Salty Pelican Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Fernandina Beach

First time our family has been here. Family fun atmosphere. My kids ordered the kids fried shrimp with fruit. The shrimp where HUGE and tasted amazing. Plus they got to keep the frisbee it was served on. Cool idea. My husband ordered the the Fish & Shrimp Duo. Catch of the day was Mahi Mahi. He got them both blacked. Delicious. Side order of the Mac & cheese, he said was okay. We ordered Smoked Fish Dip, delicious & the Fried Green Tomatoes, delicious. I myself ordered Surf & Turf. Ordered my Ribeye medium rare and my shrimp grilled. We got all our food. Our waitress was more focused on two other tables that had DOUBLE the people at them our table with only 4 people. Our waitress didn't bring us our food, I had to ask the server that did for more refills for our entire table because our waitress was focused more on other people. We waited 10 minutes for refills while the other tables she wasn't letting their glasses go less than half full. I cut into my steak and it was cooked WELL DONE. So I sat back and waited for our waitress to come back and 'check on our food'....she never showed up. So I grabbed a gentleman busting a table next to use and said, "excuse me, but can you find someone to help me. I ordered my Ribeye medium rare, and it's well done". I showed him my steak. He immediately apologized and said he was the Manager and he will fix it immediately. About 3 minutes later he came back and apologized again and told me he took care of it and will be out shortly. I asked for more refills for our table bc we were out again and again our waitress was no were to be seen. So he personally refilled our drinks. About 5-6 minutes later he personally brought my Ribeye back to me and it was cooked PERFECTLY, and tastes amazing. He then told me he would make it right at check out. I told him, Thank you very much. Immediately after he left our table our waitress shows up and says, "sorry your steak wasn't cooked right. But you need to know, I don't cook them." Turned and walked away. I finished half my steak before I was just ready to leave. Again I had to beg for more refills at our table. The manager himself did keep his promise and made it right on the check. But we didn't tip the waitress well because she just didn't act like we were good enough to keep up with when other tables she was working had more ppl. Our bill was well over $100. We would have tipped her very well IF SHE ACTUALLY treated us like people at the restaurant not just some SMALL TABLE that she ain't gunna make much tips off of. So we tipped according to HER SERVICE. The manager & the other girl that gave us our food DESERVE the tip we left....not her. Hopefully this gets back to management and they can tell her to treat ALL HER TABLES with the same respect and attendance. Not to pick and choose who you "THINK" will tip you well.

Definitely will be back due to the Manager who really went above and beyond to make our visit right, but I hope we NEVER get her again as...

I have been trying to leave more reviews with photos, after overly enjoying the food I decided I should take photos and leave a superb review of this place. Sorry for the photos that truly don’t reflect the quality and taste they deliver.

30-45 minutes wait for dinner seating- a full bar available while your waiting with great mixed drinks and large selection of beer on tap. I sampled a couple of the IPA and chose Deschutes Freshly squeezed. Lots of fresh citrus notes. Jessica ordered the Dragon fruit refresher. She stated at first it was a little strong(good for some not for others) and felt it could use some type of fizzy spritz.

We drank these outside at the waiting area while watching the baseball games on our phone. We wish they had more tvs outside to view as you wait. Inside had tvs on every wall.

As we made it upstairs to our extremely scenic seat on the balcony we were greeted by multiple servers and had nothing but the best service.

Appetizers- we decided on Ceviche and the Ahi tuna nacho half order.

The ceviche seemed to me to have much more shrimp than fish. Good flavor but needs more fish and less shrimp. As for our favorite(even the kids) the tuna nachos were second to none for flavor.

Our main meals were delivered shortly after finishing (As we were already stuffed!) our large portioned appetizers.

Kids macaroni-did I mention large portions! This came out in a huge bowl. The kids loved it we ended up splitting the two kids meals for one meal. We recently had a horrible experience with another restaurant serving some very sub par Mac his had no disappointment. Kids Chicken tender- your basic tenders and fry’s with an extra bit of love and crispy finish. Ahi tuna tacos- two giant tacos with the same flavor as the nachos and side of “seasonal veggies” to me seamed like stir fry vegetables had a very sweet teriyaki flavor but had no complaints. Seafood pot pie-now this was the star of the show! Served in a nice warm cast iron skillet. With two large pieces of what seemed to be crispy wonton topping. Every piece of meat in this dish was cooked to perfection. One may think it would be over cooked but the scallops were buttery soft. Every bite had more flavor than the last I truly had to make myself stop eating it.

Other than tvs at the waiting area and more fish in the ceviche. I would recommend this to all for a wonderful dinner.

P.s. we ordered key lime pie but couldn’t eat...

The Salty Pelican was a WONDERFUL surprise for me. Located in Amelia Island, itself a “hidden” Gem. What a quaint and charming town. Upscale Beach Vibes everywhere.

The Salty Pelican was a wonderful surprises. It loves being underrated, as it dresses like a regular salt-sprayed wind worn wood beach bar. Paper menus while you wait. Tattooed waiters clad in t-shirts, shorts, and sneakers, with wind blown hair, will serve you. However, the wait staff was EXTREMELY accepting and helpful. They grew a fun and attentive atmosphere. My drink was ALWAYS full. (Our waiter forgot our check and was immediately attentive and apologetic, which made the issue disappear from memory.)

Then came the view, we were offered bar or wall shelf, I think it was called, seating if it came first. We said yes. We were added to a yelp cue at 23rd in line. Because of large parties before us and we were only two with bar availability, we had our seat in 15 minutes. The view facing west on the wall at that shelf (whatever it’s called?) was STUNNING! They’ve got sun shades, water shaded in case of rain, white they raise them in good weather at sunset and it was beautiful.

Drinks Looked good, but we did not partake this meal.

Water is….well it’s Florida water. So bad. Iykyk, sorry, FL.

The food is where this restaurant shines. Peel and eat shrimp cooked perfectly! Spiced and juicy, you’re gonna need those on-table napkins! They pop when you chew and they are wonderful.

Fried green tomatoes with the spiced breading, and that sauce. Wow!

The winner of all for me was the shrimp taco. They run from the shrimp, but they came out wonderful. We ate them first so the tortillas did not get soggy. Good choice, they come in two and are a good size! The shrimp obviously cooked perfectly, and paired well with the combination of toppings and the spicy (slightly) kick of the sauce.

This place is great whether you’re in a t-shirt and shorts, or the after graduation polo and pants or summer dress.

I will be going back. Especially if I can get that sunset view again.

See my accessibility for more information for wheel-chairs, looks mostly accessible.

Women’s safety: it’s a restaurant bar, but this is definitely on the safe side for women. Well-lit and PLENTY of people around. Also many women on staff as well. My wife said it’s...