Destin, FL

[PrincessSuzanne]

So Dh and I are heading down to Destin this weekend for 2 days/1 night (all he can get b/c of work schedule). We haven't been in awhile, so can someone suggest a nice place to have dinner, nothing too fancy, because DH won't wear anything except jeans/shorts. He won't eat seafood, so they at least have to have chicken or a burger of some sort.

We are staying in a studio condo (no, I am not eating or fixing any meals in the room) at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. They have a great shopping/eating area, but if we can find some place off-site, that would be nice, too. We just don't want to be stuck entirely to the resort area.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Suzanne

 

[sparklynails23]

We just eat at Pompano Joe's-- on the beach, casual but tasty food. You can also take the trolley over to the restaurant area that's part of the golf club. Can't remember the name, but it has a mardi gras theme.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Hello!

We are just back from this area.

We have visited there several times over the past 15 years or so.

We LOVE the beaches there! But, have now decided that Sandestin is just SO overcrowded, especially at their beachfront, that we might explore other options.

Here is the scoop on dining.
The best place for casual dining, on the beach, is BareFoots at the Sandestin Beach Hilton. It is right there close to Sandestin's Finz.... Look for the bright yellow umbrella's. You can walk right up off the beach for lunch and drinks! You can check it out at the Sandestin Hilton website.

Since it is 'the beach', I think that most places would accept resort-casual dress.

For nicer dining for supper, in the Sandestin complex/area, you could look at the restaurants at Grande Boulevard. Several there, from Tommy Bahamas, to a nice more upscale Mexican place. I think there is a Flemings there???

For Dining at Sandestin's Village at Baytowne Wharf, we dined at Bistro Bijoux... They had a Price Fixe special until 6:00p.m... We didn't make it there that early, but we had a certificate from Restaurant.com. My husband had a steak, but the best was mine, their nightly special, their chef's preparation of New Orleans Drum (a whitefish) over pasta.

There are other places there as well. I think the one that looks nice is a 'seafood' restaurant. So, I don't know about beef or chicken there. I would not recommend Poppy's or Hammerheads.

A very highly recommended place up in Destin, overlooking the Harbor is the Marina Cafe. They have earlybird specials. This place gets good PR on tripadvisor.com.

Tripadvisor.com is a great resource, so if you haven't been looking there, check it out!

Hope this helps!

 

[Wishing on a star]

We just eat at Pompano Joe's-- on the beach, casual but tasty food. You can also take the trolley over to the restaurant area that's part of the golf club. Can't remember the name, but it has a mardi gras theme.

Ohhh yes... We always do one day on the beach at Pompano Joe's!!!
I love their Coconutty Pina Colada!!!

OP, if you want to leave Sandestin, but still eat casual on the beachfront.. (But still a very nice menu) This would the place.

If you want to dine around sunset (which will NOT be over the beach in the Destin area) You might want to arrive at Pompano Joe's early. We have lunch there, but if I remember, the parking lot fills up fast near supper time.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Dh is hinting at Hard Rock, but IDK, the food is ok, but we can eat at one of those in Atlanta. He is also hinting at Fudpuckers, but I was thinking that was a little more for the teen/young adult crowd.

We had stopped by The Village of Baytown Wharf in October, but the restaurants were different than on a previous trip. We will be staying just around the corner from here, in the Grand Sandestin condos.

I'll take any suggestions. We usually drive up and down scenic 98 and then over the bridge to Ft. Walton Beach and back.

We had eaten at some little seafood buffet one time several years ago, that had a water view, but I think it is gone now.

We love Sandestin/Destin/FWB, it is not as crowded and full of partying teens as Panama City Beach, or at least it wasn't the few times we have been.

DH won't eat Mexican, except when I fix it at home. He is so doggone picky, it is ridiculous, worse than any child I have even seen.

I want a Five Guys burger, so that is what we might grab for lunch either Sat or Sunday. There is a place on the Beachside near Finz that looks good to grab a bite for lunch.

We will be there early Saturday morning til about late afternoon Sunday.

Suzanne

 

[okeydokey]

Maguires Irish Pub. Great steaks, awesome beer that they brew right there and there is an upper outside deck to enjoy.

 

[Scurvy]

Maguires Irish Pub. Great steaks, awesome beer that they brew right there and there is an upper outside deck to enjoy.

That's our must-do place every time we're in Destin! The burgers and prime rib are really good and they brew their own root beer which is delicious.

Other places we enjoy are Sandcastles Buffet at the Sandestin Hilton (the buffet is open seasonally) and Old Bay Steamer (on Okaloosa Island). We also go to Fudpuckers fairly often - it's very touristy, very casual and kind of tacky but it's fun and the food is surprisingly good, especially the crab soup and grilled fish sandwich.

 

[CarolG]

Another vote for Maguires!

 

[stevenpensacola]

Go to The Red Bar.

good food, fun atmosphere.

http://www.theredbar.com/

As someone else has said...Destin has gotten SO busy...where are all of these people going?...all of the time?...and why are they not at the beach?

 

[Wishing on a star]

We haven't gotten to McGuires yet, but I know it gets great reviews.
For the DH, they are supposed to have great beef.

Yes, on the beach at Sandestin, go to Barefoots at the Hilton (yellow umbrellas)...

We listened to us some Dread Clampett at Red Bar. :
"Ain't gon' Worry!" for anybody who is familiar.
They even covered Prince' Purple Rain!
On the weekends I think they have their own jazz/easy type band.
But, if her DH could find something on the menu that he might like, they are supposed to have excellent crab cakes and gumbo on Fri. and Sat nite.

Skip Fudpuckers... it is a touristy kids type place... so-so food...
Unless, of course, you decide that this type of place is really what you want!

Pompano Joe's of course is well worth the recommendation.

 

[Wishing on a star]

As someone else has said...Destin has gotten SO busy...where are all of these people going?...all of the time?...and why are they not at the beach?

Only, they ARE at the beach...
At the Sandestin Beachfront, by noon, you are stepping over people to try to get to the water.

Two rows of people with their own little umbrella's and towels...
Right in front of the two-three rows of Sandestin Beach Set-ups...
And then a few more even behind.

We LOVED our day at Pensacola beach....
Much less crowded...
Very nice vibe!
It must have been what you guys call 'Chamber of Commerce' conditions that day (last Wed.) It was OMG nice.

 

[stevenpensacola]

There is a place just north of the Destin Bridge...kind of behind Maguire's...down an oyster shell road if I remember correctly, which has good, fresh, local seafood (oops...he does not want seafood...) never mind.

Dewey Destin Seafood

http://www.destinseafood.com/index.htm

 

[Wishing on a star]

Italian?????

La Famiglia or Fat Clemenza's

 

[stevenpensacola]

We LOVED our day at Pensacola beach....
Much less crowded...
Very nice vibe!
It must have been what you guys call 'Chamber of Commerce' conditions that day (last Wed.) It was OMG nice.

Thanks to Gulf Islands National Seashore and it's miles of protected, never to be developed beach, it's possible to find a spot at Pensacola Beach all to yourself, with nary a condo in sight... if that's what you're seeking.

 

[Wishing on a star]

There is a place just north of the Destin Bridge...kind of behind Maguire's...down an oyster shell road if I remember correctly, which has good, fresh, local seafood (oops...he does not want seafood...) never mind.

Dewey Destin's!

That is the original location and is very 'rustic'....
There is also a new one right on Destin Harbor.
Which, I imagine is less rustic?

I understand that the Destins have been serving up their fried shrimp there for decades. We finally tried it for the first time, and the shrimp was good, fresh, tender, very light dusting of breading!!! Don't know about other menu items... IMHO, it is probably the fresh gulf shrimp to go there for.

You get your basket, sit and eat on a picnic table on the dock... they come with either french fries or paper dish with steamed small red potatoes and a 1/2 (or 1/4) ear of corn.

I do know they have chicken strips... my son just had to order them.

 

[stevenpensacola]

Dewey Destin's!

That is the original location and is very 'rustic'....
There is also a new one right on Destin Harbor.
Which, I imagine is less rustic?

I understand that the Destins have been serving up their fried shrimp there for decades. We finally tried it for the first time, and the shrimp was good, fresh, tender, very light dusting of breading!!! Don't know about other menu items... IMHO, it is probably the fresh gulf shrimp to go there for.

You get your basket, sit and eat on a picnic table on the dock... they come with either french fries or paper dish with steamed small red potatoes and a 1/2 (or 1/4) ear of corn.

I do know they have chicken strips... my son just had to order them.

mmm...mmm....meet y'all there at 5...

 

[stevenpensacola]

If you like Mexican, we've eaten at La Paz a time or two...was a nice change of pace.

http://www.lapaz.com/0tour.htm

Hard to go wrong with Maguires though...you'll find something for everyone...and LOTS of it. The original Maguires is in Pensacola...started out as not much more than a neighborhood pub.

http://www.mcguiresirishpub.com/index.html

 

[Hutchy]

Dewey Destin's!

That is the original location and is very 'rustic'....
There is also a new one right on Destin Harbor.
Which, I imagine is less rustic?

I understand that the Destins have been serving up their fried shrimp there for decades. We finally tried it for the first time, and the shrimp was good, fresh, tender, very light dusting of breading!!! Don't know about other menu items... IMHO, it is probably the fresh gulf shrimp to go there for.

You get your basket, sit and eat on a picnic table on the dock... they come with either french fries or paper dish with steamed small red potatoes and a 1/2 (or 1/4) ear of corn.

I do know they have chicken strips... my son just had to order them.

I'd like to suggest the Bacon wrapped crab stuffed shrimp. OMG good!!!! I go there everytime we're in town. I actually just got here last night with some friends and we are staying in Sandpiper Cove across from Target and tonight we went down to Harry T's and the food was really great. We enjoyed everything we had there, it's down at Harbor Docks. We also like to eat at The Back Porch and last night we ordered calzones from Merlin's Pizza and that food was fantastic also.

 

[Wishing on a star]

OMG!!!!
Blasphemy!!!!

Please do not defile my fresh gulf shrimp with bacon...

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Thanks, ya'll have given me some great suggestions.

I think we might check out Maguire's, since it was recommended the most. The menu looks wonderful, especially the lunch menu.

I won't be eating any shrimp, I had a nasty run in with some bad shrimp a couple of years ago and just the thought of it turns my stomach.

I love other types of seafood, especially crab legs and salmon.


Suzanne