Pensacola Beach - where to eat?
 

We have an upcoming beach weekend at Pensacola Beach. Looking for dining suggestions. Open to all ideas, casual to nice.

(The only thread I could find dated back to 2011).

We enjoyed The Grand Marlin of Pensacola Beach the last couple of times we stayed in Pensacola Beach.

Recapping our weekend meals...

Saturday night, Peg Leg Pete's was showing 90 minutes. We ended up at Casino Beach Bar & Grill, next to the pier. I enjoyed a nice piece of grouper; my GF got a surf and truf with a surprisingly great steak and a very overcooked lobster tail. Lovely setting with outdoor patio seating abutting the sand.

Monday night, we went to Paradise bar & grill, picked for the music and not the food. Bar food/seafood shack-y menu, we ordered some fried shrimp to munch on and they were terrific. Then back to Casino Beach for some tasty wings.

Tuesday lunch, with the tourists mostly having cleared out, we went to Peg Leg Pete's. Even at this off time, they had a 20 minute wait for a table, but we found some open seats at the bar and ate there. The fried seafood combo platter hit the spot, big enough to share. All very good, though I think the shrimp at Paradise were better.

Hope you enjoyed your time on our beautiful beaches!

Brew pubs and micro breweries
 

Hello,

Back in town after 30+ years away. I noticed a growth of breweries in the area - any of them worthwhile?

Ended up at Rosie O' Grady's last night End of the Alley - the time changed messed me up, my body thinking it was 9 to 10, instead of 5-6 time frame it actually was so it was a surprise to see it empty until I realized the time! Decent wings, but the "Fire wings" at $10/10 were well prepared, but not hot - had to add Tabasco to get them nearer to heat and flavor.

In town for the week and headed to the beach today, ahead of threatening thunderstorms. Any other eating suggestions are welcome. We are staying with family in Cantonment - so, a bit far from the trendier places. Is Jamie's (French restaurant) still open? That used to be a treat.

I'm not a huge beer drinker, so I can't comment on eating at any of the breweries.

Not much to eat in Cantonment. Kazoku, Lost Pizza Co., and Patrella's are probably the best places to eat on 9 Mile Road.

Dharma Blue has a strong sushi offering and is relatively under-rated in the area but is downtown.

Updating as we go...Thursday, we started at Flounders and dodged the thunderstorms. Food was plentiful, tasty, and filling. Seafood tacos were good. Seafood chowder was fine - but not outstanding and a bit on the heavy side. Two thumbs up for the key lime pie. We got ours to go, and found it was three normal sized slices of pie - two yellow slices, with a green slice in the middle.

Followed up Flounders with a Bodacious Olive visit (Downtown), for an enjoyable coffee bar and of course, olive oil and vinegar sampling.

Continued our eating tour to the 5 pm "Bites and Flights" for wine pairings with appetizers at The District - Seville Steak and Seafood Restaurant. Nicely done. 3 wines and 3 appetizers. Beef carpaccio was good. Piano player gave us a nice medley of requests as well as piano bar 'classics'. Wish I'd requested the Charlie Brown Christmas music and "Rhapsody in Blue"...next time! Headed to George's Bistro on 9th Avenue after that for a light dinner. Service was slow, to the point of wanting to call in our order from the table, without the large crowd. Eventually, we were served, octopus was bland, but okay, again, beef carpaccio (son ordered twice in one day) was okay, but had no preference.

Heading out today to Tacos at taqueria el asador and The Swinery...we will see what happens...

El Asador is our little secret.

Interesting experience at George's Bistro. Some people rave about it, other don't. The best dish I've had there was the winter vegetables.

Taqueria El Asador - had to wait till today to try out this gem. I would be there once or twice a week, if possible. Burrito was stuffed to the gills, with chicken (pollo) that had been well seasoned, and the shell was lightly fried, so the shell was flaky, not mushy. Tacos were incredibly good, as well. No Beef Carpaccio here to compare. The steak and pork tacos were well received by the young adults and spouse. Seeing the food prep on those enormous grills and listening to the sizzling meat on the grills added to the experience. We sat at the table beneath the tent and it was just fine.

Dharma Blue for dinner - Thank you so much for the recommendation, aww3583!

Service was the best we had all week, thank you Michael. Started with appetizer of spring rolls. 4 at 4 inches each were served with a nice presentation atop sweet and sour sauce. Lightly fried, and not oily. Seaweed salad was tasty. I ordered it because it was supposed to be healthy and was so surprised at how tasty it was. Ginger Dressing salad was good and more plentiful than expected, as well. All nicely presented with the angled bowls. The Ginger Dressing salad was topped with scrolled carrot strips, that one could wrap around a fork like spaghetti. Sushi was our main course - plentiful and made to order - Spider roll with soft shell crab was gobbled before anyone could share it, spicy tuna and TNT (double tuna) were excellent and fresh. Red Ruby Roll, with more soft shell crab and topped with smelt roe were excellent as well. I managed to get one taste of the Tnt, but no soft shell crab, as it was already finished by my hungry boy.

Finished off the meal with each of the desserts, Créme brûlèe, key lime pie, and the bread pudding (2 orders). All desserts were made in house, which was not the case at George's Bistro (whose waitress mentioned all the desserts were made in New York City, which is just fine - and only mentioned because I wanted in house dessert - we live within three hours from NYC - lol) with only one bite shared, among us four. Including a bottle of Pinot Grigio which we took with us, the total was under $140.

Red Fish Blue Fish - good french fries - decent drinks, and not cheap.

Forgot to get a Bushwacker at the Sandshaker. Save for next time when I'm not driving.

Urban Swinery - A must - go if you like flavorful food. We got Duck Salad, Beef Carpaccio, and the Lamb burger, along with the banana bread dessert. The duck salad was tasty, duck was plentiful, but not overpowering. Beef Carpaccio, see below. Lamb burger was a surprise - the taste reminded me of a really good gyro, seasoned well, with a tzatziki sauce. The meat was well spiced, and did not appear to be ground (like most burgers), but rather, a slab cut off of a rotating spit. Beer selection was very good - ended up with an orangy flavored one.

Atlas - Went for the 25 cent oysters on Monday nights - packed seating. We arrived right as the 'happy hour' for oysters started at 5 pm, and had to wait 20 minutes. The gumbo was excellent, with lots of bits of seafood and baby shrimp. Burger was good, too, and cooked perfectly. Ambience and fellow diners were a bit more rustic - we sat outside beneath the tent. The happy hour drink specials are only at the bar, so beware if you are ordering drinks.

Finally, from the boy: Beef Carpaccio Rundown:
George's Carpaccio was the tastiest, thinly sliced, and half the price of the District - Steak and Seafood ($8 vs. $15).
The District was good, and sliced thicker, so one got more of the taste of the raw beef.
The Urban Swinery had the best presentation, and was also tasty - but was served with blue cheese and blue berries, not a complimentary taste. The blue berries were nice - the blue cheese was overpowering in flavor.