Madeira Beach - right smack dab in the middle

I have many memorable moments from my visits to Madeira Beach but my most memorable is the many fine restaurants that are located there, especially if you are a seafood lover.

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This is another restaurant we had passed by many times during our previous visits to Madeira Beach. We made up our minds to at least try it on this visit, especially because the restaurant belongs to Dining for Miles and even if we had a bad meal at least we could add some miles to our Northwest frequent flier miles. We shouldn't have worried about a bad meal, the food ended up being so good we made a return visit during our stay.

More to come with pictures!

This is our favorite restaurant in Madeira Beach for any meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner. With this being the case, we headed here our first morning in town. Not only is the Friendly Fisherman known for its wide variety of breakfast items, including daily specials that are listed on a board as you enter the restaurant, but also for Captain Hubbard's Famous Seafood Omelette. This omelette is made with three eggs, grouper, scallops, shrimp and crab and having left more than full on our previous visit, we knew to order just one and split it. With a side order of grits and biscuits, I had plenty to eat without leaving so stuffed I couldn't eat again until nightfall. Our waitress, who had only been working there for a month, was very friendly and kept our coffee cups filled. With a great view of John's Pass, we lingered over our coffee and watched the fishing boats as they headed out to the Gulf and the pelicans diving for their breakfast.

We had passed by this restaurant many times during our visits to Madeira Beach since it sits on the corner of Gulf Boulevard and Tom Stuart Causeway (the non- toll road to St. Petersburg) but we had never stopped. Having won an auction for a gift certificate to the Oceanside Grille Daiquiri Deck, my wife and I decided to eat lunch there one day. The Oceanside Grille and Daiquiri Deck is not next to the ocean but is across the street and although there is an outdoor deck it does not overlook the water but the parking lot in front of the restaurant. The restaurant is basically a sports bar that really comes alive at night, judging from the cars in the parking lot and the crowd on the deck. There were a couple of people playing pool, and three or four people at the bar and two women with a baby at a table when we entered the restaurant shortly after 1 p.m. After motioning from the back of the restaurant for us to sit anywhere we liked, we chose a table close to the empty band stand. On weekends, live bands entertain. Our waitress was soon handing us menus and talking our drink orders. The menu primarily consisted of sandwiches and an extensive list of daiquiris. We decided on a grouper sandwichh and toyed with the idea of a daiquiri but since we were going sightseeing later we decided to forego the daiquiri until another time. I thought we might come back later that night and order the Tie me to the Bedpost, which the description read, "Get ready for the bed will spin when you're tied tonight. Combination banana, mango and purple haze, then topped with Coruba rum. While my wife was not too thrilled with that one she did get a kick out of some the others such as Voodoo Love Shack, Pain in the Ass, Cheap Date and Rumble in the Jungle. After looking over and discussing the extensive list, our sandwiches arrived and they were delicious. While finishing up the last bite of my sandwich, our waitress arrived wanting to know about dessert or if we had decided on a daiquiri. I told her I was much to full from the sandwich for dessert, as was my wife, and we were going to take a rain check on the daiquiri. I did find out, while she was getting my change, that the Tie Me to the Bedpost is one of the biggest selling drinks.

The Kingfish Restaurant is a new addition to the restaurant scene since our last visit to Madeira Beach but it is no newcomer to serving good food along the Gulf Beaches. We had noticed the new restaurant on our first morning in town as we headed for our breakfast at the Friendly Fisherman Restaurant at John's Pass. But it was not until later in the week and after getting a recommendation from a woman at the Madeira Beach visitors center that we decided to try it. The restaurant, which has the slogan, "7 Days without seafood makes one weak," opens daily at 4 p.m. After being seated, our waiter, Tony, who turned out to be from Lebanon, Tennessee, and who had moved to Madeira Beach eight years ago, took our drink orders, while we looked over the menu, which features extensive seafood entrees, as well as speciality grouper selections. There are also landlubber's delights, such as steak and veal oscar, along with several chicken dishes and pasta dishes. There is also a sandwich menu if you are looking for something a little lighter. Being a little later than we usually dined, I did not want to eat too much so the Admirals Platter with black grouper, shrimp, scallops, split king crab leg and oyster rockefeller was definitely not going to be my pick for the night. While I was trying to make up my mind, my wife chose the scallops stir fry, which was one of the specials for the night, and I finally decided on the fried oysters. My wife ended up getting a box to put her leftover scallops in, while I finished off all of my oysters, although it was nip and tuck at the end. I decided to forego the last of the french fries to finish up the oysters. And now for little history lesson. The original Kingfish Restaurant opened in 1945 on Treasure Island, overlooking Johns Pass. The family's other restaurant or sports bar, Gators, is located there now. In 1972, the family moved the restaurant across the street before moving to their new location just a few short months ago.

I never miss visiting the Wild Time Boutique when we visit Madeira Beach. They have a great selection of Jimmy Buffett t-shirts and also island shirts. They also have a new website at www.wildtimeboutique.com More to come with pictures!