• Many seafood restaurants exist in the Tampa Bay areaseafood image by AGITA LEIMANE from Fotolia.com
  
  Tampa Bay originally referred to the body of water on the west coast of Florida, but now has come to encompass the many distinct areas connected by the Tampa Bay waters. Different cultures, including Spanish and Greek, helped shaped Tampa's cultural climate. Restaurants in the Tampa Bay area often feature fresh-caught fish and shellfish, and many of the dishes have Latin-infused flavors.
  
  

Catch Twenty-Three

• Like many restaurants in Tampa Bay, Catch Twenty-Three has a casual atmosphere. It offers booths, tables, outdoor seating, a separate lounge area and an open-hearth kitchen. Menu selections at Catch Twenty-Three include appetizers, certified fresh fish, soups and salads, "fish with a twist," steaks, pork and chicken and side dishes. The fish with a twist menu selections include Macadamia Nut Encrusted Chilean Bass, Jumbo Stuffed Shrimp with Crabmeat, Guava Salmon and Paella---large shrimp, mussels, chicken and Chorizo sausage and peas and tomatoes served in a wine garlic saffron sauce over rice. The fresh fish entrées include a choice of the Catch salad or Caesar salad, coconut rice and a choice of two side dishes.
  
  Catch Twenty-Three
  10103 Montague Street
  Tampa, FL 33626
  813-920-0045
  catchtwentythree.com
  
  

The Colonnade Seafood Restaurant

• Founded on July 3, 1935, The Colonnade Seafood Restaurant originally offered American classics like hamburgers and fried chicken. Today, the Colonnade is famous for its seafood. It serves appetizers, soups and salads, entrées, little fisherman meals (kids' meals) and desserts. The restaurant serves grouper in a variety of ways including charbroiled, crunchy fried, grouper Picatta, grouper Rockefeller, grouper Russian and grouper Oscar. Other than grouper, the Colonnade also serves a variety of shrimp dishes, crab and shellfish dishes and other fish meals such as fresh Alaskan salmon, freshwater catfish, whole mountain rainbow trout and broiled or fried flounder.
  
  The Colonnade Seafood Restaurant
  3401 Bay Shore Blvd.
  Tampa, FL 33629
  813-839-7558
  thenade.com
  
  

Oystercatchers

• Located inside the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay hotel, Oystercatchers features fresh wild and line-caught seafood. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner and has dessert and wine menus as well. Their dinner menu includes various hot and cold appetizers such as calamari fries, ceviche trio and the Oystercatchers' salad. Specialties on the dinner menu include seafood paella, whole roasted snapper, seared wild striped bass and lobster and mascarpone ravioli served in a lobster bisque with roasted organic mushrooms and chives. The restaurant prepares its fresh fish three ways--blackened, wood grilled or sautéed--and all fish entrées come with organic five-grain risotto and asparagus with Parmesan balsamic butter.
  
  Oystercatchers
  2900 Bayport Drive
  Tampa, FL 33607
  813-207-6719
  hyatt.com