Brotula's Seafood House & Steamer — Restaurant in Destin

UPDATE 2: They offered to mail me a gift card to try them again next time I'm in town. This was in November, it's now January and I have not received anything. I emailed them back asking if it had been sent yet and never heard back, making me believe they never sent anything in the first place.

UPDATE: I reached out to Brotula's after they commented on my review. I reached out to the restaurant several days after the incident, however no resolution was offered at the time. After speaking with the general manager, she only asked me numerous times if I planned on coming back; this was during a vacation so it is not a local destination. There was also no apology. I was not impressed by their customer service.

We opted to eat at Brotula’s after looking for a semi-fancy place to spend our last night at the beach. Boy, we had no idea what was coming. First off, you had to pay to park at this establishment. It was about $12 for a spot. You could not choose 1 hour- the shortest was several hours long. The actual view and atmosphere of the restaurant was okay to start off. We got sat outside on the patio. I ordered the pecan crusted grouper, my friend ordered the blackened snapper and my other friend ordered the Trio.

Our drinks came out and then the food. We had difficulties getting drink refills as our waiter was pretty absent. My pecan crusted grouper was good but the Brussels sprouts were very disappointing. They were coated in this type of syrup stuff that was disgusting and basically made the Brussels sprouts inedible. The blackened snapper wasn’t bad but very salty. The Trio was the most underwhelming. For the price we paid (market price around the time was $70 something) it was not good at all. There was a serious lack of seasoning- the most prominent flavor coming through was just straight spicy. The actual seafood was dry and had little to no flavor. The dishes (snapper and grouper) were both extremely salty. As one of my friends has to watch his sodium intake, this place was not the place to go.

Now, here comes the fun part. Out on the patio, for some reason we were sat the farthest away from the rest of the patrons in this corner of the patio. As the night went on, the sun set and it got dark. It actually got so dark that we were having to use our flashlights because the lights did not turn on in the part of the patio we were sat at. We were the only table eating in complete, total darkness. We finally brought it up to our waitress, who promised to get them on. However, my problem is that it had been dark for at least 10 minutes and we were never checked on. It wasn’t until we complained about the lighting that the restaurant decided to take action. But like I said, it had been dark for a good bit by now. They couldn’t get the lights to turn on- they brought multiple staff out and they finally concluded that the lights were broken. By now, we had eaten most of our meal in the dark. They then offered to move us to a more brightly lit area (aka the place where literally everyone else was sat) but it would have been too bothersome because we would have to move every dish and we were almost done by that point.

They also offered dessert as compensation but at that point I was just ready to go home. Due to the darkness, not only could we not see our food but we were getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. I’m amazed that a manager did not come over to offer any apologies. Between the parking fee, food and darkness I was not bowled over with confidence. And to pay around $200 (not including parking) for this experience, I was highly disappointed. Not to mention they tack on a 20% automatic gratuity, regardless of party size. Our service was definitely...

Brotula’s Seafood House and Steamer 210 Harbor Blvd Destin, Florida

A big fan of Brotula’s and a repeat customer during our frequent visits to Destin, however following our most recent visit I’d offer the restaurant is declining in quality and service. Matter of fact, our last three dining experiences have been met with multiple sub-par food entrees - our guess is if it were not for the views of the harbor Brotula’s would have challenges sustaining as a restaurant choice in the Destin area. Ironic enough, each time we’ve visited, the indoor dining area is empty and the deck tables are where people were sitting.

The $20 parking fee - didn’t particular care for it but having visited other tourist locations we understood the rationale behind it - greed. Oddly enough, when we mentioned it to the hostesses at Brotula’s, she agreed with us and let us know it was not the restaurant’s fee but the land owners and told us that they were offering a free appetizer to help compensate their customers.

Started the evening off with a couple of Old Fashions, which were tasty but lacking in the orange and cherry condiments. Beers came out in the bottle and while not ice cold, were refrigerator temperature. The Fried Calamari was spot on - very crispy and tasty.

I ordered the Sautéed Mussels with an order of French Fries for my meal and was disappointed. The mussels were super salty, the toasted bread was cold and the serving temperature a bit on the room temperature side. And, the French Fries were a bit on the cold side. My team mates ordered the Shrimp and Grits and the Pecan Crusted Grouper - both of which they said were enjoyable but slightly on the room temperature side.

In the end, the bill comes with a Gratuity of 20% added to the total amount - which again was understandable but not appreciated. Which brings me to another ‘theory’ on why our food was not served hot and more toward room temperature. We all agreed that it had to have been because the food is sitting under heat lamps in the kitchen waiting on the servers who have little motivation because they have already earned their gratuity. That theory and the fact we only saw our waiter in the beginning, when they brought the food out and at the end for the bill. Had he been more attentive, we surely would have ordered more drinks and possible a dessert. Oh yeah, when we mentioned the hostess and the free appetizer our waiter blew us off and said he had never heard that one….

Brotula’s will always remain one of our favorite restaurants in Destin, but after our recent experiences we will not be returning as frequently and will start honing in on other places in the harbor area. What a shame - but it is...

This was a visit to Brotula's after not having gone for several years. I could not recall why we had not been there and decided to try it again.

The view of the harbor from the outside dining deck is very pleasant. There are boats going by, birds flying around and often dolphins in the harbor.

We initially sat inside but we were close to two large groups of people so we moved outside. It was quieter and a better view and plenty of shade from the Florida sun.

The luncheon menu at least is quite limited. I had intended to order steamed oysters (because of the restaurant's name, I assumed that would be an option). Steamed oysters were not an option.

I then decided to go with the cooked oysters. The menu said these were "market price" along with most of the steamed seafood. The charge for six oysters was $28 which I decided was not a good value. Instead, the server said it was possible to saute the shrimp and fries dish.

The shrimp were good and cooked perfectly. There were eight shrimp that could reasonably be called medium sized shrimp. They came on a large plate of french fries. The shrimp were about what would normally be included in a shrimp cocktail. I ate a few of the fries. Nothing wrong with them other than fries are naturally greasy so not a very healthy meal and other options were not available.

With two of the shrimp plates, and two glasses of tea (in fairness, if we had asked, we could probably have had a refill of the tea glasses) and a 20% tip that was automatically added, we were charged about $59. The bill also had other amounts added as suggestions for an additional tip amount of 2.5% to 7%. The server told us that part of the existing tip goes to the bartender.

There did not appear to be many locals at lunch but there were a number of tourists there enjoying the view, the drinks and presumably the food as well.

There are a number of other places in the area that are not in the heart of the tourist district. Many of these have more reasonable prices and larger quantities of good quality seafood so the restaurant appears to primarily cater to visitors to the area.

I did not inquire about the cost of the various larger dishes of steamed seafood. No doubt the seafood would be good but, based on the cost of the six oysters cooked oysters, the "market price" will be high.

I do remember why we had not been back for lunch now. Still, sitting on the deck with a glass of wine would be an...