Legendary restaurants: These 7 icons have stood the test of time on the Treasure Coast
The Treasure Coast is home to some legendary restaurants.
They have stayed in business for decades — serving food for breakfast, lunch and dinner — and they have interesting histories as their backstories.
Here are seven iconic restaurants that have stood the test of time.
Food news: Latest reviews, inspections, new and best restaurants
Fun things to do: Best activities and attractions in Stuart, Vero Beach, Fort Pierce, PSL
Waldo's Restaurant & Bar, located inside the historic Driftwood Inn, is one of Vero Beach pioneer Waldo Sexton's historic landmarks. Sexton first came to Vero Beach in the 1920s and started building the Driftwood Inn out of the timbers of a dairy barn destroyed in a storm. Finished in 1935, it was supposed to be a family beach house. However, after many requests for rooms because of limited hotel options in the area, it expanded into the Driftwood Resort with an oceanfront restaurant and bar. It has indoor and outdoor seating with a guest-only pool in the middle, live music on the weekends and a wooden deck that sits on the beach.
3150 Ocean Drive, Vero Beach; 772-231-7091; historicwaldos.com
Ocean Grill, a steak and seafood restaurant, is another one of Vero Beach pioneer Waldo Sexton's historic landmarks. It was built with mahogany, pecky cypress, wrought iron and Spanish antiques, and it opened on New Year's Eve in 1941. Three generations of the Replogle family have been running the restaurant since 1965. In addition to an upscale menu, there's a gift shop that sells appetizers, dressings, seasonings, desserts and to-go drinks.
1050 Beachland Blvd., Vero Beach; 772-231-5409; ocean-grill.com
Little Jim Bait & Tackle in Fort Pierce, known as Little Jim's, was built in 1942 and originally served as a Navy guard shack and barrier island checkpoint during World War II. Only authorized personnel could go to North Hutchinson Island, where over 140,000 people were trained for the Normandy invasion and countless Pacific operations. The Underwater Demolition Teams, or 'Frogmen,' later became the Navy Seals. When the Navy left in 1944, it gave the city the land, the shack and the wooden bridge. An early bait shop has grown into the popular live music hangout it is today.
601 N. Causeway, Fort Pierce; 772-468-2503; littlejimbaitandtackle.com
Chuck's Seafood Restaurant opened in Fort Pierce on the Indian River Lagoon in 1961 on the Indian River Lagoon, is a Fort Pierce landmark. Chuck and Elodie Tabor opened the restaurant using the 'Old Florida' recipes they developed in the 1940s for its famous fried shrimp. Peter Angelos took over in 1984 and ran it with his daughters, Georgette and Nicola — until they became owners when he retired in 2021. The Angelos sisters added weekend brunch and started selling bags of 'Chuck's Famous Seafood Breading' and Mason jars of 'Crazy Nick's Calypso Sauce,' the restaurant's house cocktail sauce and house tartar sauce. They also expanded the outdoor seating area and added live music.
822 Seaway Drive, Fort Pierce; 772-461-9484; facebook.com/ChucksSeafood
Dolphin Bar & Shrimp House, which sits on the Indian River Lagoon in Jensen Beach, originally was built by movie star Frances Langford and opened as the Outrigger Restaurant & Resort in the 1960s. She was inspired by her love of the Polynesian Islands, where she visited while she entertained America's fighting forces in the Pacific theatre during World War II. Lt. Frederic M. Ayres Jr. was among those forces, and he took his son to the Outrigger during its prime. When it had fallen into disrepair by the 1990s, Fred Ayers III restored the restaurant with Langford's help to reopen in 2000. Today, its panoramic views sweep from the Jensen Beach to Stuart causeways. The signature dish is the Dolphin a la Dolphin, a locally caught mahi-mahi sauteed in flour and egg with white wine, butter, lemon, capers and fresh herbs.
1401 N.E. Indian River Drive, Jensen Beach; 772-781-5136; dolphinbar.com
Fred Ayres III originally opened Conchy Joe's Seafood in 1979 in West Palm Beach. After the site was included in the parcel that would become a high-rise office complex, he relocated the restaurant and bar in 1983 to its current spot on the Indian River Lagoon in Jensen Beach. It previously had been home of Seymour's Dine & Dance, dating back to the 1930s. The new restaurant had the area's first authentic Seminole chickee hut and bar. In 1987, Conchy's expanded by adding another chickee dining room and enclosing the indoor lounge complete with a mahogany bar. After Ayers died in 2016 at age 64, his son Frederic 'Fritz' Ayres took over Conchy Joe's, as well as Dolphin Bar, and opened Stringers Tavern & Oyster Bar. He since has expanded the waterfront tiki bar at Conchy Joe's, and he plans to expand the Conchy's campus with a new restaurant and microbrewery.
3945 N.E. Indian River Drive, Jensen Beach; 772-334-1131; conchyjoes.com
Harry and the Natives, located at U.S. 1 and Bridge Road in Hobe Sound, started as The Cypress Cabins and Restaurant in 1941, built using native tidewater pecky cypress. It became a popular spot with locals and soldiers training at nearby Camp Murphy in now Jonathan Dickinson State Park. After several changes in ownership and at least one name change, Harry MacArthur, son of one of the longtime owners, returned in 1989 and renamed it. He recalled delivering glasses of water to customers' tables at age 2. He later became a skilled chef, working in eateries in Switzerland, Hawaii and Los Angeles. His open-air restaurant has a thatched roof and is decorated with decrepit gas pumps, ornamental figurines and sign warning against snowmobiling.
11910 S.E. Federal Highway, Hobe Sound; 772-546-3061; harryandthenatives.com
Laurie K. Blandford is TCPalm's entertainment reporter dedicated to finding the best things to do on the Treasure Coast. Email her at laurie.blandford@tcpalm.com. Sign up for her What To Do in 772 weekly newsletter at profile.tcpalm.com/newsletters/manage.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Legendary restaurants in Vero Beach, Fort Pierce, Jensen Beach
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