John’s Pass, just north of the drawbridge on Treasure Island in Florida, has several waterfront restaurants next to the wharf. We pulled into the first entryway of trendy John’s Pass Mall and noticed a lighthouse, out lined with neon lights, at the end of a long, dark driveway. It turned out to be the Friendly Fisherman Restaurant owned and operated by the Hubbard family; it was next to the Hubbard Marina that included a fleet of fishing boats.
We entered through the door of the lighthouse and found ourselves in a bar; the restaurant was upstairs. A diversified collection of prize fish was mounted on the walls along with some excellent watercolor paintings with price tags. We were seated next to a window where we could see people passing by on the boardwalk.
We started our meal with a fresh Boardwalk Salad, consisting of Romaine lettuce tossed in a garlic-vinegarette dressing and served with croutons and shredded cheese, $1.95. It was different than most salads, but delicious. For our entrees, I ordered Neptune’s Platter, $13.95 and Bob ordered Fishermans’ Platter, $13.95. My dinner included fresh broiled flounder that was so light I was surprised it didn’t fall apart, shrimps and scallops that were done to perfection, and huge snow crab legs. I had a choice of two sides and chose baked potato and coleslaw. Bob had substituted grouper for salmon for an additional $1.95. It was well worth it; the fish tasted like lobster. His entree, also included jumbo shrimp and sea scallops, and for his two sides he chose French fries and coleslaw. Corn fritters were served with the dinners. Both dinners were excellent.