Rusty's, Fishlips, or Grills for seafood the night before?

[lucas]

Which of these restaurants should we eat at for some good seafood the night before the cruise?

Rusty's - http://www.rustysseafood.com/

Fishlips - http://www.fishlipswaterfront.com/

Grills - http://www.grillsseafood.com/

 

[Disney On A Dime!]

If you are truly looking for great seafood...my recommendation is for Florida Seafood in Cocoa Beach. If you all would like to see the ships pass by at the port...go there first and watch the ships...then head over to Florida Seafood for dinner...it is located close to Ron Jon's Surf Shop. Here is the website:


http://www.floridas-seafood.com/index.html


It has become a favorite of ours whether we are at Cocoa Beach for business, vacationing or cruising!

(If you are really set at eating at the port...I am sure that you will get some great responses about your mentioned spots!) And BTW...we always stay at the Radisson!

 

[lucas]

If you are truly looking for great seafood...my recommendation is for Florida Seafood in Cocoa Beach. If you all would like to see the ships pass by at the port...go there first and watch the ships...then head over to Florida Seafood for dinner...it is located close to Ron Jon's Surf Shop. Here is the website:


http://www.floridas-seafood.com/index.html


It has become a favorite of ours whether we are at Cocoa Beach for business, vacationing or cruising!

(If you are really set at eating at the port...I am sure that you will get some great responses about your mentioned spots!) And BTW...we always stay at the Radisson!

Wow - the menu looks good. I had not heard of Florida Seafood but looks like it would be a great choice. We are not totally set to eat at the port, just thought it would be convenient. But, I am looking for the best food - especially since I don't think too many ships are gonna go by on a Tuesday night (we're sailing on Wednesday for the Thanksgiving cruise)! Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Husurdady]

If you are truly looking for great seafood...my recommendation is for Florida Seafood in Cocoa Beach. If you all would like to see the ships pass by at the port...go there first and watch the ships...then head over to Florida Seafood for dinner...it is located close to Ron Jon's Surf Shop.


We will "second" that. We eat there the night before we cruise. And we have cruised now 7 times, the sea food is great.

 

[MaggieAtSea]

To whet our appetite for our upcoming cruise, when my son and I were down in Florida a few months ago we drove up to the port and, after reading the board, went to Fishlips. True to this board, the outdoor seating was fabulous, the drinks and food yummy (seafood chowder was a particular winner) and the ship comes so close to the restaurant you feel you could reach out and touch her as she sails by. It also is the exact spot where "THE horn" blows again. The servers actually count it down based on when the Magic or Wonder come into view.

Rusty's is a bit further down toward Jetty Beach.

 

[safetymom]

If you truly want good seafood then Dixie Crossroads in Titusville is a great place to eat.

 

[lucas]

I just Googled the Florida Seafood restaurant and read some bad reviews so now I'm confused again. We'll be there next Tuesday!

 

[NC_Tink]

We'll put in another vote for Fishlips! We thought the food and atmosphere were great!

 

[castlegazer]

So funny. I have spent my life growing up on vacation in Cocoa Beach for the past 38 years and I had never been to Fishlips before our last trip down. We went and it turned out to be the best food of the entire vacation (sorry DCL). It was very good - very unique and perfect for the kids too.

I have not been to Florida Seafood so I can't comment - but its on my to do list now!

I would say that Dixie Crossroads is awful! Just absolutely awful and a totally long drive away from the port.

You can't go wrong with Grills either.

We went down to the port and tried to get in to Grills and Fishlips - no wait at Fishlips so that is where we ate and it turned out to be great!

 

[ktjl92]

We love this place! We go down on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon about once a month or so - to enjoy a great meal and watch the ships go by...

 

[SweetSpot]

I can't eat seafood but for atmosphere I vote Fishlips and then Grills. We went to Fishlips a month ago to watch the Magic sail, eat appetizers and have a couple drinks. I fell in love with the place, great staff, food and people. We actually left there to eat dinner at Grills because we had the best meal of our vacation there after we got off the ship the month before. People were eating plenty and cleaning their plates at both place so the seafood can't be half bad especially with the dock right outside the door.

If you end up going to the other suggested seafood places you could always stop at one of the port restaurants for an after dinner drink.

 

[Sccrmnky2005]

There is also a family owned resturant that we have eaten at twice and have ben really impresed with the seafood. I love the hole in the wall family owned places! It's call Old Fish House resturant. They also have a printable coupon on their website!

 

[stlkeeler]

I just Googled the Florida Seafood restaurant and read some bad reviews so now I'm confused again. We'll be there next Tuesday!

There was a large DISgroup when we went in May. We all stayed at the Radisson and used their shuttle to take us over there. Someone from our group had called to make a reservation before we left home. When we got there they told us they don't make reservations. So, that left us waiting for about an hour and a half past our "reservation" time. They finally got enough tables together but I was so hungry by that time, I didn't feel good. I think it was about 9:00 by that time. Then when we finally got our food, I didn't really think it was all that good. I ended up with some kind of fried platter and the breading was way too thick! It was mostly breading and very little shrimp, scallops, etc. I guess I was expecting something more like my favorite, Red Lobster. Overall, not a very good experience.

 

[lucas]

I'm the OP to this old thread.

Our next cruise is coming up and I am wondering the same thing - any restaurant pros or cons for these 3 places? We've now tried Fishlips a couple of times and liked it, but how does it compare to the other 2?

 

[Capt_BJ]

if you find 30 folks from the area who go to the port at all and ask them, I suspect you will find an equal split across these with the addition of Millikans.

Millikans is a wee bit more expensive ... has the added attraction of some sand at their outside area

you don't hear much about Rusty's altho I believe they just did a minor remodel

Grills has always been my favorite, have been twice in the past month ... I go mostly for the lion fish now .... they are helping push this invasive species as a food item. Pretty tasty IMO

across the board the menus are similar altho Grills does grill more IMO

just for reference on Mother's Day we got to the port at 1130 and the wait for Grills and Fishlips was estimated at an hour (no ressies either place) ... in other words about the same number of folks at either . . .

 

[SweetSpot]

We favor Rusty's. They have a large open deck with many tables and a bar area where it is easy for everyone to see the ships in port and passing right by. They have a good, reasonably priced early menu (until 6PM) and bar specials. We eat there alot and I haven't had a bad meal yet.

Fishlips and Grills are also very good but seem more touristy to me. Fishlips has a covered outside area and a small open area if seeing the ships sail is what's important. They also have a good inside upstairs bar and great bartenders. The ships do seem to play to Fishlips because it is well known that Fishlips has the webcam. So the Disney horns will usually sound when passing Fishlips but it depends on the Captain.

Grills seems to be always crowded and is a bit pricier than the others. If I want to eat at Grill's I'd rather head to the Riverfront location down the road.

We've walked in and out of Milikens a couple times. From what we've seen it is more a party atmosphere outside and covered with sand. It gets great reviews and becomes a party atmosphere at night catering to the younger crowd.

Check out the menus. You really can't go wrong with any of them. Just remember to get there early if you are going for sailaway and want a good seat.

 

[MUN]

Which of these restaurants should we eat at for some good seafood the night before the cruise?

Rusty's - http://www.rustysseafood.com/

Fishlips - http://www.fishlipswaterfront.com/

Grills - http://www.grillsseafood.com/

I have dined at Rusty's and Grills. They are both good. I refuse to eat at a place called Fishlips.

 

[SweetSpot]

I have dined at Rusty's and Grills. They are both good. I refuse to eat at a place called Fishlips.

Guess you would also miss out on Squid Lips which is another very popular, very good local restaurant.

 

[MUN]

Guess you would also miss out on Squid Lips which is another very popular, very good local restaurant.

I guess so. There are plenty of good restaurants in the Cocoa Beach without disgusting sounding names.

 

[JP350Z]

Grills all the way!!!!!! We stayed at the Residence Inn and had an early dinner there 2 weeks ago before our cruise and it was fantastic. Good menu, good drinks and we saw several pods of Dolphins swimming right under the docks in front of us as well as 4 or 5 sea turtles. It was memorable and a great way to start our cruise. Do go early, every place you mentioned will be a long wait at prime dinner time.