We were recently up in the Florida panhandle visiting some small beach towns we’d never really visited before. We were tourists. By mealtime we were HUNGRY tourists, so we had to find food. Luckily, we got a few good recommendations from the locals. Since I was working on an article about the area for another website, I felt it would be good to sample a variety of restaurants.
One night we decided we simply had to try the Red Bar Restaurant in Grayton Beach. After reading the reviews on TripAdvisor, I didn’t know what to think. About half the reviewers hated it, and the other half loved it. Well, we arrived on a Friday evening (our first mistake) and were promised a 20 minute wait. No problem. Sue had her heart set on hearing their advertised “jazz band.”
The first thing I noticed is that the Red Bar was the loudest establishment I’d ever entered. I mean, the music and conversation was so loud I couldn’t even see straight. The music turned out to be more of a bluesy southern rock, rather than jazz, so after waiting nearly 50 minutes, and still no table in sight, we decided to try another restaurant. The music was even too loud for Susie, and she’s a big-city girl that’s used to loud live music in restaurants and bars.
A quick stop by our room and a search of the internet turned up some interesting possibilities. Once again I turned to TripAdvisor reviews. One of the themes that ran constant in nearly every review is that the restaurants were “overpriced.” Either they didn’t deliver on atmosphere, on service, or on taste. We walked into an Italian restaurant, but when we saw the prices (over $75 per plate if we ordered the cheapest items), we ended up going back to a restaurant that we’d enjoyed for lunch, which had come highly recommended. I’ll tell you later what it was, but now on with this blog post…
One of the things we’ve noticed is that restaurants on the beaches that cater to tourists tend to be way overpriced for the quality of food that they deliver. I have a couple of theories about why they can get away with this:
- They don’t depend on repeat business. There’s always a new planeload of tourists tomorrow.
- They are the only game in town. Most beach towns don’t have a wide selection of restaurants. The big towns do, but most don’t.
- Lots of hungry tourists + few restaurants on or near the beach = high prices. Simple supply and demand.
- People on vacation are more willing to spend freely, especially after a few drinks.
In defense of the restaurants:
- Beach real estate is expensive. You are paying for the location and the view.
- Property taxes and insurance for commercial beach property are unbelievable. You’ve got to pay for that too.
- Many beach locations experience extreme fluctuations in patrons. They’ve got to make a year’s profit in 6 or 8 months.
I’m not happy with a plate full of fried fish that’s covered with grease-soaked batter, a pile of greasy french fries, cole slaw from a can, and a bucket of iced tea. NO THANKS!
Tips for getting a good meal at the beach:
If you’re like us (on a budget), consider having lunch on the beach (lower prices at lunchtime), and heading off-island for good food at a more reasonable price. If price is no object, there are great restaurants right on the beach.
Get tips from the locals (not your hotel) on where they eat. If you want good seafood, find a restaurant that brings in their fish fresh, right off the fishing boats. Hint: those restaurants are usually near the fishing docks.
So where did we end up for dinner that night? Stinky’s Fish Camp restaurant in Santa Rosa Beach on Highway 30A. Great food with a Louisiana flavor. Really great seafood fresh off the boat. Awesome pecan pie and ice cream. Total bill for 2 people who didn’t order any alcohol…$85 with tip. Definitely not in our budget, but someone else was picking up the tab for this trip. And, it was either that or Subway…
