The Bay — Restaurant in Santa Rosa Beach

We will not return. The overall ambiance here is good. Everything else is overrated. The food for the price is not worthy. There are not enough servers to appropriately accommodate the amount and size of the tables.

Our biggest complaint is the service. Our server had several large tables and we were a table of 3. Most of her time and energy went to the large tables and we were an afterthought. After a prolonged wait from the time we were quoted for our table, we were seated. We quickly ordered an appetizer and it came out pretty timely. The appetizer was good. We ordered our entrees. We asked for more accompaniments for the appetizer as we had 1/2 of the dips left over and nothing to eat it with. These never came. When the entrees were delivered we asked again. There was an excuse for the waitress basically saying it was not her fault and no apology for the inconvenience. This was only the second time she had approached our table. As we were finishing our entrees the accompaniments were delivered which we denied and asked the the appetizer be removed from our bill. She nodded but didn't speak. She delivered the bill, no apology, no thank you, nor did she did remove the appetizer from the bill. She simply laid the bill on the table, tapped on top of it, and walked away. I got the manager involved who took care of it. We did not pay for our subpar service and inconvenience. Next time we are in the area we will try the more casual restaurant directly across the street (North Beach Social). We started out there but walked across the street as we were looking for a more Table Service vibe. We were sorry.

Check out the most recent reviews for The Bay as they do not support the averaged star reviews. Not sure what is happening here but I would not waste my...

If you are looking for a cool place to eat with great atmosphere, this is it! If you are looking for a traditional seafood restaurant, this isn’t it. The food we ordered was average and the sides were unique. We ordered fried shrimp with green beans (excellent) and potatoes Montgomery (a mix of sweet & russet potatoes with cheese, but mostly sweet potatoes….ok, but would not order again). Our 2nd order was the fried grouper (one average size piece) which was way over priced ($45) and it was over cooked (a bit tough) with braised greens and bacon braised cabbage (both were way too sweet tasting for me and the cabbage had little to no bacon flavor) - wouldn’t order these again either. The atmosphere was great! We sat on the covered patio which was right on the water with great views. There was a beach side stage where they have scheduled entertainment (we arrived at 3:20, so there was no entertainment at that time). The have a big sushi menu and, if the timing of guests is any indication, most must come for the sushi as the place was packed by 4:00 when they began serving sushi. They had happy hour from 3-5 on the Thursday we visited. The handmade margarita ordered was ok, not the best homemade margarita ever tasted. Service started out great but waned quickly. After ordering, our server checked in once after our order arrived, but the we had to ask someone else for drink refills twice and there was a delay getting our ticket. If you are looking for a unique, non-traditional seafood restaurant this might be what you’re looking for, but if you are looking for a really good, traditional seafood restaurant, this would not be your best choice.

Next day: Ate at Schooners in PCB and ordered Grouper and got two large pieces cooked just right for...

Randomly found this spot after a little bit of online searching when we first arrived in Destin. Took advantage of the outside seating, as my wife and I are visiting from Houston, and you don't get an opportunity like that, unless you're trying to be cooked alive while you suffocate.

We started with the brussel sprouts. There was nothing really special about this appetizer. And to be honest, the sauce that it was prepared with is fairly salty. So a little bit hard to finish.

I ordered the fresh fish of the day, grouper, and chose to have it grilled. For my sides I had garlic/shallot brown rice, and bacon braised cabbage. You can definitely taste the fresh fish, caught earlier that day, and thickness was a good size. Portion overall could've been slightly bigger, that or the price could've been 2 or 3 dollars cheaper and it would've been perfect. The rice was pretty good. I normally don't like brown rice but love garlic and shallots so decided to try it. The candied pecans on top give it a nice kick of texture. The bacon braised cabbage was nicely seasoned and sauced. It wasn't too overwhelming, and it was a good portion size.

My wife ordered the pesto snapper and crab cake. A lot of other reviewers complained about the flavor of the crab cake, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, as did my wife. The crab meat-to-breading ratio was better than average. The pesto snapper was pretty good, but definitely preferred my grouper over the snapper.

Overall, I'm glad I ate here, and may just pay another visit for the happy hour and to...