Shunk Gulley Oyster Bar — Restaurant in Santa Rosa Beach

I had read that Shunk Gulley has been rated one of the best restaurants in Florida. I had not visited and waited until the traffic and crowds dissipated after the high tourist season.

The view of the Gulf from the upstairs dining area was beautiful. The service was very good and all of the employees with whom we interacted was excellent.

Overall, the food was okay but very expensive for the quality.

On a positive note, the house salad was very good. The lettuce and vegetables were fresh. The balsamic vinagerette had excellent flavor.

I ordered a dozen oysters that were similar to Oysters Rockefeller. They had a dressing of cheese, garlic and lemon and sounded very good. The waiter said they were very good. As my main reason for visiting was the oysters, I thought this sounded good. $28 for a dozen sounded high but inflation is rampant and oysters were probably expensive.

Upon receiving the dish of oysters, I tried one. It was a served hot which was good. I did not taste any oyster with the first bite and checked to see if there was actually an oyster. I pulled the cheese off of the top layer to check. The flavor was only of cheese, garlic and lemon. That is not all bad but oysters should have been the primary ingredient.

There was a very small oyster in each shell. I had never had oysters that were that small. Unfortunately, they were not large enough to be flavorful or a significant part of the dish.

A couple of items were black as the items in the shell were burned by high heat and that burned taste was stronger than the cheese.

It may be naive. I was surprised a restaurant with this high reputation would serve this dish.

Sauteed crab claws were apparently better according to my dining companion. They were spicy but cooked to a light brown.

We left after paying a bill of $73 or so for a couple of appetizers and small salad. We drove back home and finished lunch having a peanut butter sandwich.

Overall, I had high expectations for the restaurant. The meal was disappointing and an unpleasant surprise. We eat at a number of restaurants in the area every week and there are many good seafood restaurants from which to choose. No doubt, one of the fish options available would have been a better choice despite the inclusion of "oyster bar" in the name of...

We came on July 11th, 2021, Sunday. The wait was only about an hour around 4:30 pm and there are several spots surrounding the restaurant that you can wait at or go browsing while waiting on the text that your table is ready.

There is a bar that you can order drinks at while you wait. I highly recommend the Pina colada, it was very good. My only complaint with the bar was that they were only allowing one drink per person so my wife could not get me a drink while I was waiting with the kids near the beach entrance. This is not really a big issue and I'm sure there is a reason for this.

As for the dining experience, we were seated under a large semi-permanent tent/canopy area. The seating is tall bar style chairs and tables. This area was a bit stuffy but they do have large industrial fans circulating air. They do have musicians for entertainment on a stage in this area and I was pleasantly surprised by the guitarist that was playing during our meal but there were times when it was distracting and hard to speak over.

Service was fast and friendly and large parties will have an included 18% gratuity. There was a forgotten salad but it was easily taken off the ticket at the request of one of our party members. Our waitress was very personable and seemed accustomed to serving larger parties.

The food was excellent and the appetizers were amazing. I particularly enjoyed the Tuna dip and the Tuna poke. I ordered a Mahi Mahi sandwich (blackened) with fries. The sandwich was very good and there was plenty of fries to share with kids if need be. The other menu options were few but everything tasted well. Other party members of our group touted the size of the oysters and a few people ordered the crab claws. I was told they were also very tasty but quantity of claws was on the smaller side for the price.

The bushwacker alcoholic beverage was very good and strong for a frozen concoction and it apparently is a house specialty that is reminiscent of a Pina colada but not as sweet. This drink was $10.00.

All in all this was a pleasant dining experience that I would recommend to anyone in the area. It is your typical commercialized establiment that is more for non-locals but it was very...

I was sent to the small, standing to order, bar just inside the restaurant to place my takeout order. That's not unusual, but it placed, me while I waited, either cozy next to a bar that only 2 people on either of its 2 approachable sides could stand ( a tight fit or in the open walkway [ which I chose] between seating sections and the path that both outgoing orders and incoming payments revolved. As the slice of pie @ $11.00 plus took close to 15 minutes to come up I saw lots going on. The waitress staff were hustling and keeping tables straight. The orders were coming up like hotcakes in the window. And food portions looked ample or large. Through the foods up window I could see the cooking staff ( at least 3 or 4 ) wearing gloves whilst handling the food- placing toothpicks to hold the large sandwiches together and taking literal handfuls of fries to place in baskets. I bet more than 20 dishes easily went out while I waited. I surmise that the tables don't wait as long as I did and calling ahead may be best on takeout. This was a Thursday night so the long beach weekend must have been kicking up. There was a wooden stage visible though not in use. The seating upstairs was as full and spacious just as below . And there was plenty of parking off 393, but spill over can easily park at beach access straight ahead in the evening and simply walk across at the 3 way stop safely. All that to help you decide if it's what you are looking for. The pie was enjoyed by myself and 2 other family members who took a bite. They both enjoyed it. I told myself I did as well, but truth is it tasted just like REALLY tart lime juice, in a double portion, with straight eagle brand cream on a crumbly crisp grahmcracker crust . I am something of a sugar-oholic myself so for the price I would have loved a little more brown sugar in the crust or additional refined in the whipped cream to balance the zestiness of the limes. Minus that a full quarter of the pie should be served not the 1/6 or 1/8 that was going on, as is...