Fish Out of Water

Fish Out of Water is the signature restaurant of the AAA Four Diamond WaterColor Inn & Resort, tucked into a second-floor dining room on Goldenrod Circle that looks straight out over the Gulf of Mexico. The family-style spot serves Southern coastal cuisine for lunch and dinner daily, with seasonal weekend brunch and live music that draws resort guests and 30A locals alike to a sunset table.

Since summer 2024 the kitchen has been led by Executive Chef Louis Martorano, whose career began in 1985 at the Waldorf Astoria New York. He went on to cook at the Boca Raton Resort and Club, the Hilton Orlando Convention Center, and for the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park, and his resume includes cooking for multiple United States presidents, appearances at the Food & Wine Classic, and dinners at the James Beard House in Manhattan. Martorano has said he and his family were drawn to South Walton’s natural beauty, small-town feel, and access to fresh seafood and local ingredients, and he keeps the menu tied closely to what is in season along the Gulf so it can keep reinventing itself through the year.

That local focus shows up on the plate: seared lump blue crab cakes, a Gulf seafood cioppino, a grilled ribeye, and whatever fish came off the boat that day, all plated with Southern sides. A Cauliflower Tabbouleh and a Florida Hot Crispy Fish Sandwich have become menu regulars for guests craving something lighter, and the raw bar turns out oysters pulled straight from Gulf waters. The dining room is built around an open kitchen, letting diners watch the cooks plate each dish in real time, a design choice that keeps the room feeling lively rather than formal even on a full house night.

Fish Out of Water does not take reservations, so the best strategy is to arrive early for a coveted balcony seat, especially around sunset. Groups celebrating something special can ask about the restaurant’s private Wine Room, built around an on-site wine cellar, and shoppers can duck into the first-floor package store for bottled wine, spirits, and branded gear to take home. There is also a daily happy hour that draws a crowd before the dinner rush.

Because it sits inside WaterColor Inn & Resort, a meal here pairs naturally with the rest of a WaterColor day. Walk down to WaterColor Beach Club next door for a swim before lunch, stroll the boardwalk out to Western Lake, one of Florida’s rare coastal dune lakes, or rent a bike and cruise the community’s oak-shaded streets before circling back for dinner. Few restaurants on this stretch of 30A combine a casual, family-friendly room with Gulf views from essentially every seat, and that combination, along with a kitchen that keeps chasing what is fresh and local, is what keeps Fish Out of Water near the top of most visitors’ WaterColor dining lists.

WaterColor itself sits along Scenic Highway 30A between the older communities of Grayton Beach and Seaside, a 499-acre master-planned neighborhood shaped by Cooper, Robertson & Partners under The St. Joe Company. That setting matters for anyone picking a dinner spot: guests can walk from Fish Out of Water toward Grayton Beach State Park in one direction or into Seaside’s town square in the other, which makes the restaurant a natural home base for exploring the wider 30A corridor rather than just a hotel dining room to check off the list.