The Back Porch Seafood & Oyster House

The Back Porch Seafood & Oyster House is the original Back Porch, a Destin favorite on the Gulf since 1974. It got its start in a small A-frame building on the beach along Scenic Highway 98, serving Gulf seafood with the best view in town, and a few years later the kitchen came up with the amberjack sandwich, the dish the restaurant credits itself with inventing. Southern Restaurant Group, which also runs Pompano Joe’s and Louisiana Lagniappe, later opened a second Back Porch at Pier Park in Panama City Beach, but the Destin deck is where the tradition began.

Oysters remain the heart of the menu. The Back Porch has served fresh Apalachicola oysters for more than 40 years, shucked raw on the half shell or baked as Back Porch Oysters, a topped and broiled preparation that regulars order as a starter or a main course. Grouper Destin showcases the kitchen’s other specialty, a Gulf grouper filet cooked in the same unpretentious style, and the chargrilled amberjack sandwich is still the order for first-timers. Seafood is delivered daily, so the menu follows whatever the Gulf is producing.

The restaurant sits right on the sand, so the deck looks straight out over the Gulf, and tables fill quickly around sunset. The atmosphere is casual rather than formal, true to its roots as a beachside A-frame, which makes it an easy pick for families coming straight off the beach. A daily happy hour from 3 to 5 p.m. is the best window to sample the oysters with a cold drink before the dinner rush.

That approach has kept the Back Porch relevant for five decades while Destin grew up around it, and it explains why longtime locals and first-time visitors both treat a meal here as part of a proper Destin trip. If you want a Gulf view with your dinner, arrive before sunset or plan on a wait.

The Back Porch Seafood & Oyster House opens daily at 11 a.m. at 1740 Scenic Hwy 98, Destin, FL 32541. Call 850-837-2022 or visit theback-porch.com for current hours and menus. The Panama City Beach location at Pier Park (16220 Front Beach Road) is a separate restaurant under the same ownership.