Dry Dock Waterfront Grill

Dry Dock has been one of my favorite all-​time restaurant in the Sarasota area. You certainly can’t beat the view!
Lately I have had a few experiences that were a bit «off». The scallops have been over cooked a few times and they always seem to leave the «feet» on them.
The restaurant was recently bought out by the people who own Geckos so I’m hoping that things don’t start to slide. Only minor slips so far so I’m hopeful!
The service is always great and as I said, you certainly can’t beat eating waterside on Sarasota Bay!

The shrimp pasta was a generous portion and very flavorful. We enjoyed the bread, calamari and shrimp for appetizers. Everything was very good.

Delicious food, generous portions & excellent service. Very popular place so arrive early.

Nice atmosphere, the food is great. It’s very hard to get a table, probably because they offer a great meal and great value.
The variety of fish is always great, I have never had a bad meal here, the wait staff are friendly and don’t bug you too much so you can eat and chat without being interrupted.

Atmosphere is why you’d go here. The food is pretty decent. A little on the pricey side for the quality and food options. It has a beautiful view of the water.

5 stars for the lovely view of of their back dock for the serene (when the dry dock motors were not purring) pelicans everywhere, palm and bay visitas. Service was good although no one checked on us after the our late lunch was delivered and devoured. Hubby’s spinach salad was fresh but not very interesting. My fish sandwich was good.
Not somewhere to go expecting memorable meals but relaxing and pleasant. Located at the back of the dry dock/​storage area. You have to go up stairs in the front of the building to the 2^nd level for the hostess and then walk down stairs to the outdoors’ dining area.

What a great place. The patio was fantastic even with the rain. What a great use of space for the entire place. I so loved the restaurant.
As for the food– also 5 stars. Simple lightly seasoned fish. We had the grouper grilled. It was delicious like most grouper in Florida. I ordered grilled shrimp and scallops blackened. I ate every bite of food on the plate. The scallops were perfectly grilled
Well done in every way!

My daughter and I had visited this spot about 18mos ago and were so pleased.
Great, fresh food at reasonable prices with and a very accommodating staff.
As an interior decorator, I also really loved the stairwell décor (which you’ll have to see for yourself) and the all-​around views which are second to none. But we walked out that day not expecting to return to the area. We forgot to check in and forgot the name of the restaurant.
Today, for the first time in 18mos, I was back in the area with a couple of friends, searched Unilocal for an affordable ($$) waterfront restaurant and noticed the 4+ star rating for Dry Dock… the whole drive there, I couldn’t stop raving about the restaurant I remembered from my previous visit to the area.
I didn’t realize until the moment we drove up-​Oh my goodness! This is the place!
And it didn’t disappoint. The food, again, was very fresh and surprisingly affordable considering the overhead they must have for such a beautiful waterfront spot.
I highly recommend it and I’ll be sure to come back!

Nice view but a bit stinky (still water) and buggy. (though bug spray were provided)
The host was friendly and professionally took us to waiting area to sit and wait. Just like most places with view, food was not edible here. I couldn’t find anything on the menu so I ordered clam linguini. Hard, tasteless pasta, with chopped chewy clam on top, and very garlicky pre-​made sauce. I took it home to remake it, without that sauce for sure. French fries was good. Grouper taco was good.
Pet friendly so check the website before you go.

It was very good, but nothing exceptional, except the view and the proximity to the water. Not sure how people got so fired up about it. We had fish tacos and a salad for lunch. Service was spotty, food took a while to get there, and when it did arrive it was really fine, but not great. A little flat on the taste and nothing exceptional about the salad.

Great food & AWSOME staff
Now under new ownership they have made few changes.
Stone crab is a must in season
Tacos & grouper bites are also an excellent choice.
Prices are good

Really enjoyed this place. On a «staycation» across the state-​for us from Lauderdale the Western Coast of Florida is as foreign as California-​this was a lovely place to spend an evening.
Went on a Saturday evening in Mid-​October, so the beginning of high season, but also before all the snow birds were back in town. Came in around 7:30 or so, asked for a table for 2 and were told about a 30 – 40 minute wait since we insisted on an outside table. You don’t come here to sit inside, duh. Killed some time by grabbing a few bar drinks. The downstairs bar actually has a cool pulley system that brings glasses up and down from the dishwasher (up is dirty, down is clean) so there isn’t really a bar back or busboy running around. It had nautical rope on it and made it authentic like you were on a boat. Very cool.
We had an amazing waitress. Had more wine during dinner, ended up ordering some lobster and salmon and BOY was it good. Came out quick after we had a few bites of bread and olive oil-​good fresh flown in Maine Lobster almost as good as from cape cod. From beginning to end the service was awesome and we let them know.
What’s cool here is you can sit by the docks with your pager while you wait for your table with your drink like we did. If you’re familiar with some of the restaurants in FTL, It reminds me a lot of 15^th st fisheries where all the local grouper are in the harbor near the boats and all lit up. Very cool to see. I would love to come back here, if I were ever in the area. A great hidden gem.

Though I’ve lived in Sarasota 30 years, and it seems the Dry Dock has been around most, if not all of that time, I only recently visited the restaurant for the first time. Dry Dock has recently been purchased by the Gecko’s team — My visit was too soon after the purchase to see many «Gecko» changes, other than the senior management team making their presence known. I’d heard the calamari was delightful and it lived up to its reputation — two distinctly different sauces raised the bar for every other calamari experience I may have in the future… They were that good. I paired my calamari with a side salad — I should have saved my calories for another yummy Tito’s vodka drink.
My only complaint, they take no reservations so it is a roll of the dice on your wait time. We made a pest of ourselves (kidding) by stalking the bar patrons and were soon able to score some seats, It was a Monday night and the place was HOPPING.
I’ll definitely go back with a bigger appetite so I may fully experience dinner there. PLEASE DON’T change it into another Gecko-​type restaurant, please, pretty please.
One note of advice, park on the north side of the property. The entrance is a bit hidden and if you park in the south drive, it is even harder to find your way in… and that calamari is waiting.

We loved this place! My wife and I ate at many restaurants in the area including some very highly regarded gourmet ones. Our lunch at the dry dock may have been our best meal the entire trip. We had the lobster roll and the grouper tacos. We told the waitress that we wanted to split the two entrees and the chef ended up plating them perfectly for us.
The sauce that comes with the grouper tacos is just fantastic. I always appreciate fish tacos more when they come with a sauce that adds fat and brightness and this sauce did not disappoint.
You may think that the fish tacos stole the show, but you’d be wrong. The lobster roll was just jammed full of thick pieces of lobster and had a great buttered roll. My wife mentioned that it was one of her favorite things she has eatin in recent memory.
The waitress was very nice and had a great personality.
If we visit the area again we will be back. It is worth going out of your way for.

We went here in June for a special lunch before our bachelor/​bachelorette party. We live in st Pete but drove down because we wanted to eat someplace we hadn’t before. We were glad we made the drive. The calamari was excellent. The lobster rolls was pretty yummy. I had the grouper sandwich. It was beyond excellent. The view was fantastic. You can’t ask for a better view. We had the drink of the day, I can’t remember what it was but it was super yummy. I had 3 refills

Had dinner here and enjoyed it.
The Snow Crabs were delicious the fried lobster tacos were ehhh. Tried all three desserts they offered that night, YES all three, and though the key lime pie was the best.
Great service

— Short Synopsis —
Amazing view accompanied by great food! The grouper bites and lobster tacos were great; the sweet chili cilantro sauce took everything to another level though. I recommend trying that sauce at the least.
I called about an hour in advance to make a reservation and was able to. I would recommend making a reservation, as it did get crowded. I waited about 10 minutes for a table with a reservation.
— Detailed Review —
Finding this place was a bit tough, as it is hidden away in the back behind a few buildings; you even have to take some stairs (or an elevator) to find the front entrance. Don’t worry, there are signs that help direct you. Once inside though, it has a nice, clean, open ambiance to it. For parking, there are spots around the boat storage/​shack building, which is located next to Dry Dock Waterfront Grill.
For starters, the grouper bites were tasty, moist, and flaky. The breading was not too thick, but still provided a nice crunch. Overall, a light, flaky, delicious fish that went well with the cilantro sauce!
The complimentary bread with the pesto sauce was nice and tasty. It served as a nice vessel for any leftovers or drippings from the dishes. The salad was good with decent produce, but did not stand out to me.
I was debating between the lobster roll or lobster tacos and the waiter recommended the tacos. I am glad he did! The lobster tacos were delicious! The slight crunch from the fried skin and the lettuce provided a nice texture contrast to the dish. The yellow rice and black beans were good, but nothing special. Again, the cilantro sauce was amazing with anything on this plate! It went particularly well on the tacos.
My girlfriend got the crab cake combination and it was good. The crab cakes had large lumps of crab meat, which is always a good sign. I enjoyed them. The shrimp was tasty. Again, the cilantro sauce went well with the anything on the plate. She also got a strawberry mint mojito, which had a nice balance of sweet and sour. I liked what I had of it.
For dessert, we decided to try the walnut brownie with ice cream, fudge, and whipped cream. I love nutty flavors mixed with sweet flavors, so I couldn’t help myself; however, I would not order this again. Don’t get me wrong, the ingredients and dish was good, but nothing special stood out to me about the dessert.
On another note, the view is something to be appreciated about this restaurant. There are multiple windows facing the waterfront. This provides the open ambiance to the restaurant, as stated earlier in the short synopsis. There is also an outside covered patio area that puts you even closer to the waterfront.
The service was also great and prompt. Our waiter answered any questions we had. The items aren’t the cheapest, but it’s worth it considering the view along with the quality of food I have eaten here.
I had a great experience here and would recommend Dry Dock Waterfront Grill to others.

This place is absolutely beautiful. It’s right by the ocean and the view is great anywhere in the restaurant.
The seafood was so fresh. Felt as if the fish was caught just a couple of hours ago.
The menu has a lot of options even if you are not a seafood lover. From sandwiches, to burgers and pasta.
Overall the prices were in range in regards to the seafood selections. Not too pricey, but not very cheap.
The service was also great! Our waitress was always on top of everything. Our food was brought very quickly.
Overall, no complains. Would definitely go again.

Muy bueno, excelente vista

This place is one of those where you are paying for the atmosphere. Great views, not so great service and decent food.
What I’ve tried:
–Chicken Pasta
–Grilled Chicken Salad
–Grouper Sandwich
–Florida Grouper Entrée
The food is fresh, but the flavors are off a bit. I was told the Grouper Sandwich is the best around, I would have to disagree. The servers are standoffish, and don’t really offer any suggestions when ordering. The prices are high for what you get. Basically I would say go somewhere else. The one thing you can’t beat here is the view. It’s a great place for kids to wander around. So if you have a family with small children I would go check this place out, otherwise go for the view.

1^st Star — Location, location, location. The view from this restaurant was spectacular. We ate dinner at 6pm and got to watch the sunset. You cannot put a price on such a gorgeous dining experience. Unedited photo will be included.
2^nd Star — The lobster bisque. Flavorful, creamy, delicious, fresh I mean the list is endless. Among the best lobster bisque’s that I have ever had. My boyfriend and I split it and were making negotiations for who could get the last piece of lobster meat. Truly delicious.
3^rd Star — Fried Calamari. I consider myself an expert as I order this at nearly every place I go. It was exceptional. Perfectly fried and incredibly flavorful. Obviously fresh and served with a large portion size. You can’t go wrong.
4^th Star — Most of their fish (with the exception of the Wild Alaskan Salmon) is caught daily. Therefore, you literally cannot get a better tasting fish. I had the blackened grouper included in my Cesar salad and it was to die for. My boyfriend had the grouper blackened on a sandwich and it was cooked perfectly. You’ll be kicking yourself if you don’t try some.
5^th Star — The waitstaff were attentive, friendly, focused and well-​educated about the items on their menu. Any question we had, they knew the answer too. Their drinks were heavenly and always refilled. I had the Moscow Mule and another specialty beverage and it was delicious and strong in the best ways.
Overall, you’ll be disappointed if you don’t eat here. Whatever you do — wait to sit outside! It’s definitely worth it.