marina cafe

came here to celebrate our engagement while on vacation. we were greeted by friendly staff and seated without having a reservation. first off let me say the food was outstanding! i ordered the pasta with sun dried tomatoes and chicken and my fiance ordered pork ribeye. our food was cooked perfectly and my wine was fresh. when they heard of our engagement they gave us ice cream on the house! very friendly, outstanding food, beautiful view of the harbor. its pricey but well worth every penny! be sure to stop here while your in town!!!! you won't regret it!!!!

happy hour sushi. a few of my friends and i went for the happy hour sushi from 5-7 last night and were highly highly disappointed. our waitress was slow because they didn't have enought help for all the people that show up for happy hour drinks and sushi. the waitress also told us all before we ordered that they were out of avocado, it was at the begining of sushi happy hour and they never had avocado!!!!???? most of the rolls contained this ingredient. if you don't have it, go to the store! it is just bad business.

after we ordered the waitress came to tell us in advance that she was sorry if things came out wrong because of the "special orders." only two people changed 2 rolls. there was 9 of us and the "special orders" came out correct and rolls ordered as is on the menu were all wrong like the kitchen had no idea what went into each kind.

before our meals came out our waitress failed to bring everyone a soy sauce bowl and she brought only low sodium soy. i asked for some regular soy and some extra hot sauce like siracha. she claimed they did not have either, which was a lie because i could see regular soy on another table and the "spicey tuna roll" was made with siracha.

as our ordered rolls came out our "marina rolls" which are supposed to be salmon, green onion, avocado with spicey crab on top were only salmon, nothing else. our spicey tuna roll which also has green onions and spicey sauce was only tuna, no spicey sauce. we complained and magically all the ingredients we requested came out, including siracha.

i do not appreciate a restaurant not having the proper ingredients to make their food or being lied to by the waitress. your staff needs to be better educated and you need to order your ingredients to supply your customers! overall the experience was a huge disappointment and i would never go back, especially if i had to pay full price.!

oh my, the redfish is to die for! it simply melts in your mouth! we will definitely be back !!!

patron. fabulous food...fabulous service...best meal i've had in years

happy hour and wonderful harbor view. we came for happy hour and enoyed half price martinis ans sushi. we ordered 4 sushi rolls that were all outstanding and fresh. the sunset view from our table was beautiful!


-----06 may, 2013-----

great happy hour and amazing view. we came for ahppy hour and enjoyed a nice tabhle over looking the harbo. we wnjoyed half price martinins and 4 sushi rolls! the sunset was amazing from out seats!

terrible service. my husband and i i were seated immediately but once sat we had to wait 10 minutes before we were greeted, given a menu, and had our waters filled. multiple waiters walks by and did not even stop to say i will be with you in a moment. once we were greeted it took another 5 minutes before our waiter came back to ask for our drink order. we were only the 4th occupied able on the deck that had 4 waiters. we ended up leaving before before ordered.

love this place! always great food and a pleasant atmosphere. surprisingly good deals at happy hour, too! my go to dish is the andouille crusted red fish.

the food is wonderful the service is great and it has a view to die for, when in destin don't miss marian café. we try to go  several times when we are in town and they also have a wonderful happy hour in the bar

excellent food and service with a great view of the harbor. it has a quiet atmosphere which was good for conversation. calamari appetizer was very good. sushi menu has a good variety. we had samari tuna sashimi which was superb. there were four of us dining and each of us chose a different fish entree...all were excellent. we had the brownie with cinnamon ice cream for desert. awesome!

i made reservations in january for a 14 february reservation at 1900 hours. when i got there i could tell that the restaurant was completely overwhelmed. i checked in with the hostess about 15 minutes early. and then i was completely forgotten. i've been to marina cafe at least 10 times and has never encountered this level of incompetence in the front in part of the restaurant. after 50 minutes of sitting at the bar i walked over and asked is there any chance that we will get our 7 o'clock reservation before 10 o'clock? the bottom line is they double-booked every reservation to make sure that they maximized profit. i don't think i'll be going here anytime soon and i certainly don't think i am going to recommend it to anyone anytime soon. i don't think they care for their owners business philosophy

i took my girlfriend to destin with plans to propose. i had called around to several different restaurants and tourist attractions in the area to decide on the perfect location. all of the places i called were dismissive and not very enthusiastic ... in fact one restaurant i called said they wouldn't take pictures during/after the proposal because they thought it was "distracting to other customers". then i came across marina cafe. when i called i told them i wanted to propose at their restaurant and immediately the office manager (i believe her name is judy... i might be wrong) was super excited and began to list off ideas of where in the restaurant would be the perfect place to do it. i did not ask about pictures, but due to her enthusiasm i immediately booked a reservation. in the upcoming week to our trip to destin i spoke to her again and asked if they might be able to take pictures and she said that they would do anything i wanted to do. once we arrived at the restaurant the hostess informed our waiter (freddie) that we had arrived and he personally walked us to our table where the manager (michael) was waiting to greet us. they really pulled out all the stops, even greeting me by name, pulling out my girlfriend's chair for her, and just making us feel like celebrities in general. i had told them that i was going to propose after ordering the entree and as soon as they saw it was happening they made sure to take pictures and a video on their cell phones and afterwards came up and got my number so they could send them to me. apart from helping out with the proposal, the service was phenomenal. freddie (our waiter) was incredibly friendly and attentive. the food was excellent (best steak i have ever had!!!!) and my fiancee's swordfish was to die for. after the meal they brought us complimentary ice cream (which was also delicious) with a decorated plate that said "congratulations"! apart from the service and the food, the view is beautiful - looking out at the boats in the marina. we were both just blown away by the whole experience and they helped create a night we will never forget for as long as we both live. this is a restaurant that we will visit every time we come back to destin (which we will, because we have family that owns a condo in the area). whether or not you have a special occasion, you definitely need to try out marina cafe!!! it is our new favorite restaurant.

first time here and it turned out great.  seems to be a little off the tourist path which is a nice change for locals.  the atmosphere is great with an awesome view of the harbor.  the wine list is extensive.  sushi isn't the main focus here but it is great, the kaboom roll was very good.  the jumbo lump crab on panko crusted eggplant medallions and herb crusted yellow fin tuna with yellow tomato coulis were both extremely good appetizers.  the grilled fish (wahoo) with summer vegetables and roasted red bliss potatoes was perfect.  excellent portion size for a piece of grilled wahoo.  the s’mores martini and crème brulee were great after dinner.  our waiter chris and the rest of the staff were very professional and extremely helpful.  dinner was a little expensive but well worth it for the experience and great food.  wish we would have found this place years ago.

great place for dinner. we ate here on march 10, 2015 and we had a great experience. our waiter, chris, was prompt, friendly and knowledgeable. the dishes my family had were all delicious but our favorite had to be the red fish. the only small complaint was that the kids meal pasta with marinara was way too spicy and zesty for her. they offered another option but my daughter was content with the potato side dishes so we didn't bother. the ambience was great and the view was beautiful. overall, a great experience and we would dine at marina cafe again.

not impressed. we ate at marina cafe on 4-10-15. food was overpriced and unimpressive. cobia was gelatinous, served with mushy greens that were unidentifiable. second dish was hanger steak that was so tiny it should have been called a sample portion, despite being a $34 dish. on a bright note martinis were tasty. don't waste your money on this place.

missed the mark. we have eaten at marina cafe probably 5 times over the last 15 years on vacation. this visit was more uneven. while the food was good, the service and overall experience have dropped a notch or two. after leaving cash for our pre - dinner bar bill, we proceeded to the host station to be seated for or reservation. the bartender found us at the host station to inform us that a trainee had "incorrectly rung our bill at happy hour prices" and handed us a new bar bill for double the original amount. the host visited our table about 5 time during the meal, which was way too much. two in our party had the grouper special , which was billed as a more healthy option. it was a 4-5oz piece with few vegetables as a garnish for $31. the menu and decor seem the same as 15 years ago, and the prices are too high for the creativity and meal you get. it's a nice setting, especially around sunset. they need some updates, and need to focus on getting things right, not so much on maximizing your bill and bugging you during your meal