The passage of the grillers
Pass-a-Grille is the old village at the south end of the island, and its name is the best food story anywhere on these beaches. The version told most often, and picked over by the Tampa Bay Times as far back as 1990, is that fishermen camped on the point and cooked their catch over open fires before heading home, so the place became the pass of the grillers. Historians still argue about the details. Nobody argues that the fish came first.
St. Pete Beach itself is much younger than the village. According to WTSP, four towns shared the island in the 1950s: St. Petersburg Beach, Pass-a-Grille, Don CeSar Place and Belle Vista Beach. On July 9, 1957, voters consolidated them by 758 votes to 753. The new city was called St. Petersburg Beach until 1994, when residents shortened it to St. Pete Beach, partly because people kept listing St. Petersburg as home on their insurance forms.
Pass-a-Grille still feels like its own place. Visit St. Pete Clearwater describes four miles of sand with almost nothing built on the beach itself, the one exception being the Paradise Grille. Historic Merry Pier sells bait and doubles as a fishing spot, and the Shell Key Shuttle leaves from there for a ten minute ride to Shell Key Preserve. For a sit down seafood meal, the county tourism office points to the Hurricane Seafood Restaurant, which it calls iconic.
Corey Avenue and the comeback
Corey Avenue is the island's old shopping and dining street, dating to the 1930s. Hurricanes Helene and Milton wrecked most of its businesses in 2024. By June 2026, FOX 13 reported, only two storefronts on the strip were still empty, with original shops reopened next to new arrivals.
Sunday morning is the time to go. The street hosts a free market every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and on the last Friday of each month it holds a free Sip and Stroll from 5 to 8 p.m. with drinks and live music, according to the Corey Area Business Association. Buy produce on Sunday, then light the grill when you get home.
