida for heaven’s sake. You don’t have to get dressed up for that.”

But this isn’t the home or office where you could, if single and hurried and a bit wild, slap a mess of whole fish on the counter and wonder if the sight might make a good Facebook profile picture.

And please don’t go to Albertson’s or Publix, the owners ask. If there ever were a time for the phrase: “Keep it real,” this may be it.

“Don’t just go pick up a couple of fillets — that’s not the idea,” said Jose Baserva, owner of Jose’s. “I deal with a couple of charter captains. It’s basically for people to say, ‘Wow. We caught fish and now we’re going to eat it.’ That kind of stuff.”

Jose asks anglers to drop fillets off an hour in advance to let the meat marinate. For $8.95, the meal comes cooked with black beans and rice and plantains.

At Walt’s, $9 gets you the fish prepared fried, blackened, broiled or grilled and comes with a side dish.

“It’s kind of like a family thing,” said Walt’s owner Bret Walin. “They sit down and eat their own fish. For nine bucks, after spending $400 on a charter, it’s not that bad.”

The big draw at Ted Peters is the smoked fish. They'll do the same for yours.

At 220 East, the chefs will cook the fish any way you like — fried, grilled, blackened, sautéed, almond crusted, florentined, etc. It comes with a side and salad for $10.

220 East also will cook wild game. Chapdelaine said quail is the most popular (it really does taste like chicken, he said), followed by venison and hog.

“You just come here and continue the fun,” Chapdelaine said. “You come sit in the restaurant, and you might have a couple drinks, maybe an appetizer, while we prepare your food and you get waited on. There’s no smell in your house and no mess to clean up.”