Bongos Beach Bar and Grille

This location is amazing. On the sand dining is a treat for a tourist. The drinks are great, the food, not so much. This is the typical restaurant that survives on tourism and relies on location. It’s cool to try, but the Cuban is lackluster at best. Service was good, and we appreciated the server’s scramble to get us out of there on time. We had a deadline to meet.

Located in a highly desirable spot, but in a very undesirable looking hotel, Bongos was a sharp contrast to it’s surrounding, largely run down property. I am sure you’ve already looked at the pictures and know that you’ll get a chance to seat on the beach while enjoying a meal. Although that’s absolutely true, I’ll write about an element that pictures won’t describe.
Fun and friendly staff make the visit worthwhile. You’ll get a piece of fish anywhere in St Pete, but finding such great people is hard. The bartender was managing a ridiculous influx of thirsty tourists and doing it in a friendly, efficient manner. All drinks are made from pre-​made Walmart shelf mixers, so don’t expect anything exquisite. Rum selection is as basic as it gets, Bacardi, Morgan or well. The place has a very typical, average American beach bar feel to it. Of course, that comes included with country music and southern middle class crowd. In other words, people who want to be country, but live in a city like Birmingham, Mobile, Augusta and the like.
Food is fine. Again, standard stuff. The much recommended artichoke dip was pretty good. Seafood selections aren’t phenomenal, but there. Lots of fried items as you’d expect at an American beach bar.
The establishment shines of course in one area and that’s its location. Right on the beach, it’s a perfect spot to watch the sunset and have a beer.

If you want to get back at a rude patron send them a cement mixer!!!
This place is phenomenal!
Wait staff rocks!
Food and drinks are worth it! Sunsets to die for!!!
Sand under your feet and great food beautiful views!
So worth it

We like it. We used to love it.
This is what we expected to find when we were looking for a place on the beach. Some tables in the sand. A bar, a guy with a guitar, tiki torches, palm trees and the fishing line to keep the birds away.
Over the past year it has become more and more difficult to eat here. It seems there are 2,3 weddings or many many people standing around waiting for a table. Maybe we just have to wait for the slow season?
The drinks are fun. The typical fruity ones along with some good beers. Fish tacos are good along with the sandwiches. We like the food and drink here quite a bit.
We just don’t like arriving and being told no parking or finding a spot down the street only to find a Sunday afternoon or a Tuesday night there are no open seats– and there won’t be for a while.
We would like to go back soon but are skeptical we might not get in or have to fight for a seat. We are not interested in either of those things.

This place does it right… We stayed at Grand Plaza for a week and ate almost exclusively at Bongos… Every single dish we had from apps to sandwiches was absolutely delicious… With one exception being the spinach artichoke dip… It was OK… Just not great like everything else. Service was always wonderful, atmosphere is perfect, conveniently located right on the beach so you can enjoy your drinks and food with your toes in the sand! We’ll be back and will make Bongos our exclusive spot again for sure!

I was visiting my in-​laws that live in Tampa, they wanted us to go to this rooftop restaurant that spins around and gets the view all around for about 30 minutes. The view as you can see in the picture is breathtaking, all around gorgeous. However, that is all it is, a rooftop view, nothing more. To start the menu is nothing special, the food mediocre but, I don’t want to get ahead of myself let me tell you what happen next. The waiter came to take our order but he didn’t even greet us, he was very rude and impatient so my father in-​law made a joke to brake the ice maybe we could get him to relax and then take our order but that never happened he turned around and munble something in the likes of «I’ll come back when you’re ready» and he left. Then, finally he took our orders, the food came if you want to call that food, I ordered a burger because how bad can you screw a burger? Well, it turns out that yes a burger can be burned to no end. I specifically asked for it to be cooked medium rare. It came burned! I didn’t eat it I told the waiter to take it back, he never said a word back to me. I decided that I wasn’t going to eat just enjoy the view. Everyone else in my party did not like the food as well so, needless to say we won’t come back there ever! Happy eating!

Beautiful place to have dinner outside and watch the sunset. Food was brought out quickly and our waitress was very friendly. Great atmosphere!

Sunset dinners with the live music was beautiful here. Shannon, our server was extremely nice, attentive and helpful with my questions about the menu. I recommend this place for sure!

Bongos holds a special place in my husband’s and my heart. It’s the first place we hit up on our honeymoon and fell in love with the bartenders. We spent almost everyday here chilling with Stephen, Mick, and Vince. They treated us like we’d known each other for years. Way beyond your typical welcoming relationship. Service, drinks, everything was perfect! We love Bongos!!!

Awesome place for a fun, good diner and at a reasonable price! Even better, there’s outdoor seating and live music… what more can you ask for?
The food:
the glazed mango scallop was really good! They were big, fresh, cooked properly and the mango salsa was super refreshing. I wanted more!
The steak Gorgonzola flat bread didn’t disappoint. It was 4 medium pieces and had a softer crust.
The fish tacos came with two sizeable tacos with a generous amount of fish. similar story with the fried fish sandwich.
Best part it was all reasonably priced
Atmosphere:
Exactly what you’re looking for from a beach vaca. Has outdoor and semi indoor seating. You can sit on the sand or on the pier. There’s sometimes live music and opportunities for dancing.
Decent service, we went here twice «)

One of my favorite spots to visit, and a major reason I moved to the area.
Suzy, daytime bartender, has been with the company for almost 20 years and is so friendly to my family and friends who come to visit from out of town.
Jim, the owner, is a great guy. He takes care of his employees and most importantly, his customers.

Perfect walk up beach bar! We were actually staying at the grand plaza where this bar is located. It was so convenient, we kept sending everyone down for drinks. We ordered take out a couple times as well and the food was pretty good. Your typical beach bar food.
The spinach artichoke dip and the strawberry daiquiris were my fave! The bartenders were all super nice and attentive. We loved bongos!

Casually elegant spot directly on the beach. We ordered the crab cakes to start. I then had the fish tacos and my boyfriend devoured the Cuban sandwich. A little pricey for generic beach-​bar food but the quality was A+. Our server was pleasant enough and they offer live music every day. Check it out if you’re in the area!

So I was visiting the area for vacation. We stayed at another hotel just next door. The bar was a little confusing to get to from the street, so I recommend walking the beach to find it.
There was a live band playing, and they were decent. We walked up to the hostess station and the three employees standing there could care less about us. They told us it was a 30 minute wait, which was fine, it was dinner time. But not long after that someone came up to us and pointed at an open table and told us we could sit there.
Our server was Brad. He was very nice, but I could tell he was a little overwhelmed with the business. He took our drink order and we got those decently fast, but it took him quite some time to come back and take our dinner order. Though I’m not entirely sure he knew we wanted to eat, I got the notion that he assumed we were just drinking. Anyways, the food also took a while to come out. By then, I was starving. (I’ll also mention that there were a lot of empty tables open, so they weren’t even at a full house, I think they may have been short staffed, who knows)
We ordered burgers. They were good, even though they will only serve them medium well or well done (my friend did not like that very much haha.) The fries were fresh and crispy. Overall, the food was good.
At the end of our meal, someone came around and gave us free shots and asked us to vote the bar as number 1 in the area. Not sure I can do that, but it really was a nice place. The view of the beach and sunset was gorgeous. I’d still recommend giving this place a chance, if you’re not in a hurry that is.

Have been to Bongos several times lunch, dinner and and appetizers the food is good the drinks are great and the service is very friendly. Love the atmosphere overlooking the beach, and if your lucky you can witness a wedding like we did one evening. Each visit we heard some really good entertainment also. I recommend highly.

I have been going to Bongos for the past 7 years and it is still my favorite spot on Saint Pete Beach! The scenery, the atmosphere, the drinks, the staff, and the good times… there is never a bad moment here. The only complaint I would have is that it sometimes gets too crowded now and you’ll have to wait a bit for a table, but they always have great live music and the waiters/​waitresses will come over to you and will check to see if you want a drink while you wait. If you are in the area YOU MUST stop by Bongos… and if you stop by during the sunset (which Bongos has a front row seat to) you’ll get a free sunset shot! Love me some Bongos!

This place is part of the grand plaza hotel but during the week parking is good and there was no charge to park which was nice since I was not a guest of the hotel. The restaurant has a great ocean view and had live entertainment when I was there during lunch time. The staff was great! I had the ahi tuna salad that had a lot of tuna more than I have ever had served to me at any other restaurant before. The coconut shrimp was good with a really tasty dip that was a little spicy with a sweetness at the same time. I also had a green flash frozen drink that was okay, pretty sweet to have more than one for me though.

Excelent atencion buenos precios, trago grandes buena comida el Tiki bar en la arena mucho mejor que Tiki Bar de south beach.

This place is a great stop for both visitors and locals. The atmosphere can’t be beat: you are literally sitting on the beach, with your feet in the sand! Instead of timeworn rickety tiki seats, you have sturdy and comfortable dining chairs and tables that are and stable.
The service is excellent. Travis was our Server, and he clearly exemplifies customer service. He was bright, personable, friendly and very helpful. He was not at all pushy, but always kept our table as stocked and full as we liked. The Manager visited our table and came across as genuinely interested in our comfort and service instead of passively roaming as we see at so many competitors.
The chow was outstanding! It’s obvious the staff understands the competiveness of the area, and does what it takes to have their guests enjoy their selections. Between the four of us having a late-​night dinner, we started with a nice Cheese Plate, which wasn’t spectacular, but good enough for starters. We then ordered two California Burgers, which were excellent and included avocado, bacon & monterey jack cheese. We also ordered a Chicken Artichoke Sandwich, with spinach, artichokes, sundried tomatoes & cheese, and a Steak & Cheese Melt. Everything was very tasty, good portions, and very well prepared.
This is truly a beach hit, and I’ll bet you’ll enjoy it when you try it! Stop by, order a drink, have a bite to eat and watch the sun, sand, people and sunset if you can. Very nice!

Ate lunch here while strolling the beach. The service is good and cordial, and sitting in chairs in the sand — there’s not much better than that.
The drinks are your run of the mill and not anything special overall, but the food is pretty good. The chicken Caesar wrap is quite filling, the fries are above average and the bruschetta looks and taste good. It’s a good stop mid-​day, just to get some food in you while you’re probably drinking your life away on vacation. It’s a very relaxing spot.

This place to me has the best fish tacos! On the FL trip went here 2x. This place is on the beach so watching the sunset is really nice from here. The drinks are OK (kinda watered down) but the food is great. Must try: Coconut Chicken Skewers, Spinach Artichoke Dip, Fish Tacos and Fish and Chips. The food comes out HOT and Fresh!
Will be visiting them on our next Florida Trip.

Es un excelente lugar localizado muy cerca de la playa donde puedes disfrutar desde una fresca brisa hasta la puesta del sol. El servicio es rápido y muy atentos. La comida es deliciosa y fresca.
Yo recomiendo el lugar para los que desean pasar un momento agradable en algún bar a la orilla del mar.

Perfekt um den Sonnenuntergang direkt beim lunch am Strand zu beobachten. Auf den Tisch muss man leider immer lang warten (30 – 60 min) aber das lohnt sich. Cocktails sind mit 8 Dollar günstig für die Gegend und schmecken sehr gut. Das Essen ist auch gut, nur außer die Burger recht wenig für den Preis.