Oar House

Looked a little rough, but was delicious. $ 3 house specialty margaritas were great. The kids all had the all you can eat popcorn shrimp and loved it. I had the blackened grouper sandwich– I will definitely be making this at home and hubby had the grilled grouper. Reasonably priced, good food, friendly service.

Good food and very friendly service! Walked across the street from Waterscape (straight off the beach in our cover ups). You would never imagine this would be the place, but they had EXCELLENT sushi!!! Very fresh and fancy! Good appetizers… shrimp wrap and popcorn shrimp very good too! Great drink specials! Not a fancy place but would definitely recommend it if you don’t want to get showered and all dressed up for a special dinner. Will go back again!

Food was good. Prices seemed a little high for the type of place it was. French fries were of the cheap frozen variety. We had the waitresses spill a drink on us (accident). But the kids did get to write on the walls. there are better places to eat then here.

Since this is about food, I’m giving Four stars to Oar House. The atmosphere is lacking but the food was their saving grace! I had the Volcano Sushi Roll… yep sushi… and it was unique but really – really good! It was Fourth of July and they were nice enough to let us stay and watch the fireworks from there. Tiny place, so you may have to wait.

The food is terrific. I had blackened grouper with a house salad. The blue cheese dressing was very good. The atmosphere of the restaurant would rate a two. The service would rate a four.

Is there a zero stars option? I seriously question the sanity of anyone that gave a decent review. We went here because it was across from our condo and it was absolutely disgusting. We should have walked out when we only saw 2 people eating. Bartender didn’t even know how to make the drink I ordered off the menu. Kids chicken didn’t look like any chicken I’ve ever seen! Horrible crab cakes covered in sauce to hide the excessive breading. Grilled shrimp seemed frozen and cheap quality. Playground was lead poisoning waiting to happen! Just AWFUL.

You should believe all of the reviews talking about this place being a diamond in the rough. When you walk inside, it looks like a cheesy college dive bar, but the blackened grouper was delicious. They have a play area outside for children, and they were very accommodating.
The biggest surprise of all was the seasoned grilled vegetables. They were well cooked and full of flavor! I’ve been to restaurants in Destin that charge $ 30-​$ 50 a plate that had worse food than Oar House. There is nothing pretentious or appearing like a tourist trap about this restaurant. I will return if I am ever in the Fort Walton area again.

Walking into the place makes you feel like you’ve walked into a rough biker bar. There’s writing and graffiti on every wall and all furniture. However, once you meet the staff and they hand you a sharpie you realize it’s part of the theme.
To be honest, my expectations were low due to the theme, but I was pleasantly surprised. I ordered their BBQ bacon cheeseburger with fries and my wife ordered unlimited popcorn shrimp. Both were excellent. The burger was ½ meat, ¼ pulled pork and their own BBQ sauce. I couldn’t finish it. The popcorn shrimp was awesome — some of the best we’ve had.
Our waiter took an order of eight (four adults & four kids) without writing anything down and got the order 100% correct — pretty impressive.
If you’re looking for a casual environment to hang with a good meal, the Oar House is a great option.

This place is a diamond in the ruff. We wanted take out so we chose this place. I ordered the crab cakes with side of cole slaw and pups. The crab cakes were delicious. The had just enough kick to them and were loaded with crab meat inside and out. The cole slaw was just the right sweetness to go with the kickin crab cakes.
I do not know what everyone was complaining about.

Always a good experience, we have dined in and ordered take out. The staff is friendly, the atmosphere is great and I always enjoy my burger.
When ordering take out the food took only 30 minutes and turned out as expected, very good.

This place has potential, but fell short today. 12 dollars for a grouper sandwich and no sides. It was and extra 3 dollars to get one. 2 for 1 drinks does not exist either. The grouper sandwich was good but I hate leaving a restaurant hungry.

The shrimp was ok, but the manager denied my friend their advertised endless shrimp– then said that their sign stating «2 for 1 drinks» was inaccurate but proceeded to act as though it was a kindness granting 2 for 1 drinks. This place is bad news and should be recommended only to those content with good food and inconsiderate service –or to those you particularly resent.
When i conversed with the manager, he could explain very little about our current situation (of not-​endless-​shrimp) and seemed generally incompetent with each response to a question. I told him how it was our second day in a row at his restaurant because of the endless shrimp (despite the first night where our food took 45 minutes to be cooked) and he expressed little gratitude. He also paralleled my shrimp consumption to that of a seagull’s. In my good conscience and from a complete stranger, please do not go here. (Oh and the whole place smelled like ocelot piss)

I did not find this to be a gem. I like hole in the wall joints… but this was not good. The staff was very friendly. The place appeared clean. But the food was expensive and did not taste good. We ate the stuffed grouper– it tasted like stove top stuffing. The garlic mashed potatoes were instant potatoes. I did not care for the margaritas or the daiquiri.

To quote an earlier Unilocaler, «This place is a gem…» A diamond in the rough. Food and service deserve five stars (minimum). My only angst is the décor; there isn’t much going on and writing all over the walls and booths has always been a turn-​off to me, but that’s just me, it works for some! Our meals were delicious, the service was delightful, and we will be back.
The Fried Pickle Basket was great, some of the best fried pickles I’ve ever had (my husband says they ARE the best he’s ever had). Maybe a little pricey for a «simple» appetizer, but I would order them again and again. I could actually taste the tanginess of the pickles and they had crunch to them; the coating was not too heavy and was tasty.
My husband ordered the Blackened Grouper Sandwich and is hooked! I tasted the grouper and the seasoning was amazing and the fish was very fresh. The seasoning may have been a bit salty (not too salty for us — we loved it — but I could potentially see it being a tad too salty for some palates).
I had the Coconut Shrimp Basket and the shrimp was fresh and cooked just right, juicy perfection inside and nice crunchy batter and coconut on the outside. The Hush Puppies were so-​so, not a lot going on.
We are definitely going back to venture out and try some more menu items. I was a little nervous because of some of the previous reviews, but so glad we went.
This is fresh, tasty, well seasoned, hearty food with great service. It’s what brings me back to a restaurant.

This place is a gem on Okkaloosa island. The two guys who bought the old Fudpuckers and run it are some of the nicest guys around. One of the owners is also the cook and I have to say one of the best burgers I’ve had in my life. The whole menu is great and the drinks are cheap, worth checking out.

Let me begin with the positives (the things that made me give it 2 stars, not 1): the fried pickle appetizer was quite good, as were the coconut gulf shrimp and the service (pleasant and attentive staff)
What makes me say I definitely wouldn’t recommend it:
–The atmosphere was poor– terrible lighting with a rundown feel. The atmosphere alone would make me not want to come back.
— the kids meals-​overpriced and poorly done. The Mac and cheese definitely seemed like something that came out of a box. And the «fruit» it was served with was a processed fruit cup.
–overpriced overall for the quality of food (almost $ 47 for 1 adult and 3kids)

Oar house is an okay place. I’ve eaten here several times and i’ve never had a great or horrible experience. The Fried Shrimp Po Boy is definitely good, prob the best on the menu. Some of the other items I’ve ordered here are so-​so. But most of the prices are reasonable so you get what you pay for.
They have 2 for 1 drinks all the time which is what brought me in the door when staying across the street at the Hampton Inn.

I am staying in a nearby hotel and wanted dinner within walking distance. The first thing I noticed was several cars in the lot. As I was entering, I saw several locals eating, drinking, and listening to a little live music — always a good sign. So, I decided to give it a try even though I had read the negative reviews… I was a bit nervous and asked my server a few questions.
I ordered a grilled grouper sandwich and grilled vegetables. The service was good and the order was finished in less than 15 minutes. Before I got started on it, I gave it a careful inspection; the fish was fresh not frozen, the lettuce was crisp, and the tomato was a full even slice, the bun was warmed but not dried, and the seasoning was right about the spice level I like. Even better, the grilled vegetables were fresh NOT cooked in bulk and reheated and they were nicely seasoned too. Over all a good meal and about $ 12.

Hopefully this review won’t get filtered by Unilocal allowing someone to avoid a bad restaurant.
Went here back in May. There appeared to only be one server working and was taking someone’s order/​apologizing for the delay. I stood by the entrance for a while, not in any real hurry, patiently waiting to be seated. The server eventually notices me an tells me to sit anywhere. Okay, not a problem.
I then sit and proceed to read my book while he runs off. There were only 4 tables on the filled on the inside and maybe one or two on the outside. I sit, I read, I wait. He comes back with some food for another table. He leaves. He comes back with a check for another table (plus an apology for the wait). He leaves. Eventually, after about 30 minutes… he hasn’t asked me if I want a drink, heck I hadn’t even seen a menu yet… I decided I’d had enough and left. As I walked out I noticed a couple who looked very unhappy sitting at a table outside — no food either.
My guess is this place stays open solely on the tourist traffic, maybe the bar life. As the other reviewer mentioned, this place has a pretty much empty parking lot even now on my return trip in the busiest time of year. There are better places to eat with better service.

This place is a «don’t return» kind of place. The empty parking lot should’ve warned us but we thought since we were eating a little early that maybe that was why.
I ordered the crab cakes with mac and cheese and okra.
–Crab Cakes come with a seafood sauce all over the top. The crab cake itself tasted premade to me? The sauce on top was too dark and heavy for the rich dish and I had heartburn from it the rest of the night.
–The fried okra was pretty good, nothing wrong with it!
–The mac and cheese was cold and gloppy. Nasty.
I have higher expectations when I pay $ 20 for a meal. This place needs to work harder.