Fresco's Waterfront Bistro

I visited on Valentine’s Day and the service I received from Heather was impeccable! She was so sweet and helpful! She made this experience so much more fun and I will totally be back again. 10/10 service and the food was amazing!

This was my third visit, and each time, it just gets better. Located along the St. Pete marina, Fresco’s Waterfront Bistro offers a relaxed yet elevated dining experience, perfect for both casual outings and special occasions. During this visit, I started with the crispy calamari, which was expertly prepared: lightly breaded, tender, and paired with two flavorful dipping sauces, I believe one was sweet and sour, and the other a classic marinara. The boneless wings were equally impressive: well-seasoned, perfectly cooked, and ideal for sharing. My mother ordered the poke tuna, which was exceptionally fresh and well-prepared. We had just returned from Japan two weeks ago, so we could truly appreciate the quality of the seafood. The freshness was unmistakable. The highlight of the meal, however, was the lobster roll. Served on a toasted roll and generously filled with fresh, buttery lobster, it was both indulgent and satisfying. Beyond the outstanding food, the service was warm and attentive, and the ambiance overlooking the waterfront truly enhanced the experience. Despite the intense summer heat during our visit, our server thoughtfully placed a fan next to my elderly mother to ensure her comfort, which was greatly appreciated. Whether you’re stopping in for lunch, enjoying a sunset dinner, or meeting friends for a casual bite, Fresco’s delivers the perfect blend of quality, service, and comfort.

Walked up found great seats at the water, bartender couldn’t have been more perfect. Beautiful location. 5/5 food, service, view

Kate was an amazing server she was very intuitive and very nice. Her customer service was phenomenal, this was our first time here coming from Atlanta Georgia. The seafood pasta was amazing as well as the the chicken marsala. And the drinks got me right where I needed to be, which was the lemon drop and the Tito's strawberry lemonade. Thank you Kate for being so nice, The McMullen's

Nice place to have lunch. They have a lot of healthy options and I’ve enjoyed a lot the salad (really fresh as they promised). I recommend it!

Very nice place locally, to enjoy a meal near the harbor/marina and Pier. Good selection of varying foods. Staff is usually very accommodating and friendly. The prices have gone up quite a bit, but overall the presentation, portions and quality of the meals is reasonably good! It's definitely better than your average touristy-beachside-dive (bar & grill). The appetizers are really good, as are most of the food options. Actually a nice spot for week-end brunch, too!

Favorite restaurant in St. Pete! We absolutely love the boat parking and the water atmosphere that is provided. But let’s talk about the food!!! 🤩 you can NEVER go wrong with starting with calamari, and their bowls are a must try in St. Pete (I prefer the fresco’s bowl with chicken instead of shrimp) If you’re looking for a St. Pete staple I would definitely recommend Frescos

Got seated immediately. Food was fantastic,service was great, food was hot and freshly prepared. Prices were high. But worth it!

Heather was AMAZING!! So friendly and sweet, one of the best servers I’ve had. Ordered the Veggie Bowl and it’s so delicious! Coming back for Shrimp tacos for sure!

The best seafood I’ve had! The owner came out and did shots with us, an amazing experience and atmosphere. Food couldn’t be better, we will be back!

Loved this place! The food was absolutely delicious, great presentation, it’s right on the water so the view was beautiful and our server Hayden was super polite, sweet and very attentive. Thank you Hayden! I got the Mahi Entree with bacon jalapeño cream sauce and the pineapple coleslaw and my cousin got the Fresco Bowl. Delicious. And great portions for the price! There is inside seating, as well as outside seating.

Just had lunch out with the girls at Fresco's. I can't wait to go back with the husbands. The service was excellent (thank you Gabriella), the food was excellent, as was the waterfront view. We shared the warm crab dip appetizer, delicious! I had a cup of lobster bisque, really good, and the cold lobster roll. Wow! Two friends had the carbonara which I decided to taste and can't wait to have it again. Absolutely on the return list.

Fresco's is a must-visit when in St. Petes! That bowl will forever live in my mind rent-free. It was balanced and absolutely scrumptious. The view is to die for. It's literally something from the movies. The restaurant is well decorated with an electric feel, and it's neat and well kept. The place was busy and buzzing when we were there, but the service was fast and efficient!

Fresco’s never disappoints. Brought out of town family for a delightful dinner and they loved it. The drinks were delicious, food was perfectly flavored, presented beautifully and tasted better than it looked. Service was on point and of course the outside deck is always so nice to sit and enjoy our meal.

WE LOOOOOVE THIS PLACE!!! GREAT food, Magnificent service (fast, friendly and it doesn’t hurt that every single waiter and waitress is beautiful), a bit expensive, but WOW LOOK AT THIS PLACE! Best location in Saint Pete. I had the Seafood Alfredo and my wife had the Chicken the waitress recommended. Cheesie Bread appetizer had AWESOME dip. Love this place!

Came here for the first time this weekend and had an amazing lunch. Zak was amazing and the mango habanero ceviche was fresh and spicy.

A wonderful restaurant with delicious food and a great atmosphere. Suitable for solo dining. I ordered the lobster bisque, which was excellent, as well as the lobster burger. I love lobster, and this restaurant knows how to make it. Definitely a visit.

This place was great - 5 stars! I wish our waitress smiled a little more.....but I understand we all have our own lives to deal with. The ceciche was amazing. Best I've had in a while. It came with well seasoned chips that were good too. I opted out of the spicy ingredients, and it was great as it was! Yum, yum, yum! The ahi tuna salad was delicious. My boyfriend had the fresco burger and he said it was good and filling (although he did say the meat itself could have been seasoned a little more). He gave the fries two thumbs up for being well seasoned and crispy. Definitely recommend and will go back.

Excellent, super fresh seafood with a perfect view and staff that truly loves being there. Their homemade lobster ravioli was just full of layered flavors!

Great location; marvelous food with generous portion. Inside is a little dark but very nice outside setting. (Just too hot for me is). Highly recommended!

This was a fabulous stop for lunch with my husband. They have plenty of outdoor seating with beautiful water views. Right in the heart of St. Pete. Dog friendly on the patio. Our server was so great. We had leftovers and needed a little ice, so she bagged some up nicely for us. She offered kindly to take our photo with the great background. The food was delicious. My husband’s hamburger was juicy and cooked perfectly. I had the Fresco bowl. Yum!! You must stop here!

We stopped here for lunch after leaving Perry’s Porch. The vibe here was 1000% better. Matt our bartender took care of us like family. We had the best time here and the food was ON POINT. He made us drinks that were to die for! If you come to Frescos, ask for Matt to be your bartender. You won’t regret it.

Great variety of food and good portions sizes. Key lime pie to go was excellent

The Hot Lobster Rolls were amazing. I pair it with the cucumber salad and it was delicious. I visited from Orlando and it was worth the drive.

Our meal at Fresco’s was amazing! We ordered the hot lobster roll and Fresco’s shrimp and it was the best food we had in St. Pete. The key lime pie was also delicious. I loved the atmosphere being able to sit out by the water. This place definitely was worth the visit

Beautiful view of the water but come for more than that- come for the food! We had the Mango Habanero Ceviche which was delicious. The freshness of the shrimp and grouper mixing with the cilantro and mango was incredible. The avocado was a nice accent. The grouper tacos were hearty and again so fresh. I was happily surprised at how well the feta blended with the blackened grouper and street corn. Great mix of flavors. We had the cucumber salad which was light and refreshing. Shay was a phenomenal server and would definitely try to be seated with her if she’s there.

We come here semi often and love the food its always on point. The atmosphere is truly beautiful. Heather is an amazing server extremely nice and on top of things. The St.pete bowl is awesome as the fish tacos. Everything is just simply delicious. Such a vibe✨ great job!

Don't let the word 'Bistro' in the name fool you, as this restaurant is quite casual (in a good way)! It's more laid-back than the other restaurants located on the St. Pete pier. This one is right at the beginning of the pier and directly on the water. They have plenty of outdoor seating with pleasant views of the water. The food was good, service was really friendly and attentive and the location is what makes it stand out.

Visiting from out of state… “Shay” was the best waitress/server I’ve had since visiting Florida! She was very attentive, gave recommendations, and made sure the experience was top notch! I got the lobster roll (warm) and it was delicious! The shrimp tacos were also great. I’ll definitely be back next trip to St Pete!

Atmosphere here is great! Good music and right on the water. Food was great as well, good variety to choose from. We had zack and meg as waiters and they were awesome! Drinks and food came right away! French fries were the best I’ve ever had.

Came here for a midweek outdoor lunch and couldn't have had a better experience! Great food and atmosphere. We recommend asking for Jade! Such a sweet and attentive server!

My husband and I wandered into this restaurant around 5pm - peak time-after visiting the Dalí museum (a must see). We didn’t know the area and I wasn’t expecting much-pricey restaurant at a peak time in a kind of touristy area. I’m glad to say that my assumptions were undermined! We had great service, were seated outside quickly and the food was delicious. Our server (tall man with glasses -originally from Ohio; I remember that detail because we currently live in OH), was funny and attentive and didn’t make us feel rushed. We don’t drink which when you share that sometimes you can feel the disappointment of servers in restaurants b/c they want to sell you drinks. This was not the case at all with our server who was knowledgeable about the mocktails and guided me to something I loved -and wound up ordering two glasses of. First time having a lobster roll and it was so yummy! Good portion size for the price! We had an appetizer and my husband also loved his meal. We took key lime pie home which was good if on the fancier ‘mousse’ kind of interpretation. If we visit this area again, we would come back! Thanks for helping contribute to a great memory!

I wish I could put more than 5 stars. Our server, Shay, was incredibly attentive, friendly and provided a great experience for us! The raspberry mojito was incredible. I had crab cakes for an appetizer and they had so much flavor to them. Highly recommend those if you haven’t had them before! For my meal I had the lemon pepper calamari which is technically an appetizer but the portion was fantastic and the calamari was lightly breaded but cooked to perfection. This was our second time here and we can’t wait to come back. Thank you, Shay!! You are wonderful and such a nice human!!

Stopped in to have some dinner, got seated with Heather. She was very attentive. Talkative. Very sweet and professional! Had the fresco burger and it was a 10/10 as well as the boneless wings. The fries were also amazing! Will definitely recommend to anyone!

Good meal, the night was busy, so not surprisingly service wasn't the fastest. Atmosphere out in the porch would be a lot better in the middle of summer with the windows open. Decent experience overall, but not outstanding.

Water side dining with a very good staff. The staff is attentive but allows you to eat your meal in peace. Being by the marina gives you a sense of tranquility with the gulls and pelicans soaring overhead. We have never been disappointed and any time we are in St. Pete we go to Fresco's.

The place is good, ocean front, it has a good variety of food and drinks (wine, beer, cocktails). The view is really nice. This restaurant has seating inside with air-conditioning and the outside seating with the best view. We were a group of 6 and ordered salmon, sirloin and pasta and everybody liked their food. The restaurant was full so the service was a little slow, bit at least the food doesn't took too much time.

Let's start with the positive. The food was excellent and the view from the back porch was fantastic. The fish tacos were out of the world and the cucumber salad complimented the meal as I was looking for something light. My husband ordered the lobster roll with mashed potatoes and he ate everything! (He always has left overs but not today). 😀 The cons: the 2 girls at the front desk were friendly and professional. They wanted to do a good job but the floor manager was kinda rude to them. There were many many tables open and no one waiting except us at this time.....well, until additional people arrived behind us and added to wait list. The floor manager was rude and condescending explaining parties of 2 don't get seated at 4 tops... those are for groups of 4 only. Now mind you many tables were open. We got a table about 20 minutes later and witnessed the floor manager drinking in the corner of the bar with her friends..... she was finishing up her wine. It's nice they are able to drink with friends while on duty. Wish I had a job like that. Indoor and outdoor seating is available.

Nice waterfront restaurant. Has a lot of seating outside and inside, wonderful view. However had to write a review because i’m still stuck on the white sauce top of the seafood platter….. why is it covering all the seafood… why. It’s very unnecessary, seafood should always be the star of the show.

For $30… the size of this grouper sandwich was definitely lacking; there were more red onions. The grouper was good but not worth the price. The star of my plate was actually the rice.