Doc Ford's Rum Bar & Grille in West Lealman - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

This was our first time at this restaurant. The food was good, although nothing special. A good choice especially considering that we were looking for a place were we could have a fast meal without eating junk food. Our favorite choice was the Clam Chowder. However, if you are looking for a cozy place, where you can have conversations and some privacy, this is not the place to visit. It is large, packed with people and very noisy. Servers are very friendly and helpful. Parking is free and abundant.

I was super excited to come here but really wasn't all that impressed. Decent food but wasn't anything I'd really recommend.

This was delicious and great service

Went de early dinner at the Jungle Terrace location and our server Nicolas was amazing.he. Was very tentative to our needs and very knowledgeable of the menu and specials. I recommend asking for Nicolas to be your server if you go to this location. And as always the food was amazing .

The food is fresh and very tasty. The rum drinks are definitely a must try. The waterfront view makes you feel like there is always 5 o’clock when you come here.

Shannon was our bartender and was absolutely amazing. We visit quite regularly, but this was the absolute best service we have ever had! Thank you Shannon for your amazing hospitality!!

First time visit to this location. They did a great job of renovating the old Green Iguna. Excited for the cooler weather to sit outside and enjoy the view. The new dock/updates look great! We will return.

Everytime I go to this restaurant I get the ribeye! Oh my goodness it's huge, tasteful, flavorful! So delicious!

Absolutely loved our experience at Doc Ford's! Wonderful atmosphere, right on the water- and the food is Superb! Will most certainly be back.

Food and drinks were fantastic. Waitress was great, bussers/runners were great. The three hostesses were horrible. Not sure if they were being trained but we had a reservation and they didn’t seat us until 15 minutes after our reservation time. They gave us a buzzer when we came in which confused us since we walked in and stated our reservation name and the amount of people. They sat every other reservation that walked in after us (including another 4-top just like us) and the female hostess was especially unreceptive. Overall great experience aside from the first impression when we walked in the door.

This was a pleasant surprise. Not familiar with an area is really hit or miss when choosing a place to eat. We lucked out with this spot. On the water, service was great and the meal was yummy. I had grouper tacos 🌮

Love this place. Great food, drink a people. Safe zone for a single female to go to.

A little pricey... everything was good, the service was great.

Ordered the signature fish sand, panco crusted. Signature sandwich needed flavor, forgot slaw, beer was great and cold, fries great.

Great extensive cocktail selection, great food, great service and an easy low key bay atmosphere! This is a must visit destination if you are in or near the St. Petersburg region! There is a specialty drink here for anyone -- which isnt the case at many of the touted local beach restaurants and pubs. Our server, Camille, was incredible - along with the Manager (Minnesota Nice for sure!) who made certain everything was above satisfactory for our lunch visit. We ordered several drinks and they were all well made - our lunch food was terrific and service spot on! All I can say is we regret we did not visit Doc Fords earlier during our stay or we would have visited for dinner had we had more time. Cheers to Doc Fords at Jungle Terrace!!!

Will definitely be back! Was visiting the Clearwater and St. Pete area for 4 days and this was the best drink and meal I’ve had so far on my trip. The atmosphere and view are amazing, the staff is so friendly, and the drinks and food are fantastic! I am so glad I found a new place to frequent when I return to Florida for vacation.

I always get excited when we decide to go to Doc Fords!! The yuckon oysters are always amazing until 8-12-24! They first came out filled with fluid and just looked totally unappealing and sadly the tast was also disappointing. Asked waitress if she could send back, she was very apologetic. When they came out again it was covered in thick cheese. Still not what I always looked forward to

Met a friend for dinner and Cody was our server. I’ve been to dock for as many times at several locations. The food is consistently good. The drinks are great as is the atmosphere. What really made it a great experience was our server Cody. He is by far the best server I have ever had. He was super friendly without being over the top. He knew the menu and made great recommendations. Cody is awesome! Ask for him the next time you’re there!

Food was outstanding. Atmosphere was great. Only bad thing about this was the 2 large flies that kept buzzing my food but that's hardly the restaurants fault. Food is on the pricey side but we'll worth it. We'll definitely be back.

Grouper and Mahi were delicious

The food and atmosphere are great, and the employees are always pleasant.

Great service and excellent dishes! Very clean facility and courteous staff.

The food and drinks were wonderful, along with very friendly, knowledgeable service. Fantastic experience, highly recommend!

We had a party of 25 today. David was our server. He was so patient and fun. Such a great guy to us. Hope he is appreciated!!! Lol. I love this location. This is my 3rd time organizing a group and they have all been amazing to us.

The atmosphere is great. Sitting on the water is awesome. Food is delicious and reasonably priced.

The service was fantastic. My server, Jennie, was just the best. The food was amazing, and the portions were a great size. Also, the drinks were spectacular.

Need better fans on the open deck

Ate lunch here at noon on a Sunday. Was seated inside right away and it wasn't too busy. Food was excellent - southwest Cobb salad was amazing. Def recommend a visit !

Great tasting food and friendly staff.

Always great time and food even for disabled and elderly.

My husband and I love coming here to dine in or even sit at the bar! Everyone is awesome but our fave waiter is David (🫣🤫) he has a awesome personality and service every time. My favorite thing is how it starts to feel like family from how cool everyone is and I think that's what keeps me coming besides from the amazing food. Thank you guys, keep up the great work!!! 😘

This location is very nice and relaxing.

Always great food. Shrimp dinner awesome. App flatbread awesome

Came here Friday night for the second time and was disappointed after the first time was great. Restaurant was extremely hot like the ac was broken, half chicken was over cooked and dry and had to sent back. Entrees came out in less than 10 minutes while we just got the appetizers. Was able to eat 2 wings before getting our entrees. Fresh cooked food should take longer than 8 minutes to come out on a packed Friday night. I assume the half chicken was just sitting out under a heater drying up. The only positive was the waiter was good. I came from palm harbor for doc ford’s and don’t think I’ll be returning which is disappointing because we loved it the first time we went.

Hadn't been to any of the Doc Ford's, decided to try the one on Bay Pines, their Jungle Terrace location. WOW, we all enjoyed our meals immensely! I had Paella, Better Half and a friend of hers had Salmon (and they LOVED IT) and her friend's husband had a Philly Steak Sandwich, which he enjoyed as well. We'll definitely return!

Restaurant closes at 10. We were seated just before 9 by a hostess wearing pajama pants. We received rushed service all while employees were actively closing down restaurant. I totally understand employees wanting to go home but rolling up floor mats and flinging them around our table at 915? Food was not good. Pasta was cold and shrimp mushy. This was our first visit and also our last.

Nice place to have lunch or dinner or just grab a beer on St Pete pier. My wife and I stopped in for a beer after watching a game at Tropicana Field. Returned the next day for late lunch. Shared the seared Tuna appetizer and both ordered the grouper tacos. All good. Service was excellent. Paid parking available on the pier. Indoor and outdoor seating available. Nice views of the bay

Awesome experience, great scenery. The drinks are on point and the calamari is the best in town. I had the pesto grouper and my wife had the red fish and wow🤯 what a great meal.

Shrimp and grits were delicious!!

Love this location. Inside or outside the atmosphere is amazing. Really love to grab lunch with co workers or bring the family to dinner at this location

Great service and food. Shrimp were perfect.

Awesome food, service and atmosphere.

We always enjoy our dinners here and it’s a great place to take out of town guests.

Hidden gem, great food, fair prices, service was great and outdoor seating is nice

We are new to St Pete and Doc Ford’s is a well known locals favorite. Very casual and located on the water. We really liked being able to bring our dog, with outdoor tables under a roof. Service was outstanding, people were friendly, food was great and service prompt. Another bonus was easy parking, with many spots in the shade. 5 stars for sure!

Food was over fried and not a lot of seafood options. No seafood platters, calamari was not fresh overly friend sweet potatoes fries over fried

Great service by Jeremy! Love the live music!!

Absolutely fantastic! This was my first visit (I was on vacation from out of State) and I couldn’t have enjoyed a place more! The outdoor seating was comfortable with lovely views and a nice breeze off the water. My waitress was by far one of the BEST I’ve ever had! She was attentive, helped me with my choice of trying something new, very easy to converse with and even took the time to snap a few pics of me that I asked her too since I was dining alone. The food was top notch and I found that grouper is now one of my top favorite fish!

Food was amazing. Our waiter Jamal was phenomenal. He was quick with taking care of us and great energy. I can feel the love in the food. I got the Cobb chicken salad 10/10 My sun got the chicken sandwich which was great but the fries were cold. He have his food 7/10 We're still get l giving them a 5 star because Jamal is amazing and the environment was nice too. Very kid friendly

Stuffed grouper was amazing!!! Waitress was sweet, attentive during a full house, and very helpful. Food and drinks were awesome. Wish we had a restaurant like this in Illinois.

Everyone in my party felt the food was very bland. Most of us tried the Grouper. Some of us got it fried and some blackened. Doesnt matter it was bland either way.

Celebrating birthdays was terrific. Huge desserts were shared .

The food was delicious and they have our favorite rum! Mount Gay from Barbados. Oh yes we will return. Server terrific too.

I didn’t even finish my meal yet and the Dinkins shrimp and lobster roll were amazing

Tried a new Rum, the Bartender suggested. It was very good. The atmosphere is laid back, and the service is great!

We sat on outside upper floor balcony for lunch. Ordered a couple of beers and retied looking male server was kind of short with us when asking him a question. People sitting behind us had a pitbull dog and server was more interested in petting dog and getting dog bowel of water. Server had hands in dog bowel and Never washed his hands. He got tray to bring our food and we got up and left, but not before the pit bull was licking my leg. I do not want to eat dog slobber with my food. What is with this place? Do you like dog slobber in your food? Doc Fords seems to think it is acceptable. We will Never go back there again. What a disgusting excuse of a restaurant.

Second time there, good food and was served hot, Terry, our server was great. We'll be back, for sure

Chill and relaxing views. Food is delicious as always. Laid back music. What's not to like. Definitely recommend.

Love the food and drinks options. Great atmosphere inside and outside.

My husband and I came here for date night. The atmosphere was fantastic! Renee was an attentive and friendly waitress, Zach was the live music and was the best I have heard in a long time! We walked down to their dock and took in the view... Top notch time. We will be back!

Food was excellent! Service was amazing! Our server went above and beyond to accommodate some special needs.

What a great place to go with the family

Every person's food and drink were not good

Great atmosphere even on a rainy day

Such an enjoyable experience having lunch today at Doc’s. We sat outside on the upper porch and with such an enjoyable breeze it was amazing. Watching the boats and the dolphins. Started with the rum drinks and fried fish fingers. Super tasty. Perfectly seasoned and fried. Followed by Bloody Mary and grouper tacos. Awesome blackened fish also just right on the seasoning. We enjoyed a perfectly grilled burger that was excellent for a fish place I was pleasantly surprised. The draft beer was refreshing and local with a citrus flavor. The server was polite and friendly. We had to purchase a hat and a coffee mug on our way out. Lol. Overall we had a great time and will definitely be back soon.

We really like it here. Great food and drinks, and atmosphere.

Add broiled grouper stuffed with crab meat and lobster sauce on top of that with mashed potatoes and Julian vegetables

The food was great including the new additions to the menu!

The oysters were excellent. Great service. If you're in the area, it's absolutely worth the trip.

I chose to sit outside and ate at the bar where there was live music and a fun atmosphere. The service, even though they were quite busy, was exceptional. I started with the shrimp appetizer and followed with their cedar plank salmon. Both were fantastic and generous portions. I was also very surprised at how fast the food came out after ordering, since every seat was filled with customers. I'm impressed and will return whenever I'm in the area, for another menu choice and a relaxing dinner experience. Thank you!

1st visit and loved it. Great service, food, and atmosphere. Family ordered chef salad, seafood and chicken strips. Desserts were delicious. 😎 l

Char seated us in a booth and had a wonderful attitude. Not expected from a host. She needs to be a waitress.

Always a great experience here!

Love the Black Bean dip and the view

Great waterfront restaurant! Tried some delicious sea fare and boat drinks. White Zin Mussels and the redfish, mmmmmm. Has a dock for me to drive the boat to dinner.. perfect!

4.3 rating? My wife and I split the Caribbean Jerk Tostados and the Crab cakes both were OFF THE CHAIN!! Of course right on the water so that is all U need to know. 5/27/24 update. The Island shrimp and grits was ok. I enjoyed the grit cake but the shrimp was only saved by the Yukatan hot sauce and my wife did not enjoy the chimychury grouper tacos..lacking in chimy

Brought a group here for dinner and had a great experience. Wait staff was attentive and the food was on point….Calamari appetizer was delicious, and cooked right. Would go back again.

We like to sit at the outside bar here and the breeze is lovely, live music is always entertaining, and food and service are on point.

Very Nice atmosphere right on the water. Good Food and Great Service 👍

We usually go to the Pier l, but we met friends at this location. Food was great. Service was very good.

Will not go again. The atmosphere is nice but hot and loud. The bright spot was the service, thank you Nicholas! The food was horrible. Extremely over priced, 6 shrimp and a scoop of rice for 25$. The shrimp were rubbery and over done on 3 separate dishes. There was no flavor on anything! I’ve had better shrimp for half of the price at many other restaurants.

Jeremy is the best bartender. If you’re going to order a mixed drink! Make sure you request he makes it. I have been here often and No One makes the drinks like they should be but him. Complete different taste. He makes the drinks the way you expect them to be the first time!!! If you don’t believe me have him make one and one of the others. Your welcome!

This place was packed. And it's mostly because my group was so big. We took up almost half the restaurant... Their food was great, I had a bunch of crab cakes and a couple mules. My group ate just about everything on the menu. The service was so quick, our waitress seemed like she was always within a few feet. Great restaurant! go eat there immediately.

Great food , friendly service . So loud you couldn't hear the person next to you ..

Beautiful site by Bay Pines and Veterans Park. Great selection of apps, entrees, sides, drinks and many Gluten Free choices from main menu. Zoe, our server on a busy Sunday was unflappable and always there when we needed her, and made it a great experience!

Food looked good but was not. Steak in salad was so tough and tasteless. Fish sandwich was ok; shrimp were very greasy. Cuban sandwich was an insult to Cubans, bread was stale and the ham was sliced too thick for a sandwich. Forget about the server; she was obviously off her game yesterday with us for sure. By the time she checked on us we had already muddled thru eating what we could and needed drinks refilled (ice tea) which too forever. Place seems very neat and probably has killer sunsets; as far as service goes; very bad; food, way better places to spend my hard earned money. We will not be back.

This place is a must experience. My only regret is that I didn’t take a picture of my perfect meal. I highly recommend the macadamian crusted grouper. The bartender, Camille was fabulous and you can beat the outdoor dining experience on the water!

Aways a quality place to bring customers for lunch meeting.

Busy and efficient. We got there at 2:30 on Friday. People were heading out and wait staff were still busy. Beautiful view outside sitting under a fan and very comfortable. I got the grouper sandwich - fantastic and my wife got the grouper in banana leaves dinner. Also excellent. Staff was friendly and thoughtful. We ordered key lime pie to go home and they put the whipped cream and the sauce in separate containers. Very thoughtful. I got a rum flight. All were very good. Ask for Heather. She was great!

Good place to go to in a boat. Nice slip access. The setting is also very nice and comfortable right on the water.

Fantastic food - Loved the ceviche and the Steak Salad with Chimmichuri Sauce. Our waitress, Jacqueline, was very friendly and attentive. Lovely restaurant with nice music outside. Only downside was that it was a bit loud at times. Had trouble holding a conversation without having to repeat what was said. Other than that, it was great. Looking forward to the next time!

Excellent food with horrible service! This place appears to be run by 20 year old kids. I brought a party of 10. And as our server was drowning. There was a table of employees eating, play on phones and manager with Google eyes talking and flirting with another staff member. When I asked at front for manager a kid pops up and says that's me. He tells me they are doing there best it was a party of 10. I asked why Noone was helping her because clearly they were not short staffed and not crazy busy! I won't be bring people back to this restaurant! And I am very upset I couldn't ad post of pictures I took for employee table and manger flirting. I thought I was going to be able to post!

Not as good as the original one in sanibel. Good atmosphere though.

It was mothers Day, so it was busy. The service was a little slow. The ribs were very good. I was disappointed with the seafood paella. It only had 1 scallop, 3 shrimp, 4 mussels (1, which was empty), and did have a lot of fish. The rice was just ok. My granddaughter got the pasta on the kids menu. It was only penna pasta tossed in butter, no sauce, so it was dry. I love the atmosphere, and may try it again on a regular business day. Nice touch, they did give all the ladies a rose, so that was nice.

Visited Doc Ford's for Mother's Day right at opening time. Unfortunately, the experience was disappointing. We started with fried calamari, which lacked flavor and was rubbery, suggesting it wasn't fresh. I opted for the Mother's Day special, wings, which turned out black, overcooked, and dry. My fiance's blackened grouper sandwich and my mom and daughter's fried chicken sandwiches were also disappointing. When we raised concerns, the manager and waitress' responses were dismissive. Eventually, I settled for a fried chicken sandwich that was overly breaded and overcooked. The staff's attitude was rude, especially the manager's lack of effective communication. We ended up dining elsewhere for Mother's Day. Overall, a disappointing experience.

Their vegan menu is hilarious. I made a meal out of rice, beans, and sweet potato fries. I wish they would get some real vegan options.

I had a wonderful experience at this restaurant on Mother's Day! Despite not having a reservation, we were warmly welcomed and seated on the patio. The atmosphere was lovely, perfect for a relaxing meal. I ordered the stuffed grouper, and it was absolutely delicious! The flavors were exquisite, and the fish was cooked to perfection. The service was attentive and friendly, adding to the overall enjoyment of the evening. I would highly recommend this restaurant for anyone looking for a delightful dining experience!

Food is great but sometimes by the time it gets to you not everything is still hot.

We love this place! I have a wheat and dairy allergy and Renee was attentive in helping me choose a meal. I had the redfish bowl and it was soooo good! We also got one of the silicone wine glasses on our last visit and it's so fun at home! We always enjoy the live music too. Would definitely recommend!

David took care of 7 of us with 3 tabs at the table … effortlessly 👏 It was Cinco de Mayo so we were celebrating and he kept our beverages coming. Everyone enjoyed their food including chicken wings, mussels, bean dip, their Cobb salad and chicken tostados. Overall a really nice experience on the water on a beautiful Florida day with David taking care of our every need 👏😁👍