Basil & Baxter’s Kitchen & Cocktails

Basil & Baxter’s Kitchen & Cocktails sits at 714 Howell Rd in Niceville, in a building whose plain exterior gives no hint of the polished dining room inside. The restaurant is locally owned by Jenee’, a Niceville native who built the business around Gulf shrimp, fresh fish, steaks, and wood-fired pizza, paired with a full cocktail program. Inside, chef and general manager Amber, a graduate of Johnson & Wales University’s culinary program, leads a kitchen that changes its menu regularly rather than settling into a fixed rotation.

The dining menu spans sizzling grilled entrees, slow-cooked specialties, handcrafted pizzas, and creamy pastas, with a separate wine list, drinks menu, dessert menu, and happy hour menu rounding out the offerings. Diners on Tripadvisor point to the grouper risotto, bourbon chicken, and made-in-house desserts as standouts, and reviewers consistently describe the space as bright and comfortable, with low-key music that keeps the room feeling relaxed rather than loud.

The building itself has a story worth knowing: it previously housed a Creole restaurant before the current ownership took it over and reworked the space, the service, and the menu into something with more polish and a wider range of dishes. That turnaround has paid off in local recognition, including a Diners’ Choice award and a strong overall rating on Tripadvisor, where Basil & Baxter’s ranks among Niceville’s top restaurants.

Reservations are recommended, particularly on weekend evenings, and the restaurant accepts bookings through OpenTable in addition to phone reservations at 850-678-2604. The bar runs its own happy hour in addition to the main dining hours, and the restaurant also offers catering for both appetizers and full entrees, making it an option for visitors organizing a private event or a larger gathering during a stay on the Emerald Coast.

The restaurant is open Monday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., making it strictly a dinner destination rather than a lunch stop, so visitors should plan an evening visit rather than swinging by midday. Given the compact dining room and the restaurant’s growing reputation, arriving early or reserving ahead is worth doing during peak tourist season, when the wood-fired pizza and cocktail list draw both locals and visitors staying nearby in Niceville.

Niceville sits inland from the main beach strip, on Boggy Bayou where it opens into Choctawhatchee Bay, and forms part of the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin metro area, close to Eglin Air Force Base. That location makes Basil & Baxter’s a good option for visitors who want a proper sit-down dinner without fighting beach-town crowds and parking, and it works especially well paired with an afternoon on the water followed by an evening reservation, since the kitchen does not open until 4 p.m. The full wine list and dedicated dessert menu also make it a reasonable choice for a date night or a small celebration during a longer Emerald Coast stay, and the restaurant’s catering menu extends the same food to private parties and events held elsewhere in the area. Visitors who prefer a lighter, drinks-first visit can stick to the separate happy hour menu at the bar rather than committing to the full dining room, which keeps the option open for a quick stop between other plans in Niceville.