The Best Places to Eat at Anna Maria Island, Florida

Best Places to Eat in Anna Maria Island

Food is something that my family loves. I love to cook a nice meal for our family as we enjoy sitting around the table as we eat our meal. This gives the kids a chance to talk about their day or be silly together. But, occasionally this mama doesn’t want to cook so together we enjoy going out to eat and trying new restaurants.

We decided to do another food tour and chose to visit Anna Maria Island in Florida along the gulf coast. We took this tour during Mother’s Day 2023 and it wasn’t that busy during our time there. Food tour is something that even my teens have really enjoyed doing as a family. We were able to visit seven different restaurants and enjoyed each of them. There isn’t one that I wouldn’t recommend.

Our last food tour was in Fort Myers, Florida. Check out that blog post HERE.

Food tour restaurants

The Donut Experiment $9.36 (half dozen donuts)

North Shore Cafe $31.03 (4 smoothie bowls)

Pizza Social $24.63 (1 AMI 14” large pizza)

Poppo’s Taqueria $36.91 (4 bowls)

Two Scoops Ice Cream $25.40 (6 ice cream cones/bowls)

The Ugly Grouper $114.84 (6 full meals and drinks)

Daiquiri Deck $40.50 (4 virgin daiquiri’s and 1 alcoholic daiquiri)

The Donut Experiment

We started out our tour with donuts at The Donut Experiment. This was a fun place to start as we chose all of the toppings that we wanted on our cake donuts. From cereal, bacon, sprinkles, caramel, crushed oreos, cinnamon and sugar and so many more. Go here first as they close at 1pm.

You get to pick your glaze, toppings and then drizzle for the top. YUM!!

Address: 210C Pine Ave

Hours: 7am to 1pm daily

Dozen donuts for $15 or half dozen for $8.75. You can also get single donuts for $1.75 and coffee or other delicious drinks to go with it.

Poppo’s Taqueria

Our second stop was right next door and one of our favorites, Poppo’s Taqueria. You can order a preselected Mexican-American taco or burrito or you can build your own. Starting with the freshest ingredients you will pick you base from rice or beans and then add protein from chicken or carnitas or more then add multiple toppings and finally add your salsa or garnishes to top it off.

Address: 212C Pine Ave

Hours: 11am to 9pm daily

North Shore Cafe

This cute little shop, North Shore Cafe, was a wonderful place to relax and enjoy a delicious smoothie bowl. They had only outdoor seating while we were there but had a really cute courtyard with table and chairs, yard games and a water view. I also loved the Anna Maria mural for photo opportunities. They sell a wonderful selection of smoothies and smoothie bowls, pastries, avocado toast, sandwiches, teas, coffee and more. They work with a couple local companies to source some of their food and bread items.

They also have a selection of specially made popsicles and North Shore Cafe souvenirs.

Address: 304 Pine Ave

Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 8am to 2pm. Closed Tuesdays. Saturday and Sunday 7:30am to 3pm.

Pizza Social

Pizza Social is seriously one of my favorite pizza places in Florida so far. I loved the brick oven grill flavor and the toppings are made with only the freshest ingredients. Their dough is made fresh daily and they hand pick their local ingredients for only the best. They have limited seating both indoor and outside. The staff is friendly making this whole experience wonderful. We had the AMI pizza which was so good!

Address: 308 Pine Ave

Hours: 11am to 9pm daily. Closed on Tuesdays.

Pineapple Marketplace

We were going to stop at The Waffle Press but it happened to be closed so we checked out the little shop, Pineapple Marketplace, right next to it. They had a bunch of fun beach ware and souvenirs to chose from.

Address: 425 Pine Ave

Waffle Press Hours: permanently closed

Pineapple Marketplace Hours: Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm, Sunday 11am to 4pm.

Two Scoops

If you know me, you know I love ice cream. So we of course had to add an ice cream shop to our food tour. Two Scoops had 32 unique and yummy homemade flavors to choose from making it hard to decide. There was seating inside and benches outside. The place was full when we were there so seating was limited. This shop is near the pier next to Tampa Bay.

They also sell breakfast and lunch items to include sandwiches, bagels, wraps and more.

Address: 101 S. Bay Boulevard

Hours: 10am to 10pm daily

Two Scoops ice cream flavors

Anna Maria City Pier

Next stop was to the pier which is located across the street from the ice cream shop. This pier is 700 feet long and over looks Tampa Bay. Don’t forget to stay for an incredible sunset to end the night.

Amenities: fishing, swimming, Marine Science Center, restaurant, Bait shop

City Pier Grill and Bait Shop:

• Offering fresh food, ice cream, beer and wine

• Owned by a father and son team

• 95% fresh ingredients

• Local favorites: breakfast sandwiches, homemade sausage gravy and biscuits, Blackened fish tacos, Cuban Sandwich, and fresh burgers.

• Outdoor seating

• Live and frozen bait for your fishing needs

• Hours: 7am to 10pm daily

Address: 100 N. Bay Boulevard

Cost: FREE

Pier Hours: 7am to 10pm daily

Mote’s Marine Science Education & Outreach Center

• Located on the pier

• Hours: 10am to 6pm daily

• FREE to visit

• Learn about the local marine life and the research the scientist do at this center

Anna Maria City Pier guitar player on deck

Old City Jail

A fun little place to stop on your way to the pier or back to your car. The Old City Jail offers a glimpse into the harsh jail conditions back in the day. This jail was built in 1927 to keep the rowdies after a night at the local tavern and dance hall. The local Mayor, frustrated with the locals, he built this jail with a roof and only bars on the windows. His goal was to allow the mosquitos to eat the prisoners which caused many people to not want to return to that situation and caused the local rowdies to quiet down. It was used until 1940 until it caught fire. It is now used as a photo opportunity for visitors.

Address: 402 Pine Ave

Cost: FREE

Parking is available throughout the area. We parked at the restaurants and the parking was free.

The Ugly Grouper

Before we ended the night we stopped at The Ugly Grouper for a full meal. Up until this point we all shared a small meal at each location but we were ready for a full meal. This restaurant had all outdoor seating, mostly in the shade. They have nightly live music and fun yard games to enjoy. Our food was really good and we would definitely eat here again! They have daily specials, cocktails, wine, beer, seafood, sandwiches, soups, salads, kids meal and of course everything Grouper. Also available, The Ugly Grouper merchandise.

Address: 5704 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach

Hours: 11am to 10pm daily

Daiquiri Deck

Last but not least, the Daiquiri Deck for drinks. We got to watch the beautiful sunset on the rooftop deck while sipping on our daiquiri and non-alcoholic drinks to end the night. They have indoor and outdoor seating. They are not just drinks. They also have a food menu to include seafood, chicken fingers, salads, fresh fish sandwiches and burgers, Po Boys, tacos, jambalaya, pasta, kids menu and a lot more.

Address: 107 Bridge Street, Bradenton Beach

Hours: Sunday to Thursday 11am to 10pm. Friday and Saturday 11am to 11pm

Sunset

I cannot complete my night without watching the sunset on the beach. This is one of my absolute favorite things to do. It is so peaceful and a great way to end the night as a family.

Final thoughts

Food tours are so much fun to do. You get a little bit to eat at each location so you have room to try lots of different restaurants. Prices and hours are from May 2023.

The first four restaurants were all within walking distance and you could also walk to the pier and jail from this area. It is a 6-10 minute drive from the first restaurants to The Ugly Grouper and a 10-15 minute drive from The Ugly Grouper to Daiquiri Deck.

Food tours are so fun and the best part is that even my teenagers love doing food tours.

Enjoy the journey,

Follow me on social media for more travel and food ideas @adoptinglifesjourney