The food is great ..the service is good..the only drawback is its always packed.We have had to pass it up a few times due to the wait.

One thing I always take into account when dining out on vacation is whether or not the locals eat at a restaurant. Phillippi Creek Oyster Bar came highly recommended by several locals and did not disappoint.

They have a fairly diverse menu with some good non-seafood options such as steak and fried chicken. However, the seafood is the big draw here. Everything is extremely fresh and delicious. I really enjoyed the Swordfish and Mahi. The grouper and flounder were also big hits at my table. Of course the oysters are delicious as well.

I really enjoyed the laid back, business casual atmosphere. A polo shirt and birkenstocks kinda place. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting good food at a good price.

We had dinner at Phillippi Creek based on a recommendation from our guidebook. From the start, it was hard to find parking - everyone was circling the lot like like a bunch of vultures. I ended up parking quite a ways away in a somewhat dubious spot that I don't think was really a parking space... but they didn't tow me... and, hey, we were hungry.

We joined the mob in the front of the restaurant and waited for our name to be called. For some reason, they called us ahead of a whole bunch of others and so we didn't wait too long. Inside it was nicely decorated with sea memorabilia. The table we sat at was good - but there was a paper towel reel incongruously attached with a water pipe fixture to the middle of the table.

We have two children and they were fine - kids are not a problem at Phillippi Creek - the place is crazy enough with people that a few children don't add to the confusion at all. There's the usual kids menu.

The service was ok - they asked a lot if we were ok, but took a while to bring things out. Twice one of th guys cleaning the table tried to take my daughter's lemonade away despite the fact that it was half full. The busboys were definitely keyed up for cleaning. But our food took a while to be served. And there was no rapport at all with our waiter.

It was hard to talk in the noise of the restaurant, and they constantly were calling names over the loudspeaker. The menu was huge and a bit confusing to us - we had fried calamari as a starter, and then I had grilled grouper in garlic and I can't remember what my wife had. The calamari was very good - clearly very fresh. I've had a lot of calamari in my life and this one ranks very high on the list for freshness - it was melt in your mouth fresh.

The grouper was so-so. It was grilled but the garlic sauce was like somone just up-ended a bottle of chopped garlic on it and cooked it.

The menu was moderately expensive - particularly for the ambiance (paper towels in the middle of the table?), and the quality of the food - the grouper was $18 as I recall, my wife's was similar.

I have eaten at Phillippi's twice. The first time I had fried grouper fingers. Where I live it is next to impossible to get grouper so I totally enjoyed and appreciated having grouper while in Sarasota! The next time that I went I ordered the shrimp salad plate. The shrimp salad was excellent....seems Florida prepares their shrimp a bit more delicately than where I am from. Also on the plate was a delicious potato salad and cole slaw. Eating there so close to the water is very relaxing and enjoyable.