Your Summer Grub Spots
On The Menu
It’s summer! Time to get out and about on the EC. Plan to nosh and nibble your way through these great meals on menus at local inns, lodge-like eateries and petite pizza places by the sea.
Breakfast
Hibiscus House Café, Grayton Beach
One more reason to venture to gorgeous Grayton Beach is this cute little vegetarian café tucked into the first floor of an inn’s main house under a canopy of majestic live oaks. As with most things at Hibiscus Café, it’s low on frills but full of quirky charm. Breakfast options are chalked on a blackboard. We tried the Spinach Frittata featuring farm-fresh eggs, dark leafy spinach, tomatoes and zesty feta served with fresh fruit salad. Service wasn’t fancy — it came in a paper bowl with a plastic fork — but it was warm and flavorful. With live music wafting in from the back patio, Hibiscus is one more reason to love life at the beach. $5
Lunch
Pizza by the Sea, Santa Rosa Beach
Fair warning to pizza slices everywhere: Pizza by the Sea’s Meatball Sub is a tasty torpedo for healthy appetites. Juicy, flavorful, slow-cooked Italian meatballs smothered in zesty marinara sauce are piled into a freshly baked hoagie bun. It’s all served with chips and a drink. The pizzeria is popular with kids, and the Meatball Sub is surely one of the big reasons why. $9.99
Dinner
The Schnitzel Lodge, Niceville
Like the hearty German food it serves, the Schnitzel Lodge is warm and cozy. With old-style dishes such as gulasch, Frikadellen and 10 different types of schnitzel, it was hard to decide, but we settled on the Jaegerschnitzel. This delicious, hearty dish centers on a large portion of pounded pork, breaded and lightly pan-fried and topped with a rich and creamy mushroom sauce and warm German potato salad. (You can also opt for french fries or spaetzle [noodles].) When you pair it with a pitcher of cold Bitbeer served by a cheery waitress donned in a dirndl, you have the makings of an Oktoberfest party at the beach. Danke schön! $16.99
