Boathouse Oyster Bar

Open air dining with a view of the bay.  Check.  Cold beer and shrimp and oysters on the menu.  Check.  Dirty bras nailed to the ceiling. Check.   What more do you need?

Yes, the prices are a little high, but not any higher than any other touristy joint on the gulf coast.  They have a full bar and decent beet selection.  The food is served fast and fresh, with a smile.  The shrimp were great and I really enjoyed my wedge salad.  The tuna dip was pretty darn good too.

Sit back and relax.  Enjoy the food, the beer, and the view in this no-frills, laid-back, dockside restaurant.   I love it.

TIP: The bathroom is next door.

After reading the YELP! reviews on this place, we decided to go. I was hoping for fresh, local seafood and some local flavor. This place is definitely a dive, but I must say I was unimpressed. After not finding any direction on "Seat yourself" or a hostess on duty, we flagged someone down and they said "Sit wherever you'd like" The ONLY places to sit were benches made of a 1x4 along the railing of the restaurant. The "table" is the railing of the deck.

Based on the reviews, I ordered the gumbo as a "starter" (I was hungry) and I was very disappointed to have a chunky tomato dish delivered. THAT IS NOT GUMBO. I am from South Louisiana and gumbo does not include tomatoes. Maybe a creole gumbo has tomatoes? But then there was no rice. Who's ever heard of gumbo with no rice? WTF? That's ridiculous.

When our food arrived and my husband's dozen oysters still had not arrived, we questioned our server. "Oh, they're backed up. They'll come out soon" When we were finishing up dinner, we flagged him down again to ask about the oysters. He returned with a tray, saying that our order was "lost", but he just snagged this dozen that was ready for another table. Nice, that's probably what happened to our order in the first place! What a disaster!

The service was also pretty dismal. We had to flag down our server anytime we needed something and our dishes were never bussed from our "table'/deck railing. Needless to say, we will NOT be back. Find some other place to go. In our experience, restaurant food & service in this area of FL leave a lot to be desired. This experience just confirms that. Next time, we'll head to a seafood market and cook at home.

I've experienced MUCH better.
I've had much better raw oysters (these were not ice cold, shucked sloppy with bits of shell).
I've had much better gumbo (this gumbo was more of a tomato stew with seafood - and it didn't have rice..)
I've had much better fried oysters and shrimp (these oysters were puny and not plump)
BUT, the fried Mahi was decent.
Also, we waited forever for our seafood platter, then the server checked on us and asked us if we got everything..we told her we were still waiting..
She then came back and said that our platter went to a different table by mistake and they are making ours right now..

What was nice was the harbor breeze coming through the open doors/windows and loud music (classic rock)

After 4 out of 5 restaurants that failed the Yelp (rating does not match my take) - I'm starting to think that there aren't many great restaurants in Destin.. boooo.. so sad.  :(