Tailfins Waterfront Grill Destin: Open for Thanksgiving & Christmas — Restaurant in Destin

Please read before making your own judgement.

First off, we were initially told that our wait would be around 45 minutes and it ended up being about half that. So that is a plus.

Second, we had a party of 10 and 5 of them were children. We were sat at a bar height table which was a bit difficult for our two and four year olds. This still turned out to be ok even tho we had to split into two tables. Our older kids helped with the younger kids and were sat right behind us. This was not an issue, but large party's may be separated at times I would assume. It worked out ok for us.

Third, our tickets were separated into two tickets. Upon ordering, half of our party received their order. We waited for over an hour to get the food for the other half of our party. Normally, I'd be ok with this, but my pregnant daughter was starting to feel weak from being hungry. Our server was VERY apologetic and got the manager involved. We were given a nice discount on both tickets and they surprised us with some big sundaes (which my pregnant daughter couldn't resist.) and I must say they were quite delicious. Overall, despite the wait, we felt like it was made right by our server and the manager. The wait is the only reason for 3 stars.

Fourth, the food was absolutely amazing. Our two 11 year olds devoured the crab legs and loved them. I tried one of the potatoes and corn that came with them and I have to say the seasoning was some of the best I've ever had. My wife went crazy for her fried fish tacos. They looked really good and had to have been since she didn't even ask if I would like a bite. She normally does. My son and his wife shared a steak and crab legs. Neither of them eat a lot so it was plenty and they enjoyed them both. The steak was pretty large and crab legs looked healthy. I ordered the Tailfin Stack. Let me tell you, this dish is probably one of my all-time favorites from dining anywhere on the coast. The grouper had a special sauce that made me wish I had about 4 more. The lobster was cooked just right and didn't even need the included butter sauce to dip into. And the vegetables were crisp and perfect. I don't know what they did to those green beans and carrots, but I only wish I could cook them like that. I like to eat. And I love good food. And I had it tonight. I could have eaten 3 of these dishes and would gladly have been miserable.

Lastly, back to the 3 stars. Had the food not been so d**m good, there would have been less stars. Had our server not apologized about 30 times, there would have been less stars. Mistakes happen. I make them myself so I can't expect everyone else to be perfect. Keep this in mind. So with that said, Kudo's Tailfin for taking a bad situation and making it right. And despite what happened, I will have to say I will definitely return in the future and I highly...

I came in one night solo and tried their sushi and I was blown away! Came back with a group of 9 the other day and had a very subpar / pitiful experience.

Half of us came in specifically for sushi and we were told the Su-chef was out of town so they weren’t serving any… So there’s only one guy that makes sushi? Regardless, we ordered from the regular menu.

I asked about what liquors the bar had, ordered a scotch that I was told they carried but then was told they were out… switched to a beer and the one I wanted was out... on my 3rd attempt I was given the wrong beer and I felt criticized by my server Nick when I brought it up to him.

“Do you know what it taste like? Have you ever had it before?”

Yes, I drink that beer all the time which is why I ordered it. He went back and brought me the correct beer and he told me it came from the same tap and that he tried it, even though the 2nd beer was an entirely different color and style of beer… So either the bartender poured from the wrong tap the first time or you grabbed the wrong beer from the service station Nick. Please don’t bicker with customers as it’s not professional and can cause quarrels.

Moving forward: The pretzel with cheese was a delicious appetizer but collectively the majority of our group of 9 (most of us being servers & bartenders in the area) felt that the food quality, expectations and service fell short.

Outside of the seafood being offered, it felt more of bar food I could get at Buffalo Wild Wings compared to a restaurant.

Tuna dip was meh (we still ate it all) Oysters got sent back to the kitchen as someone felt like they were frozen and reheated (they probably just sat in the food window a little too long), someone claimed he received Flounder instead of the grouper he ordered, pasta was over-buttery, someone had modifications on their nachos that weren’t read / respected, the cocktail sauce served was completely frozen, etc.

Our server also could have done better with checking up. Many times we tried to get his attention and he would walk past us, many times he would help one person in our party, then dart off while others still had questions, many times we asked if we could have a water pitcher for the table and he never brought it.

Overall, I would still come back just from holding on to that fond memory of the great sushi I had the first time, but I will never-ever order off their regular menu nor recommend this place to anyone based on the experience we...

Tied up at the dock, super busy all up and tb down the harbor walk, but finally found a spot! We were seated right away, no wait. I ordered 4 kids meals. Mac n chz, chicken tenders and fries, and a burger and fries. The Mac n chz didn't come with a side, so I asked to make sure it was at least a bowl of it, and I was told it was. The kids meals came out fairly quickly, which was good for me! The only issue I had was the Mac n chz turned out to be a small cup. Almost all the restaurants I've been to over the years serve a side item with the macaroni kids meal. Or they will at least serve a bowl of it. One of my kids didn't like it, so I passed it onto the next kid. The adults got fried shrimp, and a crab meat salad. All that was good except we so wish y'all had hush puppies!!! So my son ended up eating half of my food because that Mac n chz didn't even touch his hunger! It's ok I'm used to him stealing my food lol!! For a 2yo he sure does eat alot!! Time for the checks, $50+ for one meal, and two bloody Marie's. Mom paid for herself, and the kids, $64. She paid cash, and we paid debit. Our card was run for the bill, and I guess her cash paid our bill. I was pretty upset about this because we already had our meals planned out for the entire day on the boat, but unfortunately we weren't allowed to take the out on our rental boat, even though we were going to grill in the beach, not the boat. So the $50 I spent on one meal and two drinks, turned into $64. It's not that hard to split one ticket, and take two payments. I've done parties of 25+ where they all paid separately, it's not hard, that's just careless, and it cost me more money I didn't really have to spend, but we had to eat!! I probably won't even go there again. The food wasn't bad, it was all just a tad overpriced for what we got in my opinion, and I'm never the one to complain about prices, but that was ridiculous, $9.99 for a cup of Mac n chz!!! Pretty sad tbag didn't even fill up a toddler. I almost ordered him a whole nother plate, but they would have to take the last bit of his brothers Mac n chz that he...