The Treasure Coast is a region rich in history, and much of that legacy has been preserved within the walls of its classic restaurants. These establishments have become culinary landmarks, offering not only consistent quality but also a nostalgic ambiance and storied pasts that make them must-visit dining destinations. With their quiet confidence in heritage, these iconic spots have become household names, proving they have stood the test of time.
Here are some classic restaurants, one in each Treasure Coast city where applicable, including some that are less-obvious choices than your tried-and-true favorite.
Indian River County
Blackfins at Capt. Hirams Resort, Sebastian
Tom Collins purchased The River Raw Bar in 1986 and, over time, has expanded it to include a waterfront resort with Blackfins, numerous bars, a stage for live music, and a full-service marina with transient slips for diners who arrive by boat. The restaurant offers panoramic views of the Indian River Lagoon with an Old Florida atmosphere and tropical island-inspired dishes to match. There is indoor and outdoor seating and covered seating in an open-air dining area. It offers tropical cocktails such as the Captain’s voodoo bucket, Capt’s crush, and the painkiller. Food includes spicy ahi tuna salad, crab-stuffed mushrooms, Cajun popcorn shrimp, raw oysters, clams casino, prime rib dip, Jamaican jerk chicken, and broiled scallops.
Address: 1580 U.S. 1, Sebastian
Phone: 772-388-8588
Website: [website]
Restaurant review
TCPalm staff pick
Marsh Landing Restaurant, Fellsmere
The landmark restaurant is owned by mother and daughter Fran and Susan Adams. The building was built in 1926 for the Fellsmere Estates Corp., and later housed the Florida Crystal Sugar Co. It was then boarded up and closed for over a decade before the Adamses purchased it in 1995 and restored it to its original charm. They opened the restaurant in 2002. It offers traditional Old Florida cuisine made from scratch and decor with antiques, memorabilia, and old newspapers laminated onto the tabletops. The casual, inviting restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating. Menu items include frog legs, gator tail, fried green tomato BLT, fried catfish strip platter, and pulled pork sandwich.
Address: 44 N. Broadway St., Fellsmere
Phone: 772-571-8622
Website: [website]
Restaurant review
TCPalm staff pick
Ocean Grill, Vero Beach
Vero Beach pioneer Waldo Sexton constructed the historic Central Beach restaurant in 1941 on a sand dune, yards from the Atlantic Ocean, and it since has accumulated a storied history. He used pecky cypress, mahogany, wrought iron, and Spanish antiques to furnish the restaurant, which gives it a nostalgic and warm atmosphere. The upscale restaurant was leased by the Replogle family in 1965, and now a second generation of the family operates it. It has a bar and indoor seating with an eastward-facing wall made up of windows, offering a sweeping view of the ocean. Menu items include baked brie, Nova Scotia sea scallops, crab au gratin, prime rib, Cajun ribeye, roast duckling, Berkshire pork chop, and pesto primavera.
Address: 1050 Beachland Blvd., Vero Beach
Phone: 772-231-5409
Website: [website]
Restaurant review
St. Lucie County
Little Jim Bait & Tackle, Fort Pierce
The riverfront bar, restaurant, and tackle shop was established in 1944 from an abandoned Navy Guard shack and turned into a place that sold bait and beer after the Navy handed over the land, shack, and wooden bridge to the city. A piece of the bridge can still be seen jutting out between Little Jim’s marina and the modern concrete bridge that was built in 1963. In 2024, the Fort Pierce City Commission voted to designate the waterfront property and building as an “historic property” and a “locally significant site.” The popular spot offers live music, transient boat slips for guests, a bait and tackle shop, food, drinks, and good times in an Old Florida atmosphere. All dining is outdoors and on the water in a covered wooden deck decorated with license plates and beer and liquor signs. Menu items include breakfast tacos, house-made boiled peanuts, mojo pork tacos, white clam pizza, and blackened mahi po’boy. It also offers tropical specialty cocktails, flavored margaritas, and mocktails.
Address: 601 N. Causeway, Fort Pierce
Phone: 772-468-2503
Website: [website]
Restaurant review
Pineapple Joe’s Grill & Raw Bar, Lakewood Park
The mainstay restaurant on U.S. 1 was opened by Joseph Robert “Joe Bob” Clemenzi, who ran it with his wife, Mabel, for decades before his passing in 2021. The Old Florida restaurant’s exterior is matched with a pecky cypress wood paneled dining area, which features a clawfoot tub and pool table beneath a decorative Budweiser chandelier. It often offers live music. The menu features a quote about how old, untouched taverns offer the desirable escape from today’s restless, bright, and overly clean construction by providing the dim, restful, and comforting atmosphere of the past. Menu items include fried shrimp or oyster po’boy, Jamaican jerk chicken sandwich, fried bay scallops, mussels linguini with marinara, oysters on the half shell, wings, and pineapple fritters.
Address: 6297 U.S. 1, Fort Pierce
Phone: 772-465-6930
Facebook: [Facebook]
Restaurant review
Ruffino’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria, Port St. Lucie
Guy and Maria opened the Italian restaurant in 1992, when Port St. Lucie was still gaining popularity. The two are both from Italy, but it wasn’t until they moved to Long Island, New York, and both worked at Maria’s cousin’s restaurant, King Umberto’s, that they met each other and fell in love. After starting a family, they moved to Florida and opened Ruffino’s. It has a casual and warm atmosphere with an upscale but rustic feel from the exposed brick walls, tablecloths, and Italian murals of the coast. The menu features over 70 authentic Italian meal options, which is complemented by a wine list with domestic and imported selections. Menu items include baked ziti Siciliana, clams casino, spaghetti carbonara, Ruffino’s special pizza, calzones, strombolis, heros, veal piccata, chicken scarpariello, and shrimp scampi.
Address: 1145 S.E. Port St. Lucie Blvd., Port St. Lucie
Phone: 772-335-2988
Website: [website]
Restaurant review
Martin County
Conchy Joe’s Seafood, Jensen Beach
Fred Ayres III originally opened the iconic restaurant in 1979 in West Palm Beach, but relocated it to Jensen Beach in 1983. At the time, it had the area’s first authentic Seminole chickee hut and bar. In 1987, Ayers added another chickee dining room and enclosed the indoor lounge, complete with a mahogany bar. After his passing in 2016, his son Frederic “Fritz” Ayres took over the waterfront restaurant along with the Dolphin Bar & Shrimp House and opened Stringers Tavern & Oyster Bar, which in 2024 rebranded into The Catch Neighborhood Bar & Grill. In December 2024, Conchy Joe’s was expanded with a large tropical, waterfront tiki bar, a dining room with outdoor seating on a boardwalk along the St. Lucie River, a live music stage, and dock-and-dine boat slips. It has a laid-back atmosphere with quirky charm and serves Bahamian-style seafood, fresh fish, and oak-grilled meats. Menu items include Florida middleneck clams, cold water oysters, cracked conch, alligator tidbits, fresh catch sandwich, sautéed seafood Trinidad, shrimp over scallop risotto, snowcrab, and chicken chimichurri.
Address: 3945 N.E. Indian River Drive, Jensen Beach
Phone: 772-334-1131
Website: [website]
The Black Marlin, Stuart
The bar and restaurant was opened in 1993 in the former location of the oldest tavern in Stuart. Over the years, it housed Dirr’s Bar, Horseshoe Bar, and Jerry’s Bar. It is part of the Prawnbroker Restaurant Group, which also owns Fin & Flame in Palm City, The Magic Oyster Bar & Seafood Grill in Jensen Beach, Shrimper’s Grill & Raw Bar in Stuart, University Grill and Prawnbroker Restaurant in Fort Myers, and Sanibel Grill and Timbers Restaurant in Sanibel. It features brick walls and cozy wooden booths. Along with the regular menu, it offers nightly specials, usually featuring fresh local seafood delivered daily. It also has a strong focus on crafting quality cocktails and offers a wide variety of spirits, an ever-changing cocktail menu, and a bar that is open until midnight. Menu items include coffee rubbed filet skewers, snapper asiago, horseradish & citrus crusted swordfish, Black Marlin’s famous meatloaf, and Italian seafood pasta.
Address: 53 W. Osceola St., Stuart
Phone: 772-286-3126
Website: [website]
King Neptune Restaurant, Port Salerno
The landmark restaurant has been family-owned and operated in the same spot in the historic fishing village of Port Salerno since 1968. It offers a select number of wooden tables along with indoor and outdoor counter seating. The restaurant has a quaint, inviting atmosphere that embodies a strong sense of community with nautical-themed decor and an open kitchen. Along with its regular menu, it offers daily specials and will cook your catch. Menu items include sesame-crusted ahi tuna, filet mignon, and crab cake, shrimp scampi linguine, Cajun pasta, the King’s Lobster roll, cracked conch burger, and famous Neptune grouper reuben.
Address: 4795 S.E. Dixie Highway, Port Salerno
Phone: 772-287-9630
Facebook: [Facebook]
Restaurant review
Manero’s Restaurant, Palm City
The family steakhouse originally opened in Connecticut around 1945. The Manero family expanded with locations in New York, New Jersey, and Florida. Today, the only one that remains is the Palm City location owned by Jay Mahoney. It boasts of being a pioneer in many aspects of today’s full-service restaurant and, whenever possible, cooks to order and prepares items from scratch. It is a fixture of the area due to its consistent quality and reputation as a dependable, traditional American steakhouse. While it has a nostalgic feel, but was updated with a more modern ambiance, and the menu offers items ranging from casual burgers to upscale steak and seafood dishes. In addition to the dining room, you can eat in the Cock & Bull Pub area. Menu items include prime rib slow-roasted for eight hours, bourbon pork chops, broiled butterflied trout, original gorgonzola salad, sweet chili stirfry, and pepperoni flatbread.
Address: 2851 S.W. High Meadows Ave., Palm City
Phone: 772-220-3011
Website: [website]
Restaurant review
Harry and the Natives, Hobe Sound
The Hobe Sound fixture originally opened as The Cypress Cabins and Restaurant on Pearl Harbor Day in 1941. It was the place to go for locals and soldiers training at Camp Murphy, now Jonathan Dickinson State Park. Now, it is owned by Harry MacArthur, whose parents took over the restaurant in 1952. MacArthur grew up helping his parents around the restaurant before leaving the area and cooking in numerous kitchens around the world. It has an Old Florida atmosphere that is eclectic and distinct, offering indoor seating and a covered patio. Menu items include mahi reuben, honey pecan chicken, the Cuban, French dip, and blackened chicken alfredo.
Address: 11910 S.E. Federal Highway, Hobe Sound
Phone: 772-546-3061
Website: [website]
Restaurant review
Eve Pierpont is TCPalm’s freelance food writer. Contact her at [email protected]. This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: 11 classic Treasure Coast restaurants you don’t want to miss.
