granted, the day i went to the undertow beach bar was a little rainy so perhaps its wasnt the best time to go to a beach bar but i was just a bit unimpressed. the best thing about the bar is that its on the beach beach. the crowd seemed a bit too adult springbreaky to me. service was ok, the girl behind the bar showed more skin than general emotion but she wasnt slow or rude. i understand this bar is under renovations so their kitchen is closed. i would like to see what happens after these improvements are done. i envision this as a nice spot on the beach for a beer and a fish sandwich. for sure.
Review Source:This is an AWESOME beach bar.
The location is great. Watching the sunset while sipping a drink is so relaxing. Just another reminder of how wonderful Florida living is.
Added to it are relatively good servers. They're not insanely nice, but they are attentive and efficient. Even during Spring Break madness, they keep it together.
This bar also has volleyball courts set up and a few bars to choose from. There's a man that occasionally sets up his amazing BBQ food stand in the parking lot which is always a plus when he appears.
My only real complaint is the parking. It's a hot damn mess, and half the time, parking in the public lot is your best bet.
But otherwise, all good.
We expected more from a beach bar with 4 stars on Yelp, but we were disappointed. If the girls in fringed bikinis serving the drinks aren't a put off, the stale smoke smell, so-so drinks and absence of food will be.
At one point, a bikini-wearing bartender climbed up onto the bar and stepped over our drinks to fetch more liquor from the shelf overhead. Gross. Not what we came for.
On the beach.... volleyball courts...... hot servers..... = 5 stars. They were remodeling so I had to call a number from a poster on the wall to order delivery from some place close by. Living in Pass-A-Grille (read: older folks) I'll sometimes walk the beach to the Undertow and stop in for a refreshment and to see some of my own kind (read: people younger and around my own age)
Review Source:Grade B
Exactly what a beach bar should be. Great view of the sunset with a roof top deck overlooking the white sand. Three bars and large patio area offers an area to fit any mood. Happy hour and beer specials especially in the summer when bottles of Corona are $2 served by pretty girls in bikinis. Frequented by friendly locals and happy tourists. Parking in the lot can be difficult, but there is a large lot across the street with paid parking. Smoking is allowed but the open air setting keeps it from being overwhelming. The kitchen closing is a letdown but you can have food delivered from Smiley's which is the same owner.
Been one of my favorite stops on SPB for many years. I was ready to go five stars, but this lack of a kitchen bums me out. I was told hopefully by the end of this month, but without the kitchen, it's not a compete package. Oh sure there was a guy selling slices of pizza, and a BBQ stand was there too. But I was looking forward to some wings. Also, and I'm sure it's all timing, but it seemed a tad rowdier. No big deal, but the vibe has changed a bit. Still it's a very solid beach bar option in my book.
Parking is still a pain, though lucky for me I either walk, ride, or get a lift here.
PS. I did learn later that it's possible to order some food from Smiley's Snack Shack (<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/smileys-snack-shack-st-pete-beach">http://www.yelp.com/biz/…</a>) down the road, but that seems like a pain to me.
This place became a second home after a while living in the Tampa Bay. Â The kitchen has been moved to Smiley's Snack Shack down the street (delivery to Tow), and although supposedly under the same ownership the taste of the food is lacking. Hoping they start firing up wings at the tow again as they were pretty good.
I've forged friendships with the staff and if you can get your hormones under control you can have some pretty gratifying conversation and make more connections in the area.
If you're a guy hunting beach babes, be aware that after sunset this is pretty much all local dudes with the exception of people passing through on their way home.
Great spot for sports, especially NFL on Sundays. Â Also a nice place to unwind trouble-free during the work week, if you can make the drive.
I can't complain about the service they've always been great to me. Tip your bartenders.
Spent an afternoon here and you can beat the ambiance, drinking beer sitting on a lounge chair right on the beach staring at the ocean, life just doesn't get any better then that, wait it did :), Happy Hour & $2 Heinekens, what more can you ask for. Didn't have any food due to the kitchen renovation but it'll be my must go to spot the next time I'm in Tampa.
Review Source:Awesome local spot! Â The wings are my favorite!!! Â The drinks are always cold and the crowd is always lively. Â The service is all al' a carte. Â It's best to go when you aren't in a hurry. Â Some say the service sucks and the girls are pretentious.....just be cool and everything will be alright. Â I've been here about a dozen times and never had a bad experience.
Parking sucks...but after you leave here, you shouldn't be driving anyways : )
If it wasn't for the smoking allowed at the bar and the horrible service I would probably love this bar. The bar actually has three separate bars right by each other all located right on the beach. They've got plenty of seating at the bars or right in the sand and the prices really can't be beat. I won't go into details but I'll just say that it was the worst service at a non-busy bar that I think I've had in years. Still if you're willing to put up with crappy service so you can get a cheap drink on a beautiful beach, Undertow is still a great way to go.
Review Source:My friends and I spent two glorious law school spring breaks being patrons at Undertow. Unfortunately during the first spring break we didn't stumble upon it until late in the game so we made sure to make up for it the second time around. We made some local friends and played hours of beach volleyball and ring toss. We were also fortunate enough to be there on a full moon night, and girls drink free! The food, which does take a while to get the attention of a waitress to order, is pretty good as far as bar food goes. The drink prices are also reasonable. We also fortunately didn't encounter any of the problems with the staff that some of the other reviewers had.
Review Source:No muss, no fuss, no shoes, no problem.
Undertow is the standard beach bar. Nestled between two hotels, and directly on the sand, this little shack offers a lot of fun for both tourists and locals.
The prices for drinks are reasonable, dependent of course on what you order (I feel like their premium liquor was higher than avg). The also have a late night happy hour, which is great if you're staying in the area.
Great spot to anchor the boat and swim in for a nice refreshment, while enjoying St Pete Beach at the same time...
First time visiting the 'Tow. Â It was a great experience the two times we went during the week. Â GREAT beach bar on a beautiful beach that has crazy awesome sunsets. Â We went in the low season. Â We went during the week and it was dead, so we feasted on their delicious wings, peel 'n eat shrimp and enjoyed $1 Miller Lite bottles (SCORE). Â
We went back on a Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and the locals were there, and it was very busy. Â We enjoyed the wings and shrimp again and this time also got some fish spread (awesome) and again, enjoyed $1 beers. Â Game on.
We had no problem with the staff - just know it's a self-serve place, they don't wait on you, but that's ok as long as you know that going in. Â Definitely will be back for future visits.
What a great little bar...we attended a conference in August and stumbled upon this place during our walk on the beach...literally on the beach- awesome place for a nice sea breeze and cocktail- even in August in Florida.
Definitely had a different experience than some of the other reviewers..the staff was more than pleasant and we would absolutely go back..in fact, we went there every night after we discovered it!
Ever been asked to leave a bar? Â Probably. Â Ever been yelled at to leave a bar? Â Probably. Â Ever been forcibly removed from a bar? Methinks yes. Â
Ever been asked to leave a bar, said no problem, start heading for the door, and THEN have someone yell at you so loudly and ignorantly that you felt like you were being forcibly removed. Â We have a winner Undertow. Â
I guarantee my friends and I dropped $2,000 at your dive beach bar over the course of three nights. Â What can I say, we were swept away by the beach location and seemingly nice wait staff. Â
Watch out for the bouncer with the goatee. Â As I turned to leave, when asked, he instantly turned purple and screamed like 3 year old from whom you've just taken his last matchbox car. Â
It's a damn shame that jackasses like you can ruin an otherwise wonderful time. . . oh yeah, and my wedding night. Â Thank God for me, I'm way way cooler than you and my friends are awesome.
i don't consider myself harsh when it comes to rating/reviewing places but the reason i am giving Undertow a tough time is because I expected much, much more. I am going to piggyback off of Tejas G's review and add a few things.
When the bride and groom chose to come to Undertow to further celebrate after their wedding, the last thing they expected was to get screamed at (not even yelled at) by an ignorant, cranky bouncer. How many bars have you been to where people obediently leave at 2am? Yeah, that's what i thought. His behavior, accompanied by listless, obviously bored staff, was unnecessary, unprofessional and somewhat terrifying. (An overgrown adult male screaming? yikes.)
People who weren't associated with our party were equally appalled and argued against the bouncer along with us. (Thank you!)
The customer service, or lack there of, left an awfully metallic, bad taste in every person's mouth and our Floridian friends have already boycotted this unfriendly bar.
Sorry Undertow bouncer and staff, you failed. Miserably.
The 'Tow seems to be hit or miss- sometimes it's packed and fun, other times it's dead and boring. Â It's generally a younger crowd and they usually have pretty good drink specials. Â I like the ourdoor area out back- seating, volleyball courts, ring game- all lots of fun. Â Last time I went it was cold and windy so the back area was shut down and that definitley made it way less fun- it's just kind of stuff and crowded and greasy smelling in the bar by the kitchen.
Review Source:Perfect place for beach fare, it is a great location in Saint Pete to people watch. Â The blackened fish sandwiches were outstanding, great rum runners and fantastic prices.
They also have an incredible selection of beers, cheap wings and plenty of seating. Â You may have to wait a little bit to order drinks or food which an only be ordered from the counter.
We went here on a reco from a friend while we were visiting for the weekend.
The one star is for the ambiance (outside). Â The service was beyond awful - the bartenders were more interested in flirting with each other and checking themselves out in the mirror than making any money. Â And considering the place was dead I don't think it would have been that hard to offer some table service.
The menu requests that you be patient because the food is "made to order" Â (as opposed to)... Â
Bonus: you also get a free side of sketchy characters hanging around to check out the bartenders checking themselves out.
We drove down to St. Pete's Beach for a friend's birthday party. We stopped into this place on a Friday night and it wasn't very busy. They had cheap Corona, and bikini clad bartenders so it gets 3 stars, otherwise I'd be tempted to drop them down to 2 stars.
The place was a complete sausagefest. We brought the only two ladies to the place. They drove and didn't want to leave until they chatted up every d-bag at the bar. There were a couple of first year law students from ???Stetson??? law school. They were talking like they were fucking partners at a large law firm. They didn't know that my buddy and I were attorneys and could see through their bullshit. We ended up dropping these guys off at the 7-11 and one guy seriously stole a bike to ride home drunk. Try putting that one on your bar application.
There was a time I could give these heifers a run for their money, maybe still could NOW in some genres! Â But the fact remains ~ Undertow is THE quintessential beach bar. PERIOD. Â Nope. Â Not even Caddy's comes close.
Maybe it IS the booby factor, I don't care. Â They do it better than Caddy's. Â Maybe it IS the drunken debauchery, sloppy "pick me up" Â factor. Â I don't care. Â They do this better than Caddy's, too. Â The food is awesome, WAAAY better than Caddy's. Â And, oh, yeah, did I forget to mention, THE FRIGGIN' SUN SETS HERE TOO, FOLKS! Â Yep, parking sucks a big one, but I agree with Luke...Show me an empty parking lot and I'll go somewhere else.
I came in from a six hour flight to the best bar in all of St Pete Beach. It's called Undertow. It's know for a handful of things I'm sure. But for me, It's known for debauchery, Irish Whiskey, memory loss, trash talk and a little river running straight through the bar top.
1. Debauchery (see Irish Whiskey)
2. Irish Whiskey: Cost of a shot in West Hollywood (my current home) will set you back a minimum of $12 with an average of $16. Price of a shot here = $3. This means Moonshine had a great time and so did all his homies...and based on the bar tab, waitress got an amazing tip as well. This cost me my following morning supper!
3. Memory Loss: ...
4. Trash Talk: All my homies were there from all over the US. We were celebrating a wedding a day early. That combined with #2 led to a high level of trash talk which may, or may not, have included trying chewing tobacco for the first time. And this, in turn, led to the face slapping game and more drinks. Thus, starting us over in a vicious cycle which lost me a bet in which I vowed to perform a Patrick Swayze-esque shirtless Tai Chi early morning workout a la Roadhouse.
5. River Running Through the Middle of the Bar top: This was awesome. Obviously, this was what made this bar tight. They would run rubber duckies through this moat of sorts throughout the night with numbers on them. I messed all that up.
At one point, I set my drink down in the water. I didn't know I did until my Jamison exited the cup. I was upset...so was the bartender. I asked for one for free. She denied that request sighting user error.
Next, after many drinks, I saw the duckies rollin' through. Without even thinking about it, I pulled one out. To which someone yelled, "Hey man! I've got money on that duck!!!" I was like, "Oh snap!!!," and escaped through the front door with duckie in hand. Duckie was never seen again.
This bar was tight. Perhaps it was the people (my people) or the moat/river that made it amazing. But I highly recommend it...that's real.
AWESOME beach bar. Â And it's a Steelers bar to boot! Â This is a great place to hang out and sit in the sand and have a beer. Â The food is really good, too. Â I had the best blackened mahi mahi sandwich I've ever had and it was only $8.50. Â They have a fun (and frustrating) ring game on the beach that will keep the drunks busy for hours. Â The countertop of the bar is very cool--it's a carved out stream of water that goes around the bar. Â I love the little rubber duckies floating in there (I secretly wish I was one of them right now...)
i cannot wait to go back!
If you prefer your beers served by oiled up and surgically enhanced  women in dental floss bikinis, then this is your place. Great beach bar with daily and sometimes hourly specials. Loved that I could drink my beer on the beach and not be harassed (unlike the NY beaches). They have a great volleyball section (for people that are into that) and at night you get a breathtaking sunset while enjoying the Florida breeze with your mixed drink.
Review Source:Anchor your boat and swim in, walk, drive you bike of any kind, just do not try to park here. Â Besides that this place is a great beach bar - great happy hour prices $2 beers and $3 well drinks, girls in bikinis, sunsets, pool tables, volleyball and my personal favorite ring toss! Â Just be careful when you sit at the main bar and put down your cell phone as there is a sort of waterway going all around the bar top and that does not mix well with cell phones.
Review Source:My host had the ill-fated idea of coming here for a quick bite before laying around on St. Pete Beach. Â The parking lot was a nightmare even at 1:30 in the afternoon. Â We had positioned ourselves to take a spot when some other car was backing up. Â We of course pulled in since we had been waiting for several minutes. Â The mullet-headed lot attendant said that the other car was waiting which was pure crap because we were waiting long before they started pulling out backwards. Â Not one for a bar parking lot brawl, we pulled out and decided to head straight to the beach.
There aren't many bar/restaurants on St. Pete Beach that aren't connected to some resort or hotel. Â Without any options, we found ourselves back at the Undertow. Â The space is like any other beach bar but there was an inordinate number of dudes here. Â Then I saw that all the girls tending bar were wearing matching bikinis and it all made sense. Â
I was thirsting hard for a lemonade and it took my friend about 10 minutes to get us our drinks. Â There was no wait service. Â It took another 10 minutes for him to get a menu and another 10 minutes to put our order in. Â Then about another 40 minutes for his cheeseburger and my dozen wings to be done. Â I was quietly seething at this point. Â Being surrounded by some cute boys with fit bodies couldn't make up for it. Â The wings were dry and not spicy at all like I had requested. Â
I'm sure this place is great for drinks but it's definitely not my kind of scene.
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