3 Best Restaurants in Bradenton, The Tampa Bay Area

A lush setting on the barrier island of Longboat Key makes this one of the most romantic restaurants around. Signature dishes include crisp roast duckling with bread stuffing and flambéed prime peppered steak; the popular dessert display is a sweet ending. The staff is friendly and gracious, the food delightful, and the atmosphere contagious. The upstairs Haye Loft, once the home of the original owner's grandson, has been converted into a more casual bistro and lounge.

Especially popular for breakfast (served all day), this unassuming landmark squats on the beach and serves cheap sit-down eats—mostly sandwiches, but also (after 4 pm) a wide array of seafood entrées ranging from lobster mac-and-cheese to grilled or blackened mahimahi. Many items have a Greek tinge to them.

Though the ever-evolving menu features cutting-edge fare for the most sophisticated of palates, the margarita-and-coconut-shrimp crowd will thoroughly enjoy a meal at this beachfront spot as well. Many of the dishes feature ingredients harvested nearby, whether it's herbs and vegetables from one of the gardens along Pine Avenue or fish from nearby Cortez. If the grouper is not fresh, it is not on the menu. You can find grouper stuffed or in a salad, or you can venture from the norm and order crab bellies and caviar. The vision here is quintessentially local and sustainable. If you opt for wine, the restaurant's private-label bottles, produced in California, are a good option.