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Hog's Breath Cafe
904/244-2199
1239 Siebert St.
Okaloosa Island,
Fort Walton Beach
This local institution is ultra-casual, with $5 daily specials and lots of budget-stretching menu items. I particularly like the crab claws, soft-shells and various types of seafood, including Gulf shrimp saluted with the scampi treatment. Any dish featuring one of the great natural resources of the waters off Fort Walton Beach, amberjack, gets my serious attention; it's smoked for salads, battered and fried, chargrilled and cajunized - everything but blown with hog's breath. Lunch and dinner, with entrees $6.95 to $12.95, are served daily.
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Julia Mae's Seafood
Restaurant
904/697-3791
Highway 98
Carrabelle
It's been more than four years since Julia Mae sold her landmark shack on a finger of land near Carrabelle. Back in her old haunt, still advertising itself as serving the "Finest Seafood in the South," patrons still dine on her old recipes. That means terrific hush puppies, okra-loaded grouper chowder, awesome oyster stew, such fancies as shrimp creole and crab imperial, and burgers made with shrimp, oysters or scallops. There's still a stack of pies up front and restrooms out back. Lunch and dinner are served daily. Entree prices range from $6.50 to $20 for a large, let-it-all-hang-out seafood platter.
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Nick's On The Beach
904/267-2117
Highway 30A
Santa Rosa Beach
Since 1973, Bonnie and Frank Nick have been producing schools and schools of some of the best fried fish in Florida, first in Freeport at Basin Bayou and since 1989 here at Santa Rosa's Blue Mountain Beach area. There are burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches for the land-locked crowd, but I like the shrimp, oysters and fillets of fresh fish fried. Bonnie is in charge of recipes and her batter boasts a secret ingredient. There's also something secret and oh-so-satisfying in Old Nick's Original Seafood Gumbo. Dinner, with entrees $12 to $15, is served nightly.
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Parsley's South Carolina Bar-B-Q
904/664-2303
101 N.W. Hollywood Blvd.
Fort Walton Beach
Papa G's Porkers from Paradise, based in Fort Walton Beach, wins trophies awarded to the best barbecue teams in the U.S.; but unfortunately, they don't have a restaurant, only a barbecue trailer. So if you want 'cue in these parts, you have to check into Parsley's, a simple little place where the barbecue sandwiches and plates feature beef, chicken, pork, sausage and, of course, ribs. For side orders, I prefer the baked beans and Brunswick stew. And for dessert, what else but homemade banana pudding cake? Lunch and dinner, with prices in the $6-$14 range, are served daily.
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Posey's
904/984-5799
Highway 98
Panacea
This newcomer features an outstanding seafood buffet on Saturday nights, one of the bargains in the state, priced at $10.95. The regular salad bar boat is also bountiful, but then the man responsible for it all is named Noah Posey. His crew launches one of the best seafood platters with all kinds of freshness from Dickerson Bay. And if you over-indulge or want to explore the local area with its many seafood wholesalers, you can check into the Posey Motel out back. Breakfast (starting at 6 a.m.), lunch and dinner, with entrees $6.50 to $16.50, are served every day but Monday.
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Sam's Oyster House
904/939-1998
8495 Navarre Parkway
Navarre
904/244-3474
1214 Siebert St.
Okaloosa Island,
Fort Walton Beach
Sam Taylor was so successful that he cloned his "World Famous Seafood, Gumbo and T-Shirt" operation, opening a second location and doubling the pleasures of his seafood-loving customers. In Navarre, many of Taylor's patrons like to start with oysters raw, Rockefeller or Jason (with bacon and cheese bits and a dollop of pico de gallo). I like to start with cajun popcorn (fresh crawfish tails fried) or fried cocktail crab claws. I follow that with a pair of jumbo soft-shells, some gator tail or those all-you-can-eat southern fried catfish and mullet dinners. The Navarre location has a wonderful playground on the beach for families waiting for tables, as well as a fascinating fish tank where many of the menu specialties swim around. Lunch and dinner, with entrees $7.99 to $14.99, are served daily at both locations.
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The Lucky Snapper
Bar & Grill
904/654-0900
76 Highway 98
Destin
Since May 1993, this marina-front marvel, dangling its decks and dining room over the water, has appealed to me. For starters, I like the Hot Hoppers, Louisiana-raised frog legs in spicy sauce, and gator tail Bayou Teche, wrapped in bacon, deep-fried and served with honey-mustard. Their nachos are nifty, the seafood gumbo glorious and the crab cakes Bayou La Batre real beauts. But don't sell the jerk chicken or the blackened pork chops short. Lunch and dinner, with entrees ranging from $11.99 to $23.99, are served daily.