The Back Porch Seafood & Oyster House — Restaurant in Panama City Beach

This is my second visit to this restaurant. We were here a year ago and had a great experience and great food. However, this visit was unfortunately not the same. We ordered the crab bites appetizer and they were barely warm inside. I imagine they were frozen beforehand and were not quite warmed up all the way. We had a fried pickle appetizer, and it was pretty good.

I ordered the big fried seafood platter and it was so extremely salty, I couldn't eat it. I actually mentioned it to our waiter and he said, "the cooks don't salt or pepper the fries but overseason the seafood" he also said "for a high volume restaurant, the cooks don't change the frying oil often enough" when he volunteered this information I was a bit shocked. Especially when our meal for 3 cost over $200.00, I would think the seafood could be seasoned properly and cooked until hot. The way the waiter hung around our table (too much) made our dinner very odd and slightly uncomfortable.

I don't typically complain about food (look at my other restaurant reviews) but this restaurant was pretty bad for the money. If it cost half as much, I still wouldn't eat there again after our last visit.

I'm posting photos of the seafood platter, look at the color of the breading... it looks like the oil was indeed pretty old and tasted like it too. I didn't try the crab cake, it was so dark it was nearly burnt looking (its the dark brown lump at the top of the picture). The rice (side dish) was so dry that the rice was actually crunchy in some spots. I almost feel bad writing about how bad this was. A big waste of...

I’ve been a lover of The Backporch in Destin since I was a kid, and I ended up at the one in Pier Park mistakenly. Me and my friend decided to stay and eat here instead of driving an hour to Destin. I got in fast, there was almost no wait! The hostesses were fast and very helpful, and the waiter was extremely helpful, kind, and fast! He checked on us frequently and deserved the tip he got. The unfortunate part was the food. The crab claws were $25 and I was given a rather small bowl of them. Not even enough to get me a little full for the amount we paid, they were very good though. The fried pickles were also very good. They were a good portion size for their price. The entrees were the biggest problem. I got the grilled jumbo shrimp which I usually love. Mind you, they were $35. When I got them I was excited, but when I say they had little to no flavor I mean it. The shrimp tasted reminiscent to underwear and seawater. The fried shrimp I replaced it with was only a little better. My friend’s chicken and Swiss sandwich was also just okay for the price. For a bill that was over $100 (for TWO people), the food should have been remarkable, but it was worse than a regular priced restaurant. A Chilis in my hometown had cheaper and better shrimp than this place. I’m also not the kind of person to ever write reviews or openly be negative about restaurants, but this place was extremely expensive for the less than remarkable nature of it.

Tl;Dr: Food was less than mid...

Chloe saves the day here! The food and atmosphere were fine, but Chloe's service was fantastic! Without her, this was probably a three star review.

This was my wife's favorite spot on our vacation, so it was the only place we visited twice. The first visit, my stepson got the Jumbo Gulf Shrimp and loved it. I'm thinking my wife got eh grouper and added the 1/2lb of snow crab legs. My other kids shared two orders of chicken fingers and fries. I must've gotten the mahi mahi (nothing memorable, but fine) and a twice baked potato.

On our second visit, my younger kids (again) shared the chicken fingers and fries. My wife and stepson shared the Ribeye surn 'n turf. They liked it a lot and my stepson actually commented on how good the ribeye was (we generally have to ask him how he liked his food, but he volunteered a compliment). I got the firecacker shrimp as an entree, I stead of appetizer, and a twice baked potato. I didn't finish the shrimp. They were okay, but not as good as bang bang shrimp from Bonefish Grill or even Longhorn Strakhouse's Wild West Shrimp.

The difference maker was our server, Chloe. She was super nice and loved to cut-up with me. When I'm out, I like to have fun, laugh and make people smile. Chloe gave it right back to me and we had a blast both visits. Definitely ask for Chloe as your server, if you visit. She was on point with drink refills and you couldn't ask for...