Where the Fish Stories Start

There's a specific kind of good day that starts with dirt under the fingernails and ends with a fried seafood platter the size of a hubcap. Around Lake Pierce, that day usually means a stop at Cherry Pocket Steak n Seafood. It's a fish camp turned restaurant that's been serving hungry anglers and curious tourists since the 1940s. The building has grown since its one-room grocery-and-bait-shop days, but the water still laps right up to the deck, and the old stories haven't gone anywhere either.

Folklore says two men, one of them named Cherry, found the property back in the forties and thought the canals made the land look like a pocket. The name stuck, and so did the legend. Tales still get told about hardy fishermen riding horses through the front door of the old tavern for a drink before riding right back out. These days the menu leans into fried catfish, blackened grouper, gator bites, and a Cracker Platter built for sharing. Even the Cobb salad comes dressed with a house recipe popular enough to be bottled and sold next door. Out past the dining room, the fish camp roots are still very much alive. Cabins and RV lots line the canal for anyone who wants to turn dinner into a weekend, and live music fills the deck most nights the weather cooperates.

That blend of story and seafood is what earned Cherry Pocket Steak n Seafood their 2026 Best of Florida Regional Award. Eighty-some years since two guys named the place after the shape of the land, the fish are still biting and the tab still comes with a story.

Contact Information

Company Name: Cherry Pocket Steak n Seafood

Phone: 863-439-2031

Email: sales@cherrypocket.com

Address: 3100 Canal Road, Lake Wales, FL 33898

Website: cherrypocket.com