I'm in Destin this week and we need some suggestions for places to eat. We don't want a touristy place. We want something good, cheap (or atleast reasonable) and local (mom & pop places or hole in the wall would be awesome). Suggestions for pizza, burgers and seafood are highest priority. Other suggestions are appreciated.

[This message has been edited by chjoak (edited 5/17/2009 2:13p).]

mellow mushroom for pizza...

Staff's Restaurant in Ft. Walton - outstanding seafood.





[This message has been edited by landman1 (edited 5/17/2009 4:36p).]

I was in Destin last week but we didn't eat out a whole lot. The two places I would suggest are the Broken Egg Cafe and the Back Porch. Both have a lot of tourists and locals but were good.

A couple seafood restaurants that were suggested to me were The Red Bar and The Boatyard. Didn't go but were told they were good.

Do they still have Fudpuckers?

The Mellow Mushroom is awesome for pizza. Lousiana Lagnappe (spelling?) was great for a evening dinner overlooking the marina. We also like Fudpuckers, but it is the most touristy place you could go.

It is touristy, but it is still local. I recommend going there and getting the Fudpucker sandwich.

Broken Egg is good for breakfast.

Harbor Docks for dinner.

last time I went I got fudpucked. I was also 14. I'm 29 now.

If you're still looking for suggestions, I'll throw out McGuire's Irish Pub.

http://www.mcguiresirishpub.com

It's got a fun atmosphere, great burgers, and they brew their own beer. The Irish Wake is also good.

+1 for McGuire's

Went there during spring break and the place was awesome, gotta love those Irish Wakes.

Louisiana Lagnaippe is the best restaurant in town.

so I pretty much hate destin now. I was on my way to cape san blas, and made the mistake of going through destin. ONE HOUR. to go about 8-10 miles. I've never seen so many people, and they are all out shopping? at stores that any mall would have.
Why do these people go on vacation and shop at the gap? Get off the road and onto the beach for crying out loud. Worse than Houston's 290 at 5:30pm.

Destin is the SUCK.

We have done Grayton Beach for 6 years now and only drive in to Destin to golf. Otherwise, we stay on 30A and far away from the masses.

On topic, check out Bayou Bill's Crab House on 98 east of Destin. It just reopened after a fire destroyed it last year.

Dewey Destin

I second Dewey Destin's

Really enjoyed Back Porch. Lots of families - local and tourists. Expensive kids meals though - $7.99 for kiddy tenders - what a racket!

We went to the original Dewey Destin, i think it's really over-rated. Stoopy's was better. Hell even Floyd's was better.

We headed away from destin one night and came across the spicy noodle. Great casual pizza place not crowded with tourists.

The Boathouse Oyster Bar. This place is a must. It's basically a big boathouse that is on the water. Best food and atmosphere out of any place we went. They even had live acoustic music one night.

It's a little small so if you go during peak times, there may be a small wait. We went during spring break and I don't remember the wait being too bad.

+1 for Boathouse.

Those were likely the outlet malls you passed. And Destin does not suck.

Red bar in grayton

Just recently went to Destin, lucky for us it was the off season and not too crowded. They have the world's longest traffic lights, no wonder traffic stinks.

We use Trip Advisor a lot. The #1 recommendation is Buck's Smokehouse BBQ, I found that funny. We took a seafood break one night and tried it. It was good, but hardly fantastic enough to be #1 in town. We liked Boshamps Seafood on the bay. Number 22 on TA, and you pay for sitting on the bay, but good.

We were in FT. Walton Beach and Pensacola as well. The Fish House in Pensacola was very good. We really liked the Original Water Front Crab Shack. And there is a unique "fast food" place in north FWB. It's called Stewby's and it was excellent. It's either take out or there is limited porch seating, so it feels like fast food, but it's all fresh fish.

Joe Patti's in Pensacola came highly recommended, but the resaurant was not open the day we went. The fish market, with the most amazing variety of fish, was open. Would like to try it some day.

The people saying Boathouse Oyster Bar are correct. That place is AWESOME! We went twice during our stay of less than week. The guys in the group I was with went for lunch one day and about made ourselves sick on oysters and yeungling. When we went back at night with the whole group there was a guy from Texas playing guitar. We gave him some money and he kept playing Robert Earl Keen all night. Great place and gotta love the staff.

We all though Dewey's was way overrated as well. Most of the group was disappointed in their meals especially for the price. I really wanted some good fish and it was awful.

Go to The Donut Hole and get a Key Lime Pie. Greatness.

Don't know your route but if you have to go through Mobile a stop at Felix's Fish Camp is well worth it. One of my top 5 all time meals.

As a frequent visitor and former property owner in Destin, locals go to The Boathouse (Dwntwn), Red Bar (in Grayton), Ocean Club (Tops'l). Another place on 30a is The Smiling Fish (Santa Rosa Beach). And of course the fish of the day that you caught is always the best! Enjoy!