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 thefoodwas outstanding! i ordered the pasta with sun dried tomatoes and chicken and my fiance ordered pork ribeye. ourfoodwas 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 theirfoodor 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.!

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

thefoodis 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

excellentfoodand 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 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. thefoodwas 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.

not impressed. we ate at marina cafe on 4-10-15.foodwas 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 thefoodwas 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

don't go to happy hour at the bar on fridays. i have eaten in the restaurant and thefoodwas excellent. i have also eaten the bar food, which is also excellent, but any time i have gone on fridays i am always disappointed with the service at the bar. after my husband and i stood at the bar for 10 minutes with no acknowledgment that we were even there, we found a seat at the bar on the end away from the bartenders (because there were no seats near them). the 2 waiters are way at the other end of the bar and never even look down to the other end. the one time one of them came our way and didn't even look up at anyone, i asked in a loud voice 3 times before they finally looked up and i asked if he would take our order. another time i went around to the other side and asked if they'd take our order, and he said he would come over there, but he never came over. another time he took my drink order but never came back with the drink. also, the prices are sky high after happy hour; my hubby ordered a double beam and coke and was charged $18.50 for it. many people got up and left because no one would wait on them. the one guy that was paying attention (the one who was bringing out the food), was the only one sympathetic to anyone there. why are there only 2 waiters during happy hour??? it's the same story every friday (i've been several times - don't know why i went back). never again!

keeps getting better. our third visit in three years was another pleasant and fulfilling dining experience. this was our first time with andy as our server and he along with the marina cafe staff are true professionals! the service you will receive will exceed your expectations, and rivals that of the finest five star restaurants we've visited in nashville and louisville. my wife and i love the sushi here, and we usually start with two rolls off the extensive sushi menu as an appetizer. the appetizers all look delicious, but we were hooked by the sushi on our first visit. my wife likes the metro martini, cherry cosmo, and she also had the zombie martini as well. the zombie martini has both light rum and 151 along with some other liqueurs if my memory serves me correct- quite strong but still pleased my palate. our friends had a mango mojito and a harbor view- all which had many accolades and praise. i decided to try the shrimp linguine- the spicy tomato sauce with capers, gulf shrimp, and kalamato olives was a no-brainer. my wife got my usual stapel dish- andouille crusted redfish with cayenne butter. our friends ordered the waygu hanger steak with chimichurri sauce, and jumbo creole bbq gulf shrimp with southern grits. ourfoodtook a bit to arrive and i know that goodfoodtakes time, but our server andy kept us stocked in the delicious bread and drinks. the entrees were all incredible! everyone but my wife tried an entree they had never had before and all were excellent. after dinner i had no room left for dessert but my wife ordered the vanilla creme brulee. she offered me the macadami laced cookie with it and i began to wonder why this delicious item isn't in the menu by itself. our friends both got the rum raisin bread pudding souffle. either one was a winner in my book. if you are in this area make sure you visit marina cafe. the portions are great, the atmosphere is top notch, servers here set the bar, drinks are great and original, and the price is "right on" with the area. if you go to the nearby "jimmy buffet" fried seafood paper cup cocktail joints you will ultimately spend close to the same amount as you would here. who knew one could find such a bargain in a state that helped re-elect obama!

worsefoodate in destin fl. we had a party of 40+ after wedding on the beach. the swordfish was nasty and the steak was so rare .....even after sending back a couple of times. we love a good steak cooked medium. this was the worse and most expensive!

this place is expensive, so we usually stick to ordering sushi at the bar. they have a great happy hour (half off drinks and sushi on weekdays) but last time i was there, i was disappointed to see they restricted which sushi was included in happy hour. overall, thefoodis good, although the service could be better!

yummm!!!. our waiter was chris h and he was perfect. ourfoodwas excellent and we could not have asked for a better night! we had 5 adults and 1 child(7yo). we ordered a couple of bottles of wine both excellent. we had several alcoholic drinks omg they were perfect! bread was crisp crust and soft in the middle. ourfoodorders consisted of ny strip, ribeye, pasta, redfish and duck. my redfish was the favorite. steaks were cooked to perfection. creme brulee and coconut creme pie where our desserts. they both were wonderful! all in all this will be one of our favorite places to eat while in destin.

are here last year and thefoodwas great, tried it out again tonight and the experience was top notch. we will be back.

skip the friedfoodmenus, come to marina cafe. made reservations on line and requested a window seat for 4. walley took our pic and seated us with hospitality. server stated they were famous for redfish and i would have to agree as it was awesome. others at our table had lobster salad, tomato blue cheese salad, fish tacos, scallops. the message here is that we had a wide variety of items and they were all on point exceeding expectations. skip all of the recommended friedfoodjoints and try the marina cafe.