The Ugly Grouper in Holmes Beach - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Really wanted to love this place after seeing all the great reviews but was met extremely disappointed in the food. Service was fine and atmosphere was nice enough but paying $160 for a couple of drinks and lunch is crazy for two people and a kid!! Won’t be coming back.

Great place, great food, great experience! Adam was friendly and attentive. He helped make our family dinner a memorable one! Definitely recommended when visiting!

We visited the Ugly Grouper 2 nights in a row as it was so nice Family of 7 (4 adults 3 older kids) Friendly staff, relaxed atmosphere and delicious food! Grouper tacos were fab as was the nachos and the portions are huge Blueberry dragonfly (think thats what it was called) was a firm favourite on the cocktail menu

Omg the food was soooo good! Our waitress was Taylor and she was amazing! Very attentive, super friendly, and she made our lunch very enjoyable. We brought our little dog and everyone was so nice to her! Everything about this place is sooo artsy and cool. I want to come back and see live music here next time. Thanks everyone! See ya soon! #uglygrouper !!!

1st time eating at the Ugly Grouper! Amazing food and impressive thoughtful service! So good!!! Our waitress Irada did a fantastic job!

The grouper tacos and fish an fries were great! Our waiter Cole was so polite and sweet, he even took our picture with the big ugly grouper!

The food was great and the ambience too 😊 Service was also great and will come again. Live music was great.

Beach Atmosphere, great food and our server Irada was very friendly and took care of us extremely well. Anything we needed she was fast to bring it with a smile. 😊

**Google Review for The Ugly Grouper Restaurant:** We recently dined at The Ugly Grouper and had a great experience. The food was pretty good and seemed fresh, which is always a plus. The wait wasn't too long, and the overall vibe was relaxed and enjoyable. I thought the food was above average for a casual dining spot, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good meal in the area.

Prices are outrageous for the quality of food and to just sit outside on dollar store chairs and tables with industrial fans blowing out your ear drums.

Ashley was a phenomenal server who made our experience amazing! Food was fantastic and the drinks were wonderful!

Very first time there when I come back to this area definitely would go there

OMG! Being from Florida I thought I was a fish taco guy. Because tonight I know you I've said today I can officially save the grouper Tacos were the best I had ever had in my life! You've been fooling yourself until you've had the river tacos here. We live in our way and it was worth the trip! Devin was a great waitress. Can't wait to come back!

Great food, awesome live music with Paul. Bam had great service. Awesome location and a lot of fun.

This place is amazing and Irada was a fantastic service, the family goes to the ugly grouper every year and it never lets us down!

Thanks Bam! Hope u win the trip

Overly pricy, I don’t mind paying but the food was not really worth the price, at least what we had, the scallops and grouper, drinks were not strong had to ask for another shot. Overall, won’t be come back

Ask for Irada and get the grouper tacos!

You have to come here. This place is insane - the food is so good. I love the tacos!! It’s also just very cool and eclectic in its style! It’s always a blast when they have live music!

Had another great time at the #uglygrouper in AMI. BAM was a great server and took care of us well. Moved the umbrellas to make sure everyone was in the shade. Great job BAM!

Awesome food, great atmosphere and live music. Awesome service with Bam. Highly recommend - one of the best spots on Anna Maria island.

The food was delicious and the service was excellent. Our server, Irada was very friendly and helpful with our food choices. We will recommend this place for sure.😍

One of our favorite places every time we are on the island. Bam was the best waiter and made sure we weren’t in the hot sun with a small baby. He took such good care of us. Food was amazing. It’s a must on Anna Maria Island. Love the entertainment as well.

Food was amazing! Irada was our server and she brought all the good vibes! Would definitely go back.

This place has great food! The grouper tacos in the crispy cheese shell are awesome! The shrimp and crab appetizer is delicious! The service was great and live music was good too. The only reason I did not give it a five was because of the drinks smh they were awful we ordered a regular and a strawberry frozen margarita. Probably,the worst we have ever had, no flavor and was there any alcohol because we couldn't tell. And at over $15 each in a plastic cup I expected better. But, if your not ordering drinks the food was great!

Smiley was amazing! Grouper tacos are packed full of delicious meat.

Amazing grouper tacos, cold beers, friendly servers! Thanks on our recent trip to Smiley for keeping the cold beer coming!

We had a group of seven seated and served in a matter of a few minutes! Outdoor fans kept us cool and the food hot. Our server, Irada, was fantastic! She was very helpful and friendly! She even took time to take some pictures for us! When we’re back in town we certainly be visiting the Ugly Grouper and asking for Irada!

This place has a really cool laid back atmosphere. The food was good, we had coconut shrimp, shrimp cocktail and fish and chips. The prices felt like robbery though. $20 for 6 pieces of shrimp, and there was nothing special about them… I don’t think I’ll be returning again unless it’s just for a fancy beach drink.

Great food, big portions. Informal outdoor patio.

Smiley was an awesome waitress! Fun place to eat with great service and food.

Outdoor seating only, but cyclone fans all over. Fast and tasty food.

I ate here with my dad and we loved it. Portions are huge, I didn’t expect such an amazing dish like the tacos. The service provided by IRADA was fantastic, she was very helpful, attentive and genuine. It was my first fine at Anna Maria Island and you guy made my experience greater!

This is a great outdoor casual restaurant with live music. It’s hot in the summer so they have big fans blowing. It’s pretty loud with fans and music and street noise. Food was amazing and our server Julian was great! My husband and I shared the coconut shrimp appetizer and the grouper tacos. It’s was plenty for two people! So much food and so good! We would definitely go back.

Grouper tacos and zucchini chips were so good! Our server Irada was FANTASTIC!!!!!

I don’t normally write reviews but after my experience at the ugly grouper I feel like they deserve one. thank you BAM!!! for making our night amazing! our server “Bam” was INCREDIBLE! the grouper tacos were great and we loved the crab stuff shrimp he suggested. After our meal we all took a picture in front of the giant metal grouper while the kids played the ring on a string game. the musicians name was paul and he did such a wonderful job setting the vibe and the atmosphere was so much fun. make sure you ask for Bam! Bam is the Man!!!!!!!!

Ugly Grouper is a can’t miss restaurant in AMI. Come for the Grouoer Tacos. Stay for the family atmosphere and live music.

Food was excellent. Grouper sandwich was a great choice. Fish tacos had a great tasting cheese shell and had a lot of fish included that was very fresh. Shrimp tacos were very good as well. We also had the fried green tomatoes topped with lump crab meat as an appetizer that were delicious. Highly recommend. Excellent experience.

Thank you to our server Idala(may have mispelled) We had great service and the grouper tacos were a hit!

Awesome place! I sat at the bar and my server was so friendly. Had a great time and food was good.

A must go if you’re in the area has great entertainment, fantastic food, and service one of the best grouper sandwiches I’ve ever had eaten

We visited this place while on vacation. There was a short wait, but we were able to get drinks at the bar and play the hook and ring games while we waited. There was live music and a great atmosphere. We got seated quickly. We ordered calamari and the grouper tacos. The grouper tacos were the best fish tacos we have ever had. We would recommend this place to anyone visiting Anna Maria Island.

Rosie is the best server! She helped with absolutely everything, she’s such a sweetheart!

I loved this place. The service was fantastic, the food was delicious, and it's a great atmosphere. You eat outside with live music playing. It is a must visit when coming to AMI.

I wish I had taken pictures of the food because it was AMAZING. However, as is typical in Florida, a summer storm came through. I was highly impressed with Irada’s ability to continue serving, and Julian and Carlos for their quick service and decoration to customer service. The food was amazing but the service and vibe that Irada, Carlos and Julian made for us during a storm- priceless. See you all again soon!

The place had a laid back beach atmosphere and it was very relaxing. However, we spent 2.5 hours to get seating and I believe management should have done a better job seating us sooner, by placing two tables together. If you are in a rush to eat within an hour, do not go there. Food was ok....it's what you can expect from a fast food establishment.

Updated 8/9/2024: Literally been 8 months and all I could think about were the world famous tacos at the ugly grouper! What's cool is they were even better than I remembered. The food selection is great, I just can't pry myself away from these incredibly inventive and tasty tacos here. 2023 review: By far the best tacos on the planet, seriously. The photos don't do them justice and they have mastered the fish tacos. Place is packed and every dish looked like something else we wanted to order because it looks so good. The fries are perfect fluffy and seasoned. Add in the live music and pull outdoor scene and you've got one of the great spots in America. Anais and Dave provided exceptional service.

As always, the ugly grouper never disappoints. Even though the weather turned sour and we had to leave early , the staff was accommodating, got our food out and gave it to us and to go boxes. Worth the food, worth the service, worth the wait. Just worth it

Our server Smiley was wonderful. She made the experience even better

Amazing mash potatoes . Great service great location 5- min from beach. Very happy we chose to stop by . If outdoor dinning environment could be better that will be nice. Too windy to chill at outside area.

Grouper tacos were amazing! Such a nice atmosphere with ring toss and live music to enjoy. Hope to be back soon. If you're around AMI The Ugly Grouper is a must.

The Grouper Tacos are amazing and our server Devin was even better. Go ask for her and enjoy a great AMI favorite!

Delicious every single time....don't pass this one up...Super yum!!

The food was mediocre at best the burger was raw and they didnt even have proper buns! As a party of 5 we were told that we would have to wait 2 hours for a table because the couldnt push two tables together. But there was a part of 6 who had pushed two tables together right infront of us! When we asked the lady said that her manager had pushed those tables together then she proceeded to lie and say her manager wasnt there even tho he was and when we went to talk to him she ran off to go talk to him then he sat us down and all around us were EMPTY tables that were PUSHED TOGETHER. Our server, Rob was nice and gave good service.

Fantastic place to eat! Service was amazing and food is out od this world. I got the blackened grouper dinner and my friend got the chicken sandwich, both really good!

Service was slow, but they tried to make the best of it. The food is good and there was a live singer playing covers. The restaurant is outdoors, but it has plenty of fans which helps. If you are a hot person or someone who is bothered by eating outdoors, this is not your place. While the food was not bad, we were not very impressed either, we are not sure we will return and will look at other options.

They were super accommodating to our party of 9. Food was fresh and yummy. Brett was an amazing server and made sure we were good during our experience. He even got our picture with the ugly grouper:)

Smiley our waitress was awesome! Shrimp tacos were delicious!!! Atmosphere was great!

Bartender was great. Good folks. She took care of a couple large to go orders for my family.

It was an amazing food experience

Super relax, fun for the family!!!

One of the have to stops when on the island. Great food, live music, trivia, just overall fun!

Drove to AMI just to enjoy some of their fabulous grouper tacos which were only made better by the excellent service of Brett W!!! Didn’t skip a beat, was on top of every detail.

Awesome place!! Excellent service, friendly staff too and great atmosphere. The food OMG it’s so delicious. All fresh ingredients and good portions for the price. The Tacos are one of a kind, I love it so much! Definitely if you are near, this place its a must visit.

Our first stop of many on the island. A place recommended by a friend. We tried the grouper sandwich and grouper tacos. Was really hoping the blackened grouper was cooked blackened oppose to just blackened seasoning but perhaps that was more common that way in AMI. The grouper sandwich was ok but nothing to write home about. I preferred the fried oppose to the blackened here. The tacos were huge and probably the go to meal. Nice how they have the cheese shells and it was LOADED with grouper. They have live music and different games you can play. Service was excellent.

Let me start off by saying Smiley the server is outstanding. Her customer service was beyond 5 starts and she was super friendly. However, we came here bc the food appeared good and based on the reviews we decided to try it. The grouper tacos were super bland. I had the crab meat stuffed shrimp and those were good. Would we come here again? Probably not as the food is a bit pricey compared to what you get. We paid about $64 for 2 sprites, groper tacos that were bland and my crab stuffed shrimp.

Fabulous place for fun and food. Shrimp tacos amazing.

We’re just finishing dinner at this unique eatery. Cole our server was awesome. Service was great and our grouper was excellent! Thanks for a great meal in the middle of a rain storm!

Cheesy taco and pork sliders was excellent. I would ask they try and get misters to cool everyone down. They do have giant fans but they can only do so much.

Great food, great atmosphere and wonderful music. Games to keep kids entertained. Just wonderful

I went to eat with my husband at this restaurant since we came to vacation and enjoy the beach, we sat for more than 35 minutes and they never approached us to give us a menu, or tell us how they could take our order, another couple arrived and they immediately took their order, we waited 10 more minutes to see if someone could take our order, and no one paid attention to us no matter how much we looked for help, terrible customer service and a lot of discrimination

When we visited Ana Maria Island, we didn't expect to find such an iconic place hidden amongst other treasures. The restaurant has an "ok" atmosphere. It has a kids playing area, some music going on, but because it's an open-air concept, at certain points during the day, it gets really stinking hot. The food is good, not amazing, and not bad by any means, but it's better than fast food or chain restaurants. One thing to note is that the portions are obscene. You can feed a family of 5 with 3 dishes; it's just too much food. But in our case, having been at the beach all day and walking in the 104° florida summer sun, there was barely any food left. The service started ok, but after 30 minutes of waiting, it got frustrating. Food took at least 45 minutes to an hour, and some of the smaller orders we placed were already cold when all the food was brought to our table. We had to ask multiple times for some items we ordered with our food, and our waitresses seemed to zone out every now and then. Overall, I'd give this place a 7/10. It's a nice place to have a few beers, watch some sports, which by the way, they have very good tv setups around the restaurant. It's a "do not miss" restaurant in Anna Maria Island.

Heather is a wonderful hostess. Nice, very talkative. A pleasure to talk to.

"Smiley" our server was wonderful! She made some yummy recommendations and took great care of us. After a long hot bike ride we were able to cool down under the shade, listen to some relaxing live music and enjoy fresh local seafood and creative cocktails. If in the area you must check out UG!

Really good food. Bring your appetite - we got grouper tacos, the grouper sandwich, and grouper cakes and the portions were very generous for all of them. Shoutout to Irada, our server, who was very warm and attentive. All seating is outside. There are big fans which make a good breeze.

Amazing experience!! Adam is the best UG server for sure 👍🏻

Always a great experience at The Ugly Grouper! From the food to the service everything is excellent! Wonderful for kids and adults alike! Irada went above and beyond! See you all again!

It was great it was hot but plenty of taste service was quick and efficient even with a lot of customers.

Great food, great atmosphere, great service. Thanks Adam L. You were a true professional.

Tourists trap- salmon was Tiny for what we paid- atmosphere is great- improve your portion size

Loved the taco shells on the grouper tacos and flavor good. There wasn't enough grouper to even taste it and it was breaded and chopped up.

The fries were yummy, everything else was just okay. Overpriced. Cool fish sculpture! Fun games to play in the back: ring toss, corn hole, etc.

Great vibe and outdoor live music. Definitely worth a stop by which is what we did after enjoying a long day at Bean Point. Got grouper nuggets and grilled grouper sandwich with a side of fries. Taste wise everything was okay. I would say the only thing lacking was maybe the portion? Price range was around 25-35 dollars which isn't cheap. Otherwise pretty good quality and our server was attentive! Would recommend!

This is an outdoor restaurant that has shade and large fans. I did not see indoor seating and when I asked the host she said, "what you see is what you get". The food was extremely overpriced with the cheeseburger and fries costing $20. This was one of the least expensive items in the menu. The grouper platter which included cole slaw and fries was $34. The cole slaw was a bit rancid but the fries and grouper were good. The waiter was polite and there was live music so that was a plus. However, I would not return as the prices for the quality were not worth it.

Our server, Irada was AMAZING!!!! She truly made the whole experience! Ugly Grouper, you have a gem in her ❤️. My husband and son loved the Jambalaya and my daughter loved the crab stuffed shrimp 🥰.

We stopped in for a couple drinks and to listen to live music. The drinks were great! The music was good and the atmosphere was fun. Mary, our bartender, was amazing!! Not just to us, but to every single customer. The friendliest, happiest bartender with a great smile, and amazing service. Go see her!!

Adam, you rock! Thanks for being so attentive and kind. Our whole family loves the Group Group 🐟

Seating is all outdoor, but they have several big fans covering the area. Parking is enough, at least for lunch time. We went around 2:30 pm. The food was very good and we all enjoyed it. The average price per plate is $25, and appetizers around $16. There is live music from 12-3pm and then from 5-9pm, but to be honest, we couldn't hear much because of the fans. Overall a nice experience.

Look nowhere else. Seafood is fresh and served hot. Our server Irada was the best.

Iconic place on AMI. You just need to come here if you're spending any time on the island. Outdoor dining only. Really hot during the summer and windy since they have b.a. fans blowing everywhere. With all that said, the food was amazing. Grouper tacos were fresh and cooked perfectly. Coconut shrimp...dang. Pub pretzel was huge. Mahi sandwich...yum.

Great food! Get the grouper Taco.

The Ugly Grouper is a great location for a lunch after a morning at the beach! The atmosphere is great with live music, plenty of seating and large cooling fans! The food is great! The shrimp tacos and Cobb salad are great! Our server Erynn was excellent! She was very friendly and attentive. Would definitely recommend!

Bartenders were great. Good people, good tunes. Great vibe. Love it

Grouper sandwich was more like 1/2 of a grouper sandwich. I love trying out grouper sandwiches at all the local places and won’t be back here— the grouper slider tasted good. Grouper sandwiches tend to run around $20 locally - we expected to pay more for the island location but $25 is def overpriced for the little grouper “slider” vs a real sandwich. The side of rice was tiny - best thing we ordered was the salad! Redemptive that they did give us a discount when we expressed our disappointment over the small sandwich.

First time visit and the staff were friendly, informative and food was really good.

Christian attended to us and he is a sweetheart, he explains very well. The delicious tacos and the super rich and light pineapple. The pleasant atmosphere and the super cute place. 10/10 ahh the super delicious mango beer!

Great spot for an easy going meal at the beach!

Great service, amazing food and fun atmosphere. So grateful to Irada who was very knowledgeable about the gluten free options on the menu. Highly recommend.

Absolutely amazed at how flavorful the food was. It’s completely outdoors which I wasn’t expecting. I am a pescatarian so the meal options were plenty. The service was attentive and hospitable. All food was cooked to order. The reviews were all over the place so I didn’t know what to expect. But by God’s Grace we had a amazing time for my sons 36 birthday.

Well, this is our 2nd year visiting this establishment and it wasn’t up to par this year around! I ordered the burger and it was dry and had no taste whatsoever! $23 for a dry burger is a tad bit ridiculous! It’s very hot so your drinks get lukewarm pretty fast! The fish sandwich my fiancé had wasn’t as good either! It doesn’t justify spending $150 for mediocre food! We see lots of people leave food behind on tables as it wasn’t satisfying! Definitely our last time visiting!