Month: January 2019

More Best Apalachicola Restaurants

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Apalachicola Ice Company Bar

We previously reviewed Best Restaurants in Apalachicola listing places we’ve tried and ones we plan to try in the future based on restaurant review sites. The two restaurants we profile here were also on the list of Top 10 Apalachicola dining in Zomato and Trip Advisor. Unfortunately our visit to these two didn’t support that … Read more

Best Restaurants Apalachicola Florida

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Owl Cafe Apalachicola

Apalachicola Dining & Restaurant Reviews

We’ve had occasion on our two previous visits to sample a number of Apalachicola restaurants and pubs. Our favorite so far is Up the Creek Raw Bar (see our review lower down the page) which dining reviews on Zomato (and other restaurant review sites) rate as #1 in Apalachicola.

Restaurant Review sites led us to try two other top rated Apalachicola places to eat: Boss Oyster and Hole in the Wall Seafood & Raw Bar. Unfortunately our experience didn’t verify their high overall average high ratings (read our restaurant reviews of these two here).

Up the Creek Raw Bar and Restaurant
Great views of the river and bay from the second story deck of “Up the Creek Raw Bar”

Review: Up the Creek Raw Bar

We loved Up the Creek Raw Bar with its friendly and fast service and great views of the Apalachicola River from its second story enclosed deck. You place your order at the bar, take a number and find a comfortable table. When your order is ready a staff member finds you and delivers your meal and beverage. They have a decent selection of wine and tap beers and of course a decent seafood menu. While almost every restaurant in town features locally harvested oysters, known for their unique mild and briny flavor, we stuck with a more familiar dish – grilled mahi-mahi, served with cole slaw and hush puppies. We were not disappointed in our meal served hot and tasty.

Review Summary. Solid 4 and half stars for food and ambiance; 5 stars for super-friendly, fast and efficient service from a team of staffers who love what they are doing.

Apparently others agree with our experience as Up the Creek is ranked by Zomato as the #1 dining spot in Apalachicola.

Up the Creek Raw Bar website

Oyster City Brewing
Oyster City Brewing Outdoor deck. No food other than popcorn, but great brews and best place to be on a nice day.

Links to more Best Apalachicola Dining

Here’s some other dining places vying with Up the Creek for best places to eat in Apalachicola:

  • The Owl Cafe & Tap Room is located across the street from Oyster City Brewery and is highly rated on Zomato and other restaurant review sites.  We had planned to catch breakfast there one morning but upon arriving discovered they only do lunch and dinner, so we’ll have to catch them on our next visit.
  • Tamara’s Cafe is another popular Apalachicola dining establishment that we planned to visit on Monday only to find that was the only day they were closed. Unlike the Owl Cafe, this Cafe does serve breakfast, as well as lunch and dinner. Also on our restaurant review list for our next visit.
  • Two other good breakfast spots in Apalachicola are the Apalachicola Chocolate and Coffee Company and Cafe Con Leche (unfortunately neither has a website).
  • The “Up the Stairs” Restaurant, gets top marks on some review sites and is unique in two respects: it caters only to diners “over 21” and is located on the second story over some shops. Their forte is “quiet dining where patrons can get away from the bustling crowds” with “. . . small plate dining in the lounge and a full menu in the dining room.” Their menu is somewhat retro offering steaks, salmon, duck, scampi, but each with a unique spin.
  • Another place that offers a change of pace from oysters being the specialty is “Antonio’s on the Bay” offering authentic traditional Italian dining and super friendly service.
  • No food except popcorn, but we always enjoy a brew and snacks, watching the world go by at Oyster City Brewing’s patio deck.

Gulf Drive & Forgotten Coast Travel Links:

Scenic Highway 30A Travel

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Grayton Beach Florida


Scenic Gulf Drive – Destin to South Walton to Rosemary Beach

Directory of Articles & Maps: Traveling the Gulf Coast Scenic Drive

Previous Article: Gulf Drive Pensacola Beach to Destin

Going East of Destin on Gulf Highway 98 you connect with Scenic Highway 30A just past Topsail Hill State Park. This will give you an opportunity to return to driving along with a view of the gulf and through the South Walton beach communities along the Emerald Coast. While there still are condos and town homes along this stretch, they aren’t as tightly packed on top of one another like in Destin and along the route you begin to see some actual single family homes with larger yards.

You’ll also pass several ponds that are called coastal dune lakes, freshwater lakes that drain into the Gulf, providing a unique ecosystem due to the exchange of salt and fresh water. Some of these coastal lakes have preserved, natural shoreline – no homes or condos and therefore indeed offer some natural scenery to justify calling this a scenic drive. About a mile before you get to the community of Grayton Beach you are actually driving through Point Washington State Forest.

coastal dune lake
A portion of Draper Lake, one of several unique coastal dune lakes along this section of Scenic Highway 30A

While the drive doesn’t offer an abundance of notable scenery, it is a more pleasant and slower paced drive than traveling on busy highway 98. But about halfway along the 24 mile route there is a genuine scenic and unique  destination: the historic beach town of Grayton Beach (see article) and it’s popular neighbor Grayton Beach State Park – see our article here.

Grayton Beach, Florida

The tiny village of Grayton Beach traces its founding back 125 years when vacationers used to travel by horse and buggy to enjoy its white sand beaches and small town character. As you walk through the town you can see many examples of old cottages lovingly restored and some with a humorous and artistic twist.

Grayton Beach Cottages
One of the many artfully landscaped cottages in Grayton Beach

The town is largely surrounded by Grayton Beach State Park (see our review) which has served to limit the expansion of the village and probably played a role in preserving its unique character. The State Park’s gulf beach extends on both side of the village providing more than a mile of relatively uncrowded pristine beach terrain. The park also encompasses a 100 acre coastal dune lake providing opportunities for canoeing, kayaking, paddle-boarding and fishing. There’s a 59 unit campground and 30 cabins in the park and biking and hiking trails. Make your reservations early as this is a popular park.

Grayton Beach and the State Park are located along the paved Walton County hike/bike path that runs adjacent to Scenic Highway 30A. Biking is one of the best ways to get around town as well as the three nearby towns east of Grayton Beach . . . as there isn’t a lot of public parking space.

Seaside Florida
Hundreds of bikes in the town of Seaside, every where you look bikes.

Seaside to Rosemary Beach

Going east of Grayton Beach on 30A you quickly arrive at the very upscale community of Seaside with an extensive collection of modern condo units and a popular town square that hosts entertainment, beach-related enterprises, festivals and outdoor food carts. We drove through this town in late March during spring break time and were in awe of seeing what seemed like a thousand kids on bikes running back and forth along the bike path adjacent to the road and droves of teens crowding around the food and entertainment in the town square plus walking to and fro. I wonder how crowded the beaches were because there were sure lots of people walking and biking around town. Seaside is a popular place.

Seaside Town Square
The Food Court at the Seaside Town Square is a favorite gathering place.

Further east of Seaside is the community of Seagrove (more beach condos) and then at the end of Scenic Highway 30A the community of Rosemary Beach essentially a replication of Seaside with condos, beach resort venues, a very busy town square and people walking and biking everywhere. These three villages east of Grayton Beach seem to be very popular, especially with families. If you rent a house, cottage or book lodging at a condo many types of entertaiment, in addition to the beach, are within walking distance (and biking and bike rental places abound!). These villages must have a reputation as safe places because there were young kids streaming all over the place, many without any adult supervision.

Travel and Visitor Links:

Continuing on the Scenic Gulf Coast Drive: Gulf Drive Rosemary Beach to Apalachicola – – –