Clearwater Beach is home to an array of great restaurants. That’s part of the reason why Trip Advisor named it the #1 beach in the country. The main strip is saturated with fantastic food options but you can find some of the beach’s real local gems nestled along the side streets. One of those very gems? Cooters Restaurant and Bar. Located on Poinsettia Ave, this building’o green is serving up beach adjacent specialties that rivals even some of the best known Clearwater Beach hot spots.
Highlights:
- Cooters Restaurant and Bar is a Clearwater Beach local’s best kept secret.
- They have seafood and non-seafood options including Tequila Daytona style wings that aim to please.
- Cooters offers a very laid back beach driven atmosphere. Sit on their patio, sip a Cooterade, kick back, and relax during your visit.
Keep Up at Cooters Restaurant and Bar by ordering:
- She crab soup
- Crab Stuffed Mushrooms
- Cooters Famous Wings – Tequila Daytona Style
- The Super Grouper Sandwich with fries
- Cooterade in a Cooters souvenir cup (easy to sip on and tastes dangerously close to blue gatorade)
Anyone that knows Ben and I knows that we are big fans of Clearwater Beach. We frequent the area on weekends, for date nights, and even for sunset beach walks when we just need to decompress. Surprisingly Cooters was a spot that we hadn’t yet tried together. When the restaurant extended an invite for us to come check them out, B and I were excited. We figured we’d hit the food, then we’d hit the sand.
A late lunch was on the books for us. The Florida weather was showing off that day so we sat our happy selves outside on Cooters’s patio. We eyed the menu up and down before kicking off our meal with a slew of appetizers. Creamy she crab soup, savory cheese topped crab stuffed mushrooms, and Tequila Daytona style wings made their way to our table. Holy cow. It was comfort food overload.
Cooters serves up a she crab soup that is rich, baby, rich. The toast points on the side were a perfect crunchy accompaniment to the soup’s dreamy, creamy state. I almost finished the whole cup by myself.
I know that you’re probably jonesing for some seafood if you’re beach bound, but hear me out: Cooters’s Tequila Daytona style chicken wings are a must. They fry ‘em, sauce ‘em, and grill ‘em to finish them off. The teriyaki chili flakes added a tasty flare that I couldn’t get enough of.
Ben and I had to get our grouper fix (a Clearwater Beach staple), so we opted to split a super grouper sandwich. Even without the previously enjoyed appetizers this sandwich would have been more than enough for the two of us to split with some fries.
Our lunch date at Cooters Restaurant and Bar guaranteed us a want to revisit. With their laid back atmosphere and the beach town fare they’re serving up, you’ll definitely want to stop in to Cooters before you hit the sand.
Thanks so much to Cooters Restaurant and Bar for hosting us! All opinions expressed here are my own.