AJ's on the Bayou — Restaurant in Fort Walton Beach

My husband from Defuniak Springs drove over an hour, with my brother, visiting from Oklahoma. They arrived at AJ's The Bayou just after noon on Feb 23 for Boiled Crawfish. They stated the place was packed! The atmosphere was good with great music. They waited patiently for a table. A waitress eventually came to seat them; a table was available. As they were escorted to the table, "Regulars," they were told, had seated themselves at the table. The waitress was very apologetic. My husband and brother waited a while longer, with promises that this table or that table were soon going to be leaving. They were finally seated... Ordered a Bloody Mary and a Bottomless Memosa. The drinks were delivered quickly. It was now approximately 1:30pm, when they each ordered 2#s of boiled crawfish. They were out! What?!?! The waitress checked in the kitchen, returned to say they were indeed out, and would not be boiling anymore. The waitress was very apologetic the entire time. She called Destin and that AJ's had crawfish available. My family quickly finished their drinks. The bottomless Memosa was charged as a champagne. They arrived at Destin's AJ's and ordered their crawfish; 2#s each and Bottomless Memosa's. AJ's in Destin does not serve Bottom Memosas! OR have a live band....no Mardigras atmosphere.....No party or fun atmosphere at all! It was wet, cold; even though the heaters were on. They drank 1 drink each and took most of their boiled crawfish to go. My brother had been surfing the internet and Facebook for days, with the promise of a great afternoon at the Famous AJ's.... a highly rated establishment. One of Panhandles' favorite...AJ's, great music, and the promise of a great southern meal of crawfish.. He had not had crawfish in 10 years. He was ready to experience a Sunday at one of Panhandles' best with a Mardi Gras atmosphere. WRONG! WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT! We often drive the 1 hour from Defuniak Springs for special occasions. We attended 2024's AJ's The Bayou's Donated Thanksgiving Dinner Event. They ran out of turkey shortly after they started serving, We were understanding. The place again was understandably packed, and the event was a fund raiser. However, after today's experience, we won't be returning for any reason. But then it appears they don't need any more business. They have plenty of...

Was excited to go eat here but the excitement died quickly upon seating. We were seated near a window to have a view of the water and it was really warm and muggy in this seating area. The flies were really annoying, and just not a good sign.

I ordered an ice water and it tasted fishy or something. It just tasted bad so I told the waitress and asked to switch it out for a sweet tea as long as it's not made with the same water.

The waitress was nice, but checked on us a little too much to the point that she was bugging us as much as the flies.

The food was disappointing also. The oysters we ordered were the AJ ones and they were tiny. They're cooked with cheese and have a slice of jalapeno on each one and served on the half shell. The oysters being so tiny made them virtually non-existent, drowned out by the cheese and jalapeno. It basically just tasted like cheese and jalapeno. The blackened red fish wasn't bad though. And I did like the fried green tomatoes and crab on top. Made a nice flavor mixture as well as a delightful texture. The grilled mahi mahi was a tad tasteless, dry and overcooked though.

Finally, there was a sign outside displaying a 15% discount. I asked and showed my ID and the waitress said there is a discount, but she wasn't sure if it was 15% or not. I said that there's a sign outside that says it is indeed 15%. And don't get me wrong, I don't feel privileged or anything... I just wanted what was advertised. On a $70 bill, we ended up getting $6.80 off. Less than 10%. Not sure how it's calculated, but the math didn't add up at all.

I personally feel that this place is a waste of a great location with a beautiful view. I will not be visiting again and I do not recommend it to anyone unless you're drinking and enjoying the live music. Once you're drunk, you don't care what the food...

It was a very horrible experience. I had family coming in from out of town and I had recommended going to AJ’s on the Bayou, since my previous experiences had all been good. My Spanish speaking son-in-law asked for a large table for 10 adults and 2 small children. We were told it would take about 20 minutes to prepare the table. I think we waited almost 30 minutes. We got seated outside, in the very back corner of the restaurant. Yes, it had a picturesque view of the sun setting over the bayou but afterwards, we were stuck in the dark. The street lamp did NOT offer good lighting and there were NO ceiling lights. The food took over an hour and a half to get to us. The hush puppies were burnt. My steak was cold and looked like a hockey puck but the baked potato was hot. My wife’s Cajun Pasta tasted like it had been sitting under the heat lamp for the whole hour and a half we had been waiting for the food. The waiter said he was making the strawberry/lemonade tea especially for my other son-in-law and the rest of the family that ordered it; and my son-in-law said it tasted delicious but after he drank it, it took like 20-30 minutes before the waiter came back to see if he wanted a refill or even to check on our drinks. My wife’s two cokes came out flat but no one ever bothered to ask. And there were other major discrepancies. Erin, I believe that was her name. She came out and said she was the manager or something like that; she listened to my complaint and gave me a 25% discount on the meal; didn’t charge me for the hush puppies, my plate or my wife’s plate or all the drinks and she gave us four coupons for future use, but the family no longer trusts my recommendations for local restaurants so I definitely do NOT recommend this one to anyone especially those who speak a...