Locals Choice's And Most Overrated 30a Dining Spots

Abrazo is one of my new favorites! Wonderful little spot in Grayton Beach!!!

Hurricane's is a cool spot in a convenient location but food is overpriced, mediocre and inconsistent. The definition of tourist trap.

AJ's - ate there a few times, nice sushi. Also a cool spot and convenient location and overpriced. Something on the menu for everyone and live music. HOWEVER - never trust a place that has a permanent "crawfish boil every Saturday" - painted on their sign. Crawfish is seasonal!

Go 2 minutes west to Trebeache - always good food and they wouldn't be caught dead serving crawfish out of season.

OVERRATED:

Cafe-30-A

Seagrove Market (which I used to love- bring back the baked potato)

The Hub BarBQ- used to get the brisket nachos. It was ok that I had to take out second mortgage to do so, especially if I wanted a $4.50 nonrefillable Coke, because the brisket portion was generous and good. Last time we were there you had to hunt for tiny cube of meat and more than half of what looked like meat was pure fat.

FAVORTES:

Not telling...are you CRAZY!

Need to change your name to Negative Nancy. 30A is busy 365 days a year for a reason. It is not a tourist trap!

over rated:
[redacted - want to keep it nice.]

Favorites:
Borago
Pizza by the sea
George's
The Donut hole
Great Southern
Bruno's Pizza
Goatfeathers
Flip Flops - in memorium

Overrated:
Pizza Bar
Seagrove Market Cafe (has gotten really bad)
Goatfeathers Restaurant
Red Bar
Pickles (Seaside)

Favorites:
Cafe Thirty A
Grayton Seafood
Chanticleer
Barefoot BBQ
Pickle Factory Pizza

Iris, try Goatfeathers again. Their team is awesome and the food has been very good the last few years! With consistency... Their grouper sandwich is something else.

What a fun thread!

Overrated:
Café Tango: I used to like it, but it seemed to slip some last few times to the point of being mediocre for price.
Mi Cocina: Just not that great and unless you are out on east end of 30-A, far cheaper and just as good (to better) options exist close by.

Gems:
Café 30A. Abrazzo. Trebeache (now that George is there, it used to be iffy). Steamboat for grease. Bruno's. Sushi at Old Florida Fish House (I gave up on main dining room years ago). Breakfast at Great Southern. McTighe's for late night grease. Red Bar has very good food but is not worth the hassle in busy season.

Iris, try Goatfeathers again. Their team is awesome and the food has been very good the last few years! With consistency... Their grouper sandwich is something else.

I'll try Goatfeathers again. It used to be bad.

Best 30-A restaurant IMO: Paradis.

Consistently good fine dining options moving east to west along 30-A: Cuvee 30-A, Paradis, Café 30-A, Surfing Deer, Trebeache, Basmati's. Sometimes good, but pretty inconsistent: Havana, Bud and Alley's, Fish Out of Water, The Vue.

Favorite casual South Walton place: Chiringo.

Terrific fine dining just west of 30-A: Seagar's, Bijoux.

If you haven't been to South of Philly for a real philly, then you've missed out! It's a hidden local gem loved by many locals!!! Just north of Gulf Place on Hwy 393. Say hi to Jeremy. One of our fave lunch spots.

I'll be polite and leave the over rated stuff unsaid. There are quite a few popular SoWal restaurants are over rated in my book but there are some true gems - usually where owners or managers are hands on and know their stuff and have attention to detail. Although there are a few hands on people whose table cloths don't quite cover the whole table if you catch my drift. :lol:

GEMS
Bud & Alley's - all 3
Paradis
Stinky's - Trebeache
Basmati's
Fish Out of Water
Mi Casita
South of Philly
Cafe Thirty-A
Real Thai
The Bay
Borago
Abrazo
Bijou
Local Catch
Hibiscus Cafe

I always try to boost businesses that are good and ignore the others. I am glad that a place like New Orleans doesn't put up with bad restaurants - at least most everywhere except the French Quarter where tourists are gonna be, tourists are trapped, tourists are gonna eat.
Unfortunately SoWal is like that in the Summer. Some places can stay in business just from Summer tourists.

Another problem is that a restaurant change partly or completely, so even if the entire menu, staff, and ownership changes for the better, an internet post can do long -term damage. Unfair!

Love the Perfect Pig in Seagrove. The potato parmesan crusted grouper is quite tasty.

I'll try Goatfeathers again. It used to be bad.

I've spoken with several tourists that absolutely LOVE Goatfeathers now. I'll be going to try after summer.

IF you want a real interesting discussion, let's talk about Wait Staff / Service as opposed to food and see who's who.