The Daytrader Tiki Bar and Restaurant — Restaurant in Santa Rosa Beach

I don’t often leave reviews after a bad experience at a restaurant, but then I went to this sad sad little tiki bar on the beach…

Showed up 2-hours before close with 9 people looking to have cocktails. We were sat quickly on the patio and we all order some drinks and a few snacks. The food was all pricey, but that’s never steered us away, however, I wish it had. Lovers of true spam musubi beware….this is not the place.

We still gathered around to hang out and enjoy the rest of our drinks, until an hour before closing, somebody came out and began closing down the entire patio around us. Taking cushions and stacking them up, while our table just awkwardly sat there and also got smacked in the head a few times with said cushions……

If I’m paying $65 for a subpar lobster noodle dish that had more vegetables than noodles, I’d appreciate not getting hit in the head by the cushions so deliberately being taken off the chairs.

We left because we were clearly not wanted there anymore…even though the restaurant didn’t close till 10 and it was 9 on the dot. Our server never explained that there was a “large party charge” and that plus the two Florida taxes added an additional $149 to our bill. I’m not mad at additional charges or taxes, I’m mad at a server tossing our check and fleeing the scene without any explanation as to how we all of the sudden owed more than any of our singular checks came out to be. I hope whoever that server was enjoyed their extra money because we definitely tipped assuming that was part of our food total given that our server was no where to be found or explain, “hey, your total was this but then we added these taxes.”

All in all, restaurant is cute but the staff clearly do not care nor want to provide you with nice service. Whole experience was a...

I'll start off with...I am a die hard tiki bar and cocktail fan. I love all things tiki.

The Daytrader is branded as a tiki bar and restaurant. The vibe and outdoor seating are definitely in line with tiki theming, although I'd classify this as elegant tiki, which is a plus considering the location and pricing. Great decor and commitment to authentic tiki theming (bonus points for the music selection).

The drinks were a little off for me. While there is a Mai Tai on the menu (and a couple of others), most of the cocktail options were not in line with classic tiki cocktail making. The drinks we did have were all delicious and thoughtfully crafted, they just weren't authentic tiki drinks. The glassware was a nice touch.

Appetizers were awesome, the boiled peanuts were so good and truly unique. The presentation was also fantastic.

Entrees were just OK. Several of the menu options were not available (understand the restaurant is still new). It's evident that the chef is intent on sharing several Polynesian classics, but I'm afraid the creativity will be lost on this crowd. Please consider adding some pedestrian options in each section to please everyone. Plenty of vegetarian options (much appreciated). In general the entree prices were not aligned with the food quantity, but totally reasonable for the area.

The service was good, but a little slow for a half full space. Very attentive and polite. I usually do not purchase or rate restaurant merch, but I'll make an exception here. While a bit pricey, I loved all of the merchandise and even purchased a hat. Recommend having the staff wear the merch for better visibility.

I'm excited that 30A has a tiki themed restaurant and I will...

my husband and i came to the tiki bar opening night, and their drink menu has a lot of great, fun options. They come at a relatively high price point (we got the medical mai tai and were shocked to see the one small bag was 34 dollars for two people) but hey, that’s seaside. The food itself however, was a bit lackluster. We had the bahn me sandwich and the pork shoulder platter, alongside the spring rolls for an appetizer. In the nicest way possible, the food had veryyyyy little flavor. So much so I was thinking , “did I just get covid halfway through my meal?” My husband and I swapped meals halfway through, both of us thinking surely the other meal would be a bit more flavorful, but the grass was not greener on the other side. Salt and Pepper is a must for the table if there isn’t going to be ample seasoning. The service was nice, and with it still being a new restaurant, I am taking this all with a grain of salt (which i wish the chefs had put on our food) hence my 4 star review. There’s definitely room to improve here, and with the restaurant being on the nicer side, I can only hope the Daytrader does its Asian...