Ivy and Ale — Restaurant in Fort Walton Beach

Potential to be better. This place was very unassuming from the street view. It looked like someone's quaint home rather than a business, but judging from the very limited parking situation, we knew we were at the right place. We visited the establishment around 5pm and already the place was packed. There was live music and a line. One of the bartenders greeted us while we were in line and asked if she could get us started with a drink while we wait to place our food order. A PLUS for customer service and the other bartender was just as pleasant. So that was a good start. They don't have any non-alcoholic beer and seemed to only have glass bottle sodas. A little limited in that aspect but it was fine as we made do with water and the soda. The atmosphere was a cool hipster vibe which reminded me of San Luis Obisbo, CA. I loved the plants and that it was doggo friendly - but it might be a bit too pet friendly. Some of the dogs seemed to roam a little too freely inside. Although some people stated this was a family friendly environment I would have to disagree. We brought our kids with us, and I almost immediately had regretted my decision in doing so. Even though there were several poorly behaved children left unattended in their "gravel courtyard" throwing rocks at cars, houses, and buildings and attempting to break glass bottles there really isn't much anyone can do about the parents being absent minded and aloof to that situation. I did mention this to the bartender, and they did their best to resolve the issue, but it definitely hindered our experience. As our food arrived and we made our way inside to an open table I sat down on a WET but lovely green colored chair. Silver ware came after our food hit the table and everything came all at once but that was no problem, the issue I really had was the temperature of my food. We ordered the crab and endive appetizer, the bacon appetizer, the braised boar entree, and the crabcake entree. Our expectation of a well-executed elevated menu was not met. There was potential but we felt like it just didn't hit the mark. I will say that the Boar dish was well executed; good temp but the sweet potato was a little lackluster, but the mushroom accompaniment was nice, and the Bacon was extremely hot and really not what we expected when it literally arrived in a cone shaped apparatus just not what we expected- just candied bacon and a nice balsamic sauce served on the side. My crab cakes however were a little bit of a letdown. They were luke warm and very very VERY bready - reminded me of thanksgiving stuffing rather than crab cakes and very autumn spice forward with the apple and walnuts on top, and the raw element of what I think were turnips could have been omitted. The crab salad had good flavor, but the endive was much too bitter and did not seem to have a good balance overall and the temperature was inconsistent, was it supposed to be cold or warm? Is there potential to be really good? I like to think so. I like that they tried at least, but I was hoping for a truly impressive experience. We will give this establishment another shot in the near future with a close eye on their menu. We are hoping for a wow moment next time, and in a good way. Our fingers are crossed for...

Thought we would give this place a try for our anniversary dinner. Heard many good things and liked the menu looking online. Walked in and kind of stood around for a few as no one greeted us or told us where to go or how to order. Figured it out that you just have to go to the main counter and grab a menu and then order from there. Would have been nicer to have some sort of hostess or at least if the bar staff greeted new guests and explained what to do. We had the feta dip, bison nachos, and stuffed chicken cordon bleu. Ordered a glass of wine and a beer which were both excellent. We ended up sitting outside and found the atmosphere to be awkward. It was a young college kid scene no background music and just didn’t feel like a dinner restaurant, more like a late night hangout spot. We’re not really “out” type people but we are foodies and love beer and plants. So we looked past the annoying distasteful conversations being held around us and the lack of overall atmosphere and at least looked forward to our meal. The feta dip came out and it was pretty good. A tad heavy on the garlic and a good spicy kick. Next Nachos… and they super disappointing and lacking any flavor. We we’re hungry and just kept digging hoping to find a good bite but found that there was not nearly enough toppings to cover all the chips and the toppings had hardly any flavor. The chips were just a super dry salty grainy store bought tortilla chip that so desperately craved some salsa or anything to cover it up. So then came the chicken cordon bleu which was over a bed of cream spinach. The chicken had a nice crispy skin but again absolutely no flavor at all. Couldn’t find any ham or cheese inside the slightly over cooked single piece of a half of a chicken leg quarter and the cream spinach was just that…bland plain cream and wilted spinach. For $25 the portion was very small and as we’re not the “fine dining” type we expected to pay a little more but honestly this food paired with the young college atmosphere and over priced flavorless boring dishes left us totally unsatisfied and disappointed. Major bummer as we love to support local businesses and loved...

I’m seeing my party being described as the “mean table” and also an individual that wasn’t even with us that gave you one star as being part of my group. I feel this needs to be corrected. That is a completely separate review. I do not know that person. Because we are not even affiliated with each other and the food quality was addressed for that day, perhaps it was an off day on the food. I am the one who stated everything was great in person because 1. You have a wonderful atmosphere and 2. An exceptional staff. The bacon cone was delicious and my husband enjoyed the crab cakes a lot. The Brussel sprouts probably should have been returned as they were far too hard and dry to eat. I rarely post reviews and I always tip a minimum 20% (check my ticket) no matter the situation because I recognize there are just times a place cannot knock it out of the park every day. The rest of our “mean table” are adults who are free to review your business and we are not a monolith so I hope that explains the confusion on why you were told different opinions by different members of our party. For patrons looking at this review, I think it’s best to recognize this a speciality locale focused on quality ingredients so the price point is going to be steeper than you may expect around town. Lastly, it seems from the dismissiveness of the restaurant responder on here that your inputs may be dismissed as the patron being...