Fish On Seafood House — Restaurant in Destin

Fine dining, family & flip-flop friendly! Wife and I LOVE great food. We are happy to find good chefs and sample their creations. We were passing through Destin and searched for some great seafood. We found a recommendation on Yelp for Fish On! The food is EXQUISITELY SIMPLE. Seriously, at least Michelin 2-star food without a doubt (= 5-stars on google). The chef competed on Hells Kitchen. The attention to detail shines through EVERY BITE. I'll explain below in painful detail. The restaurant is crisp, clean, and casual. Nice, seaside chic decor that shows attention to detail and highlights how clean it is kept. Plenty of large family seating options and a mix of tables and booths. Service is beyond expectations. It is set up for counter service... but they use runners and minders to deliver food to each table and followup throughout the meal. Casual... but attentive. Never seen anything like it. Last, bathrooms. I have NEVER reviewed a bathroom. These folks HAVE KIDS. In both male and female restrooms, there is a diaper-changing station inside a stall (for parent-accompanied poopyness). And the stall HAS A SINK. So you can wash up that durty kid and yourself while still wrangling a toddler. Well-designed and thoughtful.

Okay. Food. Soooo Goooood. We ordered the crab cakes appetizer, Grouper with pistachios, Shrimp n Grits, and Fish n Chips. Crab cakes: AMAZING. We try cakes in every crab town. East coast up to Baltimore, west coast up to Redding, through the bayou to the carribean islands. These are in the TOP 3 BEST. Great flavor, plenty of crabmeat, crunchy and flavorful sear along with fresh herbs. They do NOT try to overwhelm with size, don't expect a giant serving, they just execute perfectly. The fresh veggie salad complements the flavors well and rounds out the appetizer nicely. My wife ordered the chefs special grouper crusted with pistachio, a veggie risotto and a pistachio cream sauce. The presentation was sublime and the dish was fantastic through and through. The grouper was perfectly prepared, crusted and cooked to highlight the meaty texture and bring out the natural flavors. The pistachio crusting was a first for us and provided a very-pleasing crunch in every bite without overwhelming the natural flavors. The risotto was --textbook-- in preparation: the rice was slightly al dente with enough bite to provide a touch of reaistance with a decadent, creamy consistency that bound together the fresh vegetables in the compound. The pistachio cream sauce was light, well-flavored, and tied the dish together better than Lebowski's rug tied his room together. The Shrimp n Grits was interesting and new. The grits were prepared creamy and cheesy with lots of Gouda. The shrimp were prepared well. The sauce was based on Worcestershire Sauce and complimented the briny-sweet shrimp with the umami-salty sauce. Combined with the cheesy Grits it was a savory delight. Best for last: Fish n Chips. First off, they use the freshest fish of the day for this dish. We got cod. The batter was light, fluffy and a touch savory. It clung TIGHT to the fish filet but wasn't clumpy or thick. The fish was clearly fresh (no watery frozen fish mess) and super meaty and flaky. The filets were perfectly butchered and chonky meaty. No grease remained on the filets after frying and each bite was meaty, crunchy, perfectly seasoned perfection! One of the best fish filets I've ever had. The entrée for us included homemade shoestring fries, homemade coleslaw, some house tartar sauce, and a couple hush puppies. Each item gave a little bit more variation on the theme in perfect concert with the tasty fish.

My wife and I absolutely loved our meal at Fish On! Please go, give it a try and I promise you will...

Fish On exceeded my expectations in all areas except one…read on.

I wasn’t sure what to expect as you order up front but it’s a mix of an “order-up-front” and sit down restaurant. And, although it’s order-up-front, the staff member knew a lot about the dishes and cooking styles and made some excellent suggestions. The interior is quite nice and clean. They do bring your food to you, anything you need, and food is served on nice dishes with silverware. The only slightly odd part of this is drinking from plastic cups and having a soda fountain. So again, it’s a hybrid but it works.

We all had mahi and their cooking type selections are great. I had mine sautéed with grits and it was absolutely fresh, excellent, and cooked perfectly. And, they are good sized portions. Each entree came with two hush puppies, cole slaw, and tartar. The hush puppies were great though maybe 3 or 4 per entree would be appreciated. Cole slaw was good and fairly fresh though I like mine with more sauce. I also recommend adding a salad as they are also excellent and big. We had the crab cakes as an appetizer which were also excellent with balsamic vinegar though not the biggest. But overall, for $25-30 per plate it’a a decent even good value on the surface.

So the final comment and, why I didn’t give a full five stars, is that they have the “up-front” tip as well and it’s built in with the lowest tip being 18%. Yes, you can do custom but you’re right there with the staff and it’s up-front so (as I feel this new way of tipping is meant to do) you feel a bit awkward. I would challenge the owners to consider the longer view in this policy. Recent research suggests this “guilt” tipping can actually dissuade return customers. It does for me. Im not local but if I were it would keep me from going back…at least very often. I gave the 18% but, it pushed our bill for 3 people over $100 and definitely took the overall value down a bit for me. Again, this is a hybrid restaurant, not full service and although staff was great (and worthy of some tip) this suggested 18%-22% presented on payment sort of ruins the potential value of the model in my opinion. The restaurant was not overly busy and I wonder if this policy were changed (even of it started with a 10%-15% suggested tip) if it might encourage more business because again, the base prices are...

If filtering out the soulless and sterile establishments in pursuit of the few remaining and sometimes hidden special places, often filled with the entrepreneurial spirit, while adventuring on the ritual of vacation then you will most certainly want to visit Billy and his eatery Fish On.

Simple is not a pejorative with food. Done correctly, especially with fresh seafood, simple is a testament to the choosing of high quality ocean dwelling ingredients available on the coast. Many of the eatery's in Destin can produce sub par dishes and thrive based on harbor locations. I am however first concerned with what the dishes departing the kitchen say about the establishment and their ethos.

Do not let the location of Fish On dissuade you from eating here. The restaurant is clean and full of bright pastels invoking the coast. There is art on consignment so take your time to view the gallery while you wait. It is by no accident a restauranter, patron of the inherent art in food, is also facilitating the success of local painters.

We had the fried grouper sandwich served on a nicely toasted bun and my wife ordered the blackened fish tacos. I also ordered a greek salad as there have been few options for a fresh and light salad in Destin.

The grouper was delightful. Served on a kaiser bun with a chef made aioli. My wife enjoyed the fish tacos. Her only criticism was a lacking of salt which was quickly rectified by a table placed shaker.

The greek salad was amazingly prepared. Plenty of feta, tomatoes, bell pepper and fresh greens. I highly recommend you order a salad with your meal.

The crab cakes were stellar. A perfect amount of crispy texture on the outside while having plenty of flavor and softness inside. They weren't oily or dry. Truly incredible.

Do yourself a favor and give Fish On a visit. Do yourself a favor and order a refreshing salad in addition to their seafood fare. I truly hope Billy and his Fish On team succeed. There is an apparent energy of respect, care and intentionality at his location. Most of what you fill find in Destin is lackluster and tired. Fish On is not that place and I trust you will enjoy your experience as...