the grand marlin of pensacola beach

wonderful and delightful experience.. my husband and i decided to try the grand marlin, it was excellent. ourfoodwas hot and delicious; for an appetizer i had the calamari which included not only calamari but deep fried pickles and deep fried banana pepper rings, along with a delicious dill dipping sauce. my husband had the brussel sprouts with the bacon lardons; it was delicious as well. for our entrees i had the grouper piccata and my husband had the shrimp and grits. and if that wasn't enough we also had dessert: the praline basket with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, chocolate and caramel sauce, and fresh berries in a praline basket. it was to die for! our server jana did an excellent job. my husband and i would go back again.


-----11 may, 2015-----

calamari. in addition to the deep fried calamari there was also deep fried pickles deep fried banana peppers and a little bit of deep fried green peppers it came with a dill dipping sauce that was delicious .

beautiful and flavorful. this was a lovely dining experience. the sat outside, just on the water and watched sailboats, dolphins and fishermen go by.
thefoodwas super fresh and delicious. the shrimp and grits had a warm, spicy, comfortfoodflair. i'm usually not a fan of grits, but this was more like polenta, which i love.the tomato and sausage had a great gumbo flair.
other dishes at the table included the local fresh grouper with salsa verde and mashed potatoes. yum! the salsa was a perfect accouterment, and the potatoes must have been half butter. the swordfish and asian slaw special had great flavor, but i'm not a swordfish fan so the others won for me.
don't miss the cocktails. my mojito was excellent and i'll be trying the white wine sangria with sage and cucumber next time i go!

awesome experience.... eating outside! the view was incredible overlooking the sound.foodwas good and we had a good waiter. exceptional bushwackers...

greatfoodand people. i am a regular customer at the grand marlin. my husband and i love going there for lunch, brunch and dinner. i think the grand marlin is one of the best restraurants in the area. i have never had a bad meal there and the servers are always super nice. i will say that we always go at odd times so we don't have to wait. there can be a long wait depending on the time you go. i think this alone shows you how popular the place is. i read one review that said they had a better meal at flounders. i guess if you are a tourist and don't know the difference between frozenfoodand mass marketfoodand the real deal then yes, i guess it wouldn't matter. but, since we have lived here for over 40 years and we fish the area, i can tell you thefoodat the grand marlin is top notch! not frozen pre-battered junk thrown in a deep fryer!

overpriced & overhyped. let's start at the beginning. first we asked for outdoor seating but the hostess stand is ran by three inexperienced young "cute" girls. they need for professional hostesses in a restaurant that has an upscale look.....anyways we were given indoor seating. they apologized for that. okay, strange start for a place we were told was so locally, highly revered. listening skills are always a problem among younger people and i'm 30. we sit down outside and the table we were seated at was far too windy. we politely asked for another table and they got us seated but the hostess (once again looked 17) wiped down the table....supposedly. it still hadfoodremnants on it and smelled like fish. we got the calamari because it was highly reviewed here on urbanspoon....the menu does not explain it is calamari but it also has pickles and bell peppers as well. the menu does state is has banana peppers on it that's it. also, if you ask for ranch or marinara they don't have any for substitute. the lime aioli is far too sweet for my tastes and the fact that a restaurant doesn't have any ranch on hand makes me glad i didn't order a salad. the calamari ended up seeming like a rip off, too much other fried vegetables and not enough seafood for the $9.95 price. peg leg pete's offers same taste on the same dish for a basket of all calamari not fillers. now, to the entrees. my husband and i ordered the filet mignon & the ribeye. the steaks were phenomenal. tender, great cuts but no seasoning. this company would have steak lovers flying in the door if they actually seasoned them a bit. we put salt and pepper on them it helped. overall though i would rate steaks themselves a 5 star rating. sides were average.....all in all with my always 20% tip because our waitress did nothing wrong....we didn't dare get dessert at their prices due to poor appetizer and sides being boring...our bill was $94 and at that rate we shall not return again. the chef needs to find the nearest o'charley's chain restaurant and order a louisiana sirloin and take note. o'charley's meat isn't as good but the seasoning makes it amazing.

this place is amazing!!! saw it when we first got into town and saw how busy it was and knew we had to try it! after my dads wedding we all went there and ate, and i must say that we had the best experience ever!foodwas terrific and the management was even better! owners knew exactly what they were doing by opening this place up!! you have got to try it!

service was unreal for p cola. i have been to the grand marlin several times and found the service hands down the best this town has to offer.
i used to go to the fish house but thefoodat the grand marlin and the fact that server tony remembered my entire tables first names gave me that comforatable feel good that the rest of pensacolas spots could not match.
a toast to pensacola...bout darn time!!!!

new favorite. we dined at grand marlin tonight, an early mother's day, as we don't care to fight the crowds. beautiful view, attentive but not intrusive service and simply wonderful food. i love a good presentation, though i won't avoid a place if presentation is the only thing lacking. grand marlin'sfoodis as gorgeous as it is tasty. we had an all-seafood night - bbq'd shrimp and oyster rockefeller for appetizers, and four different kinds of fish, all cooked to perfection. while many restaurants use accompaniments to fill a plate, the sides here were a perfect compliment to the main dishes. i have a feeling i'll be dreaming about the grouper piccata - i must figure out how to do that to capers!

i'd heard great things about the praline basket, so we ordered one and four spoons. it wasn't the typical heavy praline (which i love), but a light, delicate thing, filled with berries and a fabulous vanilla ice cream. truly a revelation, and a perfect end to the meal. the waiter says the bread pudding is even better, so i guess we'll have to go back for that!

more a factory than a restaurant. the grand marlin is nothing if not "grand." the word only applies to the size of this restaurant. it certainly doesn't apply to customer service at all and only tangentially to the food.

when i asked to be seated outside, i wasn't prepared for the 20 knot wind that blew across my table constantly. the server tried to be helpful, but said the place couldn't close the wind screen and he couldn't move my table or offer me another table. the manager was of little more help. just trying to keep the silverware on the table was a chore, even as the hotfoodrapidly cooled.

as to the food, nothing special here. the kitchen just seems to churn out the overpriced entrees with little regard to presentation or taste.

you may want to try any of the smaller, much more genuine, seafood restaurants that abound nearby. the grand marlin is a factory or at best a mess hall. but a fine seafood restaurant it isn't.

after eyeing the pensacola beach location, i finally made it to the grand marlin. the greeting upon arrival is always warm and welcoming. the staff does everything they can to make your dining experience beyond exceptional.

once seated, my marvelous server ramon, helped me decide on several things and described thefoodand drinks with clear detail to help me find exactly what i was looking for. with so many tasty options to choose from, i finally decided on the blackberry mojito and bbq shrimp to start with. for the main course i just had to have the sunday special of prime rib with whipped potatoes and seasonal vegetables (string beans). everything was exceptional!

when visiting pensacola beach be sure to swing by the grand marlin for great customer service, wonderful wait staff, extremely tasty food, and a good drink!

*this is not a sponsored review.

had thanksgiving dinner here and was very impressed with thefoodand the service! thefoodquality was excellent and the menu options for the holiday was very good

amazing location, great view and service.

we ordered the lobster fingers, gulf shrimp with creole mustard and fresh catch red snapper with caper sauce. all was fresh, soft and so good.
one thing i would consider is amount of salt added both to shrimps (probably ingredient of the spicy sauce but anyway) and smashed potatoes.

we also ordered lime moose with crunchy bottom (hope this sounds correct:)) and it was delicious apart from moose:) little too much butter i think or whatever keeps the whole moose in shape:)
i just shoot as have no idea about cooking. only idea i have is if i like something or not:) based on subjective taste and comparison.

to sum it up. service andfoodreally great, location fantastic and without any doubts i would recommend to anyone. i'd rate 5 if there was more attention to salt.

thefoodand the service were amazing. mark, our server, made sure we never needed anything and was very attentive. the restaurant clearly prides itself on using the best local ingredients available. thefoodwas prepared perfectly; we had scottish salmon, oysters, scallops, and red snapper. delicious!

this place is a good time! just went for drinks with friends from out of town and sat outside and looked over the sound, listening to a good band play on the outside bar area. we had appetizers and they were pretty good, but just standard fare of crab claws and calamari, they were both fried a bit too long, but most out-of-towners would not notice and our friends did not seem to either. 

in the past we have come here many times and have done everything from brunch to very late, last ones left in the restaurant type of thing, and thefoodis good most of the time. we did have one bad experience with some oysters but it happens. 

i suggest having brunch or dinner outside on the deck when the temperature drops a about 10 degrees in the fall, and if you want to have a great water view, you will have to be seated outside in the bar area (frequently a loud band will be playing) or in their air conditioned overflow dining, in the back of the restaurant, so be sure to ask for it. the main dining room does not directly overlook the sound, but instead the bob sikes bridge and pensacola beach rd. you can see the sound, you just are not right on top of it. 

at the end of the day, this is a solid seafood restaurant, and for nicer dining on the beach it is hard to beat. there are other seafood restaurants on the island that are better, but one in particular offers a much more casual dining experience. to find that one, think of a one legged seafarer. happy dining.
-b-

awesomefoodand atmosphere! the brown butter caper sauce is so good i would lick it off the floor! definitely a "must go to" place in pensacola beach. and make a reservation! they get busy!