Florida Guide > Dining
The Cherry Pocket
If you want a complete change from the chain and themed restaurants, fancy a taste of the real Florida and would prefer to mix with Floridians rather than tourists then a trip to the Cherry Pocket, on Lake Pierce, might be ideal for you. It is certainly off the beaten track and I think we would have struggled to find it without sat nav as for the first time in Florida we found ourselves driving down winding roads – we could have been in the English countryside. The drive is interesting as you go through cattle and cowboy country to get there.
The Cherry Pocket itself is a fish camp and as well as the restaurant there are lodges and camp sites. It is certainly not upmarket but the atmosphere and the food are tremendous. We went quite early so that we could look around and eat outside on the deck alongside the boat ramp and the cleaning station. The inside is quite basic as are “the facilities”. The men still have to go across the creek to the rest room. The owners have actually done a lot of restoration over the last 5 years but they have intentionally kept the mood of the original camp.
There is a happy hour before 7 o’clock when you get 2 glasses of wind for the price of 1. Do make sure that you have an appetite before you get there as the portions are American ones. We actually shared a starter between 3 of us and it was really too much.
As it is a fish restaurant we ordered fish dishes, and really enjoyed them, but friends assure us that the steaks are also wonderful. They have a really large menu including steaks, blackened items, fettuccini, coastal fried cuisine, house specialities, and Louisiana specialities. If you really only want a snack they also do sandwiches, although those too are a full meal! We also saw that they did the most amazing, home-made deserts but really couldn’t manage any more. Next time though I think we will buy some to take home with us.
We found the service friendly and helpful, the setting out of this world and the food was superb. We were the only tourists there on the evening we visited and the restaurant and bar is a meeting place for the locals. Even the local alligators come up the creek in the evening!
The Cherry Pocket is now on our list of places we must go to on each visit to Florida.
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