Silas Steakhouse & Bayside Bar

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Kcfrank1

Joined 5 years ago

Great atmosphere and fodd. I really enjoyed the atmosphere of an old florida Island. There was a lot of sea faring decor with a train going around the dinning room and bar. Lobster were done well and tasted delicious. Prime rib was outstanding. There is a surprise between courses. Prices are resonable and the wait time for a table during prime season was less than 10 minutes. There are special kids meals and a "jus enough" meal with less food and a lesser price than the normal meal -- which is terrific. Enjoy

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mwinstead1953

Joined 5 years ago

New Years Day, 2008!. After reading several fairly negative reviews, and a bunch of good ones, I decided to go anyway and form my own opinion, in spite of the risk of having a negative experience. I am glad we did. I admit, I started the experience by going out of my way to be extra nice to the hostess and waiter before anything got started. They were both very positively responsive to my pleasant beginning. They both were all smiles and chatty, in return. The restaurant was not crowded, and we were given the best seats in the house with the best view of the water, although it was dark out.

The wine we ordered was not overpriced and they had a good selection of wines by the glass. We ordered the Shrimp with bacon and jalapenos and it was phenomenal. It came scalding hot, and was very tasty and slightlly spicy. I thought about ordering a second order. Then we each ordered the salad, in spite of the fact they only offer one dressing, a house italian. The salad was huge and delicious. The pretzel bread was quite tasty and a second loaf was provided with a smile when we asked for it, without charge.

For the main entree, my date ordered a plain filet mignon and said it was tender and delicious. I ordered the Silas' steak, the filet with andouille sausage and blue cheese on top. Excellent. Tender, with a great wine/brandy sauce, I thoroughly loved it. The twice baked potato was pretty standard fare, but had a good temperature, texture and taste. The mixed vegetables, while pretty standard were also tasty.

The bread pudding desert was excellent (we took it home, because we were too full from the great portions. The bill, including tip was $90, which is hardly over-priced for a resort community, including drink and desert, appetizer, and the most-expensive entree. We really enjoyed eating here and would easily go back if we return to St. Pete.

For the record.......I am an experienced gourmet diner and not easily impressed. Silas Dents Steakhouse, exceeded!

Doesn't Recommend

iluv2eatout

Joined 6 years ago

Don't do it!. The name Steakhouse here is misleading. I was thinking Bern's, Sam Seltzer's, atleast Outback, but not even close! Today is Mother's Day and the plan was to have a nice dinner out with my family. I was totally disappointed when we arrived to see just how casual this place was- that would have been okay, nothing against casual, but for Mother's Day I wanted a little more. I let that go though and we stayed. The appetizer, portabella mushroom stuffed with crabmeat was okay, but much more gourmet sounding than it tasted. We ordered soup which had to be sent back because it was barely warm. (The waiter apologized and mentioned something about the soup had been sitting around and had gotten cold ...) Then when the entree's were supposed to some, my prime rib came out, but my fiance's order was not there. They brought him one of his side dishes- grilled corn, which was not fresh corn. They said they would check on the rest of the order. He came back to say, some other waiter had taken our order by mistake and he was going to have it made again. The apologies just went on with every course. The waiter was nice, but the food was terrrible. We would definitely not recommend this place to anyone! There was no wait to get here, maybe it would have been a little more reassuring if there had been a wait!

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Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

There's nothing laid-back about this kitchen.. The Scene
Located directly across from the gulf beaches, Silas Dent's faces a pretty, blue inland waterway. Its decor is, well, a little eccentric, with oddities like old propellers and plants stuffed into goofy shell containers, along with a real toy train that puffs around the ceilinged areas of the restaurant.

The Food
American-style dishes, from fruity bar drinks all the way to imaginative and expertly prepared desserts. Start with the strawberry daiquiris-- huge, iced glasses loaded with pureed fresh strawberries; continue with an unusually beautiful and imaginative salad, colorfully crunchy with bits of escarole and red cabbage. Then move on to the filet mignon--tender, juicy, perfectly cooked between medium-rare and rare--before finishing off with a truly elegant dessert: a chocolate-peanut butter pie, a silky concoction of peanut butter and chocolate cuddled upon a graham-cracker crust.