Our guide to seafood restaurants in Pensacola. Check out 10 of our top picks

A beach chair planted on Pensacola Beach’s sugar-white sand, a cold bushwhacker in hand and a view of the glistening emerald green waters in the Gulf of Mexico make for a picture perfect afternoon.

How can it possibly get better? How about by digging into a freshly-fried piece of flounder or slurping a cool Gulf oyster right off the half shell.

Pensacola has no shortage of seafood that caters to everyone’s taste. Divey hole-in the walls where sandy flip flops are not only welcomed, but encouraged, are abundant ? as are sand-side fine dining rooms where the cotton candy sunset glow is reflected through the lens of a crystal-clear wine glass.

If you’re ready to discover all that Pensacola has to offer, these are 10 of our top picks for finding fresh catch in the Pensacola area.

Fisherman’s Corner

13486 Perdido Key Drive

If you’re looking for a jewel of a restaurant off the beaten path, Fisherman’s Corner leads you away from the densely-populated, tourist-driven sands of Pensacola Beach and into the quieter community of Escambia County’s Perdido Key.

Tucked away under the Theo Baars Bridge, Fisherman's Corner features candlelit tables, white wine poured by the glass and some of the freshest grilled fish that the Gulf Coast has to offer. It’s a friendly place where the server writes their name on the white paper-lined tables and typically arrive with a pitcher of sweet tea in hand when you holler for them.

Don’t be misled by the ropes and fishing nets that double as décor, the Creole-influenced cuisine is a class act. For lunch, you can opt for something simple, like a crispy crab cake BLT, a fried oyster po’boy atop New Orleans Gambino bread, a refreshing sesame seared tuna salad or a cup of the “Nearly World-Famous Seafood Gumbo” with sausage, crawfish and shrimp.

For dinner, indulge in the classic house favorites like the Shrimp Dianne sautéed in mushrooms, garlic, herbs, white wine and butter tossed in angel hair pasta, or the house shrimp and grits, served with a panko encrusted ball of fried gouda cheese grits simmering in a creamy andouille Creole base with succulent shrimp. While every item on the Fisherman’s Corner menu is crafted to perfection, a tried-and-true favorite is the fish dinner, prepared grilled, blackened or fried and served with two sides like colorful sautéed vegetables and indulgent Cajun macaroni and cheese.

Save room for the New Orleans Praline Pecan Bread Pudding with whiskey sauce or the Florida classic, a slice of perfectly tart key lime pie with a sweet raspberry drizzle. The restaurant’s mission is to serve you one of the best meals you’ve ever had, and there’s a pretty good chance it will be.

The Oar House

1000 S. Pace Blvd.

While only minutes from the hustle and bustle of downtown Pensacola, The Oar House makes you truly appreciate beach living. With a patio deck overlooking the sailboats docked in the Bahia Mar Marina, games of sand volleyball played in the restaurant’s courts, live music strumming from inside the tiki bar and some of the best sunsets you’ve ever seen ? dining at The Oar House is as much about the atmosphere as it is about the fresh fish.

Even for locals, the signature bucket-sized cocktails of rum mixed with fruit juices will have you feeling like you’re on vacation. The menu is packed with the Oar House's take on fish sandwiches, po'boys, fried baskets and grilled seafood platters. Kick a hot summer day off with a plate of cold Key Largo shrimp, which are boiled in a mixture of Caribbean and Florida spices and served chilled with cocktail sauce, before working your way up to one of the entrées.

A stand-out is The Fork Lift, made with a blackened fish filet and topped with provolone cheese, sautéed mushrooms, onions and a pepper medley piled high on a fresh bun. For a heartier meal that gives you a wider scope of the restaurant, try a grilled seafood platter that offers shrimp, mahi-mahi, grouper or ahi tuna either blackened or grilled and served with rice, a broccoli and carrot medley, hushpuppies and coleslaw. They can be paired with one of the house sauces, including citrus beurre blanc, sweet chili glaze, soy wasabi reduction or balsamic reduction. Then sit back and enjoy the view.

The Grand Marlin

400 Pensacola Beach Blvd.

Positioned right over the bridge to Pensacola Beach overlooking the beautiful Santa Rosa Sound, The Grand Marlin has a secure place as one of Pensacola’s most prestigious restaurants for a reason. Not only are the views immaculate, but the restaurant prides itself on the catch being so fresh that the menus are printed daily.

The menu items are made from scratch using fresh seafood and high-quality ingredients. This higher-end restaurant exudes elegance, with a barrel-vault ceiling and comfortable banquettes featuring a 1,229.5-pound Atlantic blue marlin, the restaurant website states. While the menu is ever-changing, there are some standout staples, including the Grand Marlin Group Piccata.

The famed dish features a fresh cut of grouper with a parmesan crust, sauteed spinach with whipped potatoes, crispy capers and brown butter. Other can't miss items include the house barbecue shrimp with barbecue butter, Worcestershire sauce and Gambino’s bread, or the freshest select Gulf oysters served with cocktail sauce and red wine mignonette.

There is a rotating selection of market seafood available with some examples being the seared red snapper, grilled sea scallops, grilled Gulf shrimp, grilled yellowfin tuna and grilled swordfish that come served with whipped potatoes and seasonal vegetables. Some of the sauce pairings include the Creole mustard butter sauce, caper brown butter, salsa verde and ginger soy glaze.

The Fish House

600 S. Barracks St.

The Fish House is iconic in Pensacola and still remains a favorite even after 20-plus years stationed in Pensacola’s downtown. The restaurant offers guests Southern hospitality and fellowship while they enjoy the view of Pensacola Bay and dockside dining options.

The walls of The Fish House are covered with photographs of politicians, athletes and entertainers who have shared a meal around The Fish House’s tables. The first dish you’ll likely receive a recommendation to try is the “world famous” Grits a Ya Ya, a Southern specialty of smoked Gouda cheese grits with a cream sauce combining sauteed Gulf shrimp, spinach, portobello mushrooms, applewood-smoked bacon, garlic and shallots.

However, there is plenty more on the menu to try, including a wide ride range of fresh fish, Southern sides and Fish House specialties. If you want to lean into the restaurant's Southern roots, some of the specialty items may tickle your fancy, like the Redfish Lafayette – blackened wild redfish and crispy Louisiana crawfish tails, served with smoked Gouda cheese grits, grilled asparagus and topped with charred tomato and crawfish etouffee – or the Mississippi pecan-crusted catfish or the Gulf Coast southern-fried oysters, served with sweet corn hushpuppies, creamy coleslaw, fries, cocktail sauce and smoked corn tartar on the side.

Atlas Oyster House

600 S. Barracks St.

If you like The Fish House, you’ll love its sister restaurant, Atlas Oyster House, located next door. The restaurant features the same stunning views of Pensacola Bay, but with a brand-new menu reimagined in 2023. The newly renovated space dazzles with rich sapphire-blue booths, pearl-shaped dangling lights, deep-stained wood and framed photographs spotlighting Pensacola’s fishing history.

At Atlas, oysters are a star of the show, and they are delivered fresh daily before being prepared in a variety of ways. If trying oysters is on your Pensacola bucket list, there are few better spots for variety and innovation. Some of the standouts include the oyster shooters, which combine six shucked Gulf Coast oysters with a house bloody Mary mix and citrus beer topper, or the Oysters A Ya Ya, a take on The Fish House’s famous dish, which combines baked oysters with roasted mushroom, spinach, applewood bacon, white wine and smoked Gouda gratin.

The restaurant’s small plate menu encourages diners to experiment with and share items such as lobster corn dogs and crawfish pot pies. Or you can commit to one full entrée, like the clams and bucatini, seared red snapper or cornmeal-dusted Gulf shrimp. Whichever route you choose, you can't go wrong.

Captain Joey Patti’s Seafood & Saloon

1124 W. Garden St.

When it comes to iconic Pensacola places, there isn’t a name in seafood more recognizable than that of the Patti family. While Joe Patti's Seafood is a bustling market for chefs to source fresh seafood for their menu, families to score a bag of steamed shrimp for dinner, or tourists to snap photos of the fish market in action, Captain Joey Patti's Seafood restaurant is a way to experience that fresh seafood cooked to order.

Some of the featured dishes include the grilled salmon salad, grouper platter and the Captain Joey Platter a.k.a. The Big Haul, which boasts crab patties, shrimp, oysters and fish. Ranging in a variety of grilled seafood specialties for those looking to eat on the lighter side, to the ultimate Southern comforts of fried seafood platters, Captain Joe Patti’s is perfect for a casual lunch or dinner featuring some of the best seafood Pensacola has to offer.

Pearl & Horn

3 W. Main St.

While the new location of Pearl & Horn just made its debut in December, award-winning restauranteurs George and Luba Lazi have been serving the Pensacola area for almost a decade. It’s no surprise that their latest restaurant Pearl & Horn, featuring the finest foods of the land and the sea, has instantly become a successful dining destination.

While maintaining a beautiful setting in the heart of downtown Pensacola, its expansive menu is equally as impressive. If seafood is what you’re after, there is no shortage of dishes to be excited about. With an in-house oyster bar, oysters are shucked fresh to order and served raw or broiled. Some of the specialties being the barbecue, Rockefeller and signature Pearl & Horn, made with Parmesan and parsley garlic butter.

The small plate menu is almost guaranteed to give you something you’ve never tried before, including the fried red snapper collar served with Georgian adika sauce, herbs and parsley oil, the yellow fin tuna carpaccio, swordfish pastrami skewers, bloody Mary red snapper ceviche, smoked trout and andouille chowder or the crowd-favorite seafood fries. For something that will make a full meal, the restaurant offers a variety of decadent dishes, including the baked flounder with pecans toasted in brown butter, crispy capers, parsley, sage and mashed potatoes, or the house-made squid ink spaghetti with grilled shrimp, squid, tomatoes, garlic, scallion.

Peg Leg Pete’s

1010 Fort Pickens Road

Peg Leg Pete’s has been a Pensacola Beach icon and destination since opening in 1991, back when it was only selling only oysters, shrimp and a few sandwiches, per the restaurant’s website. Some of the traditions that started early on have persevered over the years, like the live music that gets locals singing along in the dining room.

It became one of the must-stop places for tourists and a regular watering hole for lifelong Pensacolians. Some even arrive by boat, as five of the boat slips in the LaFitte Cove Marina out back are reserved for customers. The oysters are a main attraction at Peg Leg’s. If you can’t decide what variety to taste, opt for the sample that includes Buffalo Blue (Maytag blue cheese crumbles with Buffalo sauce and bacon), Cajun (tangy Cajun sauce, bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese), Parmesan (with garlic butter and bread crumbs), Rockefeller (spinach mixture with Parmesan cheese and bacon), Spicy Lafitte (finely chopped jalapenos mixed with bacon, cheddar cheese and spices) and Imperial (crabmeat stuffing and alfredo sauce). There are also plenty of full entrees to try, including the crabmeat stuffed grouper, Cajun fried catfish, bucket of succulent snow crab legs, or even a one-and-a-half-pound whole lobster.

The Peg Leg owners also own Maria’s Fresh Seafood Market closer to downtown Pensacola that offers the sit-down restaurant, Olde East Hill Grill, inside.

Dharma Blue

300 S. Alcaniz St.

It wouldn’t be a seafood list without at least one pick for sushi, and Pensacola’s Dharma Blue is a must-try venue nestled within Pensacola’s historic district. It sits on the corner of East Government and Alcaniz streets and overlooks Seville Square, Hub Stacey’s and the surrounding historic homes. The restaurant itself was transformed out of the over 100-year-old historic Smith House, which adds to the restaurant’s charm and is perfect for a quaint café style experience, followed by a stroll along the park or a nightcap on lively Palafox Street.

You can try a variety of handmade rolls, including the signature Five Flags made with tuna, smoked salmon, krab stick, shrimp, avocado and spicy sauce, but the restaurant also offers a variety of chef-curated entrees. The Dharma Blue fish is sourced from the owners’ first market in neighboring Destin, and due to quota restrictions and weather conditions, is market-priced and subject to availability.

As a starter, try the fried oysters with blue cheese and applewood smoke bacon, the lump crab ceviche served with crispy corn tortillas, or the smoked Gulf yellowfin tuna dip served with pita chips. Then try one of the signature entrees, like the house catch of the day, which comes either grilled or blackened, served with basmati rice, fresh vegetables and lemon beurre blanc or cauliflower risotto, sauteed brussels sprouts and Israeli salad.

Another fan-favorite is the sun-dried tomato fresh catch that comes panko-crusted with mashed potatoes, fresh vegetables and lemon caper cream.

DRIFT Modern Coastal Cuisine

41 Fort Pickens Road

One of the fanciest restaurants on the list, DRIFT, offers “casual fine dining” with direct views of the Gulf of Mexico from both the indoor dining room and outdoor deck. While the fresh seafood is a highlight for the restaurant that prides itself in modern coastal cuisine, it is also known for its steaks, pasta, small plates, homemade desserts, hand crafted cocktails and crudo dishes.

For starters, try the teriyaki cream steamed mussels steamed in a local lager and served with grilled focaccia, the tempura tiger shrimp with a bok choy slaw or the signature yellowtail crudo made with thinly sliced hamachi, ponzu, crispy garlic, crispy garlic, shaved jalape?o and micro wasabi greens. But be sure to save room for one of the entrees, like the grilled swordfish piccolo, tiger shrimp ravioli, Yucatan grouper, low country snapper or teriyaki miso Chilean seabass.

While all the dishes are in the seafood family, the represent a variety of flavors, from the cheesy grit cakes and Appalachian braised collards in the low country snapper to the comforts of nutmeg, house-made butternut squash and ricotta raviolo and sage brown butter in the tiger shrimp raviolo.

Whether visiting or a local, Drift is the perfect place to see the beauty of the Emerald Coast from a bird's-eye view while indulging in a meal you won’t forget.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Seafood restaurants in Pensacola: Our top 10 picks for fresh catch