Star Fish Company in Cortez - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Best and freshest seafood and fried fish I have ever tasted at a restaurant. Simply the best seafood in Tampa bay.

Fresher fish sandwich and fish you will ever have. Exclusive and known by the locals. Hidden gem. Would recommend. Very kind and attentive service. Had Grouper sandwiches. Worth the wait

Great place to grab a fresh catch. Cool bar area that you can order up the days catches.

Still the best seafood 🦞 EVER PLEASE SUPPORT THIS AMAZING PLACE FOREVER

First time here. A police officer had recommended Star Fish Company. So glad we followed up. This place is on the dock, rough planks and picnic tables. My wife had scallops they were large, fresh and delicious. I had Mahi Mahi again fresh and delicious. House cole slaw is very good. Hush puppies, French fries, sweet potato fries very good. If you like fresh seafood and you are near Cortez Fla this is a must. Just over the bridge from Anna Maria island

Friendly staff. Fresh fish. A little pricey

Had lunch there today. Great atmosphere but too expensive. Paid $106 for lunch (2 adults/2 kids/ 2 beers) The food was good (conch fritters, grouper, shrimp, smoked mullet). I think I will stay home and cook.

Always a great stop! You do have to join the hunt for a table but the service is always friendly and the food is always fresh and delicious. They are cash only, but have an ATM on site if you need to get cash out.

Star Fish serves great fresh seafood in a beautiful old Florida setting. All our meals were spot-on but the downside is it took about 20 minutes waiting in line to order and then another 30 minutes to get our food delivered to our table. And what's even worse is we waited in line, ordered (4 of us) and got 4 beers while placing the order. The beers are small and we wanted at least two more while waiting for our food but had to go back into a long line! A ridiculous way to operate a restaurant! Will not be returning.

It’s a great little local place. They serve delicious seafood!🍤

Came all the way from Houston TX. Fried oysters were real greasy and I can't believe they charge 50 cents for tarter sauce in a seafood place. No more visits for me

The food was excellent!! Fresh seafood. Will highly recommend!!

Actually was just sitting and watching Debby getting fired up.

Great food and service as always!

Love this place! Fresh fish, cooked to order and the sides are good too. This place is always busy, but we have never experienced long wait times for our food. All seating is outdoors with lots of fans running and most of it is covered or shaded.

Always love come here. Food is always fresh. Fried calamari was very good today and we enjoyed the fried scallops. Others said shrimp was amazing. Starfish combo was a hit. Prices have gone up a little, some portions have gone down a little, but still a lot of food for the price. Can't beat the view either! First 2 pics are from 2? Years ago and the others are 2024. Looks like the batter changed a little on the scallops.

Nothing is to code.. every third order is lost… could be amazing. Just isn’t currently.

I always make it a habit to ask the locals about the best restaurants. This place came up a couple times so we had to try. Freshest seafood around as it goes from dock to plate. They also have a seafood market here. Seating was a little weird but its first come first serve. Seamed like we had to claim a table as soon as one opened and lost a couple. We eventually got one while waiting in line. As for the food, we tried the blackened grouper sandwiches and blackened mahi-mahi sandwiches. Can I say that was probably the best mahi-mahi I’ve ever had. The blackened fish also had almost a grill flavor in it too… off the hook. Grouper was fantastic as well. This was our favorite place to eat on AMI as we tried about 7 places. Wanted to go back a second time but couldn’t make it in the plans. You can also order to go or take home as everything comes in a box. Bring cash as they don’t accept credit cards. There also an atm there if you forget.

Good little seafood market. Simple, cash only, but pretty good variety of what they've got on hand. When we stopped in I think they had at least three different varieties of shrimp. It's particularly hard to find Royal Red shrimp elsewhere in the US, so I totally recommend giving that a go if you're visiting!

Best seafood you'll ever have!!!

Great food. I go every time I'm that way

He came dancing across the water Cortez, Cortez What a killer Seafood market and laidback restaurant out back. This place is old FLA in a nutshell. Cash only fresh seafood in a box right on the docks in historic Cortez.

The food here is hands down the best in the whole town! We had the shrimp app (sooo good), blackened mahi, grilled mahi, the large grouper special, the crab cake sandwich and of course the key lime pie & chocolate cake. It was all so delicious!! Our favorite place the whole week we were there! Outdoor seating, but we had just come from the beach, so we took it back to the house to eat. I wish we would’ve had time to eat there again before heading home.

Food is delicious and fresh! Some of the best and reasonably priced seafood around. Only reason I’m not giving 5 stars are the overwhelming no-see-ums if you eat there. Wasn’t able to enjoy the delicious meal because we were eating as quickly as possible due to constantly being bit.

Best seafood on Anna Maria, great views, friendly staff and worth any wait. Try to get there early

Excellent place to buy very fresh fish.

This is a cash only self-serve restaurant. Be advised, you need to find a seat and order your food at the counter, you will not be served. Took us a few minutes to figure that out. Ended up leaving as I do not carry cash. Also would have been nice for someone to tell us where to order or have some signage. Could be a local place, oh well wanted to try it but not this time.

Super fresh and delicious seafood!!

Fantastic fresh seafood! Local, family run business since 1923.

Had the crab cakes, cheese grits and hush puppies... Soooo good. Highly recommend Star Fish Company!

What a great place. If you're looking for a white linen experience. Go somewhere else. If you want some of the best REAL local seafood, you've found the right place. It's the real deal.

Freshest fish on the west coast of Florida. Staff is amazing. You’re missing out if you skip this place for some fancy replacement!

Food is always fresh and amazing.

Always the freshest. Smoked mullet dip, salmon, and red grouper today.

CASH ONLY!!! NO ATM ON SITE! Closest ATM is several miles down the road. Fish market in the front and the restaurant is around back. Order at the counter.. Very busy so couldn’t get a table. Ordered our food to go. Food is delicious and fresh. Just go pretty early if you want a seat.

Still "reeling" over the day I had with Jared. Very knowledgeable and patient. He will be my go to guy when I want to go out fishing. He knew it was a first time ocean fishing for me and he was teaching me some great tips. I highly recommend this company. Thank you so much for a great time...

Took over 2 hours to receive my food and it wasn’t even busy Once I got my food, it was incorrect. Didn’t feel like waiting that long again. Don’t know why I didn’t just go somewhere else

Ate at Starfish for the first and last time Sunday. We did not know that there are NO tables inside with AC. We also did not know that only cash is accepted as payment. After waiting in line to place our order, it took 40 minutes to get our food. At least 7 tables of people who ordered their food after us were served their food befor us! We were told that my fried oysters were the hold up. They had to open, shuck and bread them. Then if that wasn't bad enough they fried our conch fritters way to much. When I went to the bartender to complain she told me that I had to get back in line to reorder them and that they do not give refunds. Like I said, first and last time here.

The Scallops were very tasty and fresh and the vibe about of this world, great place.

🎯 oh boy... this restaurant is another hidden gem. Wow... one of the local people there recomended this to us, and I am ao happy we decided to go there.🥰 This place is AMAZING! ❤️ The food there is so fresh and full of flavor. It is located in the marina and the seafood is literally from the water to get cooked. If you go there be prepared to a whole experience. This restaurant has been there since 1930's, it continue its tradition focusing in quality and it is CASH only. Yes, make sure to know that CASH ONLY. THey do have an Atm there if you needed. 😊 The food is outstanding, I ordered fresh groupper sandwich and my husband ordered maho mahi, we also ordered draft beer and sangria. Everything was perfect! Even our view... we were sitting facing the water. We recomend this place 💯%.

We love Starfish. Every year when we visit the area Starfish is the first place every one wants to go to. Every thing on the menu is great. Go early because it gets crowded during peak meal times.

Amazing food great price huge portions highly recommend all the food especially the smoked mullet

Never had fresher seafood. Ever. Simple and delicious. They have a good system down and things moved quickly. Unique setting. The lady that took our order Tuesday was wonderful. Highly recommend for no nonsense seafood!

My favorite place to eat fresh seafood!

This was a very unique experience for us, but we loved it! We were there for lunch and it was busy. First you have to find a table, best way to do that is to be vigilant and when someone looks like they are gathering their things just politely ask if you can have their table. I had the Florida Pompano with slaw, hush puppies, and cheese grits. The pompano was a large serving. It was grilled, the meat was flaky, just a little dry, but very tasty. Slaw was a sweet slaw with pineapple pieces. Hush puppies were delicious they leaned towards the sweeter side. Cheese grits were good but were a little thicker than I prefer. My husband on the other hand other hand likes thick grits and he enjoyed the cheese grits. The total experience was well worth the time and money.

We have been going to Star Fish for over 40 years...one of the best things, outside of the fabulous food, was the addition of getting numbers if you got there early. Today people, customers, were grumpy and the dark haired woman taking orders said we could not lodge a complaint about no numbers...so here is the complaint being made for lots of us...please return the number system!

All 6 meals were bland. Definitely overhyped. View is nice and staff is friendly. Cash only. Wouldn’t go back.

As always, the food is fabulous and the view is amazing

The freshest! The conch fritters were fantastic!

It was delicious. Go when it is not so hot. You eat outside at the bay where the boats come in. They have fans but it is still hot. I got the chicken honey pecan. My husband got the shrimp and grits.

I don't even like seafood, but this is so fresh! Had crab cake, cheese grits, hushpuppies, slaw and sweet potato fries. Sides are exceptional. Nice dive bar with outdoor seating and VERY good food. My husband had a burger and it was also good.

If you're looking for a no frills fresh off the boat seafood, this is the place to go. Portions are plentiful, and the fried mullet is the best and perfectly cooked.

Love this place it’s a must eat every time I am in Bradenton area!

Amazing fresh fish at very fair prices

Cash only. Fried grouper lacked flavor, but the tarter made up for that. Obviously quality fish. $30 for the meal.

Always amazing!! This unassuming marina hole in the wall counter service joint has the best damn seafood!!!! All of it…YUM. Eat there 2-3 times when in town for vacation. Plus we grab shrimp from the market to cook at the rental. Love it. Staff is super friendly too!!!

Scallops were excellent and cooked perfectly.

Worth the trip out of Tampa! Where locals go for fantastic seafood

First cash only, second the food is expensive and comes in a box w plastic cutlery. The salmon was dry, the Cole slaw runny, and the fries, nothing special. Especially for the price. I wouldn't recommend it at all. A boat was running and the fumes were nauseating. Not a good dining experience at all

I come here often an almost every time there is a wait. Today was even a bit longer than your normal wait. But once you get the food it is 5 stars!!! You realize why you waited that long. Service is always the best and they do their best to get it to you asap! I had the friend oyster and blackend grouper platter and the fish soup for an appetizer. All perfectly cooked and amazing as always! You get around a pound of seafood alone.

If you’re not a fan of seafood like myself, the blackened chicken sandwich is the best around!

Waited over an hour and a half for food on a Thursday.

Love getting food here after church! Delicious! Would highly recommend. Just remember, bring cash to pay for food.

How dare I say this was the FRESHEST SEAFOOD I have ever had!! It is cash only people! Worth every minute wait in line! Omg! Yep, we had the Calamari, Best EVER and the Star Combo, oysters, shrimp, grouper and sea scallops, hush puppies, coleslaw, and sweet potato fries (shareable) with left overs!! I am going back again tomorrow. It is THAT amazing!!! Do it!

Cash only, usually a line....but....sooooo worth it!!! Great food!!!

So this place is everyone's best kept secret. Atmosphere was on point at the docks. Food must I say the sea food salad was just that and we added smoke mullet dip to it and I'll be amazing. Everything was good

The cls are better than the expensive places up the road and the view from the dock is amazing. If I could I'd give it ten stars.

Waited 45 minutes on line. If you wait that long you should be offered a drink or an appetizer while you wait . Food when it finally arrived was fair. I ordered sauteed scallops . Not sure they were actually sauteed. Hush puppies were good. As was chowder.

Had the clam dinner. Absolutely great! Very friendly.

Great fresh seafood on the water located in the historic Cortez Village!! Or you can buy your own fresh seafood in their market and take home to cook.

Went with friends and met my brother and sister in law. We all order at the same time. The others got their food and ours did not come out. My husband checked with the server. When our meal came out Everyone was done eating. Will not go back sadly. Was hopeful. The food was good but waiting over an hour for our food, not so much.

A quaint little ce seafood shacked at offers very fresh seafood at a very reasonable price. Hot sauce that are outside the fastballs of today along with some reasonably priced beers

The best seafood I have had yet! Not fancy, but great views and excellent food!

the freshest and best-cooked fish in town, bar none

Not Fabulous… but just what we were hoping for and expecting Fresh cooked Fish served in a Box shared at picnic tables on the water. We arrived by boat and thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and delicious food.

Loved this casual fish restaurant. We got a combination platter and a small fried mullet order, which we shared. Very light batter, delicious. Hush puppies were best we’ve had. Very nice servers. Long line on a Friday night but we got seats at the bar and didn’t have to wait. Cash only. Great spot for fresh fish!

Open-air fishing pub without bling bling. Simple but very tasty food.

Get there early and you can't beat the prices

Best fried oysters ever had. Crisp coating paired perfectly with plump, tender, juicy oysters. Cooked just perfectly!

Hole in the wall on the fishing boat docks with minimal food options but good food at a decent price and open air with plenty of fan circulating air. Fried Shrimp, grouper, and more, lightly breaded and tasty. Fries, reg & sweet potato, cole slaw and very good cheesey grits.

We love Starfish! Great fresh seafood, fast service, and amazing atmosphere!!

Great selection of fresh of the boat. Also has Grouper Cheeks, how special is that. Tonight's supper on the grilled us Red Grouper!

The food and the atmosphere are really great. Super fresh fish. If there is a line it is worth the wait.

the best place to eat fresh fish. 100% recommended

Grouper and crabcakes are awesome

Old Florida at its best. Fresh everything!!

Fantastic food. The honey pecan chicken there is fantastic!

Always a good time and great food 🍤🦪🍋‍🟩

We do enjoy this place. The grouper is awesome whether in a sandwich, taco or plain. Timing is important so as to guess when the line isn't super long. Food & service are great.

Best prices and fresh seafood around

A bit pricey but excellent fish. Eat outside with view of water and boats. They have odd hour. Not open on evenings. Also have fish market. Usually very busy and parking on gravel can be troublesome.

Probably the best place I have eaten at in Florida, but it smelled like dead fish and was kinda dirty, but it's AMAZING 😍🤩!!! I got the mahi sandwich with fries. SOOO GOOD. Best mahi sandwich ever! The BEST part was the hush puppies. The best thing there!

If you like fancy dining and fast service, you are at the wrong place. If you like the best seafood in Florida, don’t mind a wait and the old Florida ambiance, this is your place. They have large portions of very fresh, local seafood, awesome hush puppies and Cole slaw.

Good seafood in a nice setting. Was really good but food took an hour or more to order and another 45 minutes to get our food once ordered.

So DELICIOUS and worth the long wait. Staff is incredibly fun and helpful. (I've never been there before) Glad I stopped by. FYI: CASH only place.

You can't duplicate it, you can't imitate it. Star Fish Company ia a one of a kind. Cortez is a real fishing village. It's the freshest seafood you can get. It's really 10 ⭐

Fresh catch. Been around for a 100 years for a reason. Old school. Cash only. Better than the hype! Get there earlier. The line stays long. Be patient and respectful :)

The best seafood I’ve had yet and such a great location.

Massively Disappointed-we heard such good things. This is like a take out place with picnic tables. They are understaffed and have no customer service. The wait time to order is very long and by the time you receive your food an hour has passed. My grouper sandwich was almost tasteless. I’ve had better food at food trucks without being abused. We had multiple orders never arrive and when we asked, we got pushback saying it was never ordered. They supposedly reordered and definitely charged us, but after another 45 minutes, we just left. I WOULD NEVER GO HERE AGAIN!

We purchased the Red Snapper and it was caught fresh that morning. The butcher cleaned and filleted it right there in front of us. We cooked it on the grill with roasted vegetables served with rice. It was amazing!