Restaurants in Clearwater

Nestled in Maritana's cool cocoon of deep-blue aquariums, your adolescent dreams of becoming a marine biologist will merge with your adult palate as you drink in the colorful fish and an equally vibrant menu. An eclectic mix of dishes combine Caribbean cuisine with the home-cooked meals of the American South to form a peninsular portmanteau called Floribbean cuisine. Unlike human-animal hybrids, this combo cuisine suits a wide variety of tastes and poses few, if any, ethical questions.

An old world union of shiny red tablecloths, wall murals, and rustic wooden accents forms the backdrop for La Cote Basque's chefs, who harness traditional European recipes to imbue their menu with classic French, Italian, and German flavors. Complex flavor combinations tastily define La Cote Basque’s menu. The restaurant’s palate-popular chefs enlist sherry to sauté shrimp, fresh mushrooms, and peppers before recruiting brandy to flambé the entire concoction while a sunny-side-up egg adorns schnitzel holstein, a breaded veal cutlet served with anchovies and capers. Like friendship bracelets traded by butchers, the medallions senater assorties encompasses six different meats, including beef marsala, veal piccata, and chicken parmesan. House wines, such as chianti and sangria, complement the international-dining experience.

Named for the indigenous peppers dwelling in the Mexican state of Puebla, Poblanos uses the freshest ingredients for its selection of south-of-the-border sustenance. Vaqueros exhausted from a day of roping piñatas can unwind with a libation from Poblanos' extensive bar, such as the Margarita Poblano ($9) or a pitcher of the house margarita ($16.99), as they nosh on the restaurant's complimentary chips and salsa. Come entrée time, diners have no lack of flour-tortilla'd options, as Poblanos boasts an array of burritos, tacos, quesadillas, and enchiladas. The grilled-steak Burrito Grande ($9.99) rolls meat, onions, beans, rice, queso dip, lettuce, tomato, and sour cream into a zesty zarape, while the Tacos Suprema ($8.99 for two tacos, $9.99 for three), available in both hard shell and the easier-to-talk-to soft shell, can be stuffed with ground beef, shredded chicken, or refried beans. Diners with eyes and stomachs in comparably large sizes can opt for the chimichangas ($8.99 and up), which account for the third-largest land mass in the state of Florida at any given time.

Four Citysearchers give Chico's Wood-Fired Grill an average of 3.5 stars, and more than 200 Urbanspooners give 76% approval:

This St. Petersburg eatery piles plates high with edible gold mined from the ocean's most flavorful depths, with party platters designed to accommodate diverse groups of party gills. Your Groupon is good for one of the following three party trays:

Every time a guest orders from Tuscano Grille's savory menu, an angel-hair noodle cries, knowing that its fate has been decided. Start with buttermilk-battered fried artichokes and mushrooms with horseradish-cream sauce ($7.95), or mix up a bowl of greens tossed among pears, gorgonzola, candied walnuts, and dried cranberries in a honey-poppy-seed vinaigrette ($7.95). Off the grill, main-plate options include the 6-ounce filet mignon ($18.95), regarded as the swordfish of the land, and the 8-ounce swordfish steak ($18.95), regarded as a tenant in most seaman's stomachs.