In downtown St. Petersburg, Doc Ford’s leads delicious meals to the table. They’re familiar for their bar and grille, location and amazing seafood. Right on the pier, it’s an outstanding place to go to with anyone.

Before you even walk inside, there’s a luscious aroma that lingers in the air. They have a large outside seating with mini blue umbrellas that hover above tables. Their interior was also really nice. Right when you walk in, there’s a huge aquarium and clear glass windows, so natural light is the only thing that fills the building. They too have bulb lights hanging inside and outside when the sun goes down.

One of my favorite parts being there was the view. The views that are absolutely stunning. Depending on where you sit you still get a gorgeous view, whether it’s of downtown St. Pete or the beautiful water and pier.

There are many people that work there, who keep the place really clean and kept up. Something I noticed is that on their name tag they had their name on it and where they grew up from, which I thought was interesting. I like how they have that little touch that gives them originality.

Due to Doc Ford’s being a seafood restaurant, the food can be pricey based on what you order – especially the meals that are just seafood by itself. Even though most meals can cost some money, you get a lot for what you order and get full fast.

I decided to order the Penne with Shrimp. It’s a sautéed deep water “lobster shrimp” penne pasta, with diced aroma tomatoes topped off with fresh basil, garlic and avocados tossed with a citrus cream sauce and shredded parmesan cheese. I decided not to get avocado on mine.

The food was really good. I was surprised that the price was only $19.95 due to how flavorful it was. There wasn’t too much cheese and it wasn’t too bland. The shrimp and tomatoes brought the whole dish to life and gave a good amount of food. After eating it for a while, the pasta by itself started to have no flavor, it was just eh. Without the cheese, shrimp and tomatoes being so good, the price wouldn’t be worth the meal.

They have a large variety of food. There are appetizers like Shrimp Scampi Flatbread, Fried Calamari and Doc’s Beach Bread, which is a baked french bread topped with cheddar, Monterey Jack, bleu cheese crumbles and diced tomatoes. They also have a diversity of entrees, like Panko-Crusted Grouper. It’s grouper pan-seared served on a bed of brown rice, julienne vegetables, wilted spinach and mushrooms, drizzled with a honey papaya rum mixture. Not only does Doc Ford’s serve seafood, there are other dishes like sandwiches if seafood is not what you want like.

All in all, I definitely recommend coming to Doc Ford’s for the experience and a new place to try. St. Pete is a beautiful place to see and Doc Ford’s picked the perfect location. I give Doc Ford’s an 8/10. It’s a perfect sunset date or a fancy place to eat with friends or family on a nice day. I wouldn’t try the pasta again, but I’d definitely eat there again to try the other things they serve.

IF YOU GO:

Address: 610 2nd Ave NE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701

Hours: Open Monday-Sunday from 11 A.M. to 10 P.M.

Website: https://www.docfords.com