Great Southern Café

Chef Jim Shirley’s Great Southern Café holds down Seaside’s central square with Southern cooking that made ‘Grits a Ya Ya’ — smoked gouda grits under sautéed shrimp and spinach cream — a Panhandle legend. Open from breakfast beignets through late dinner, with a raw oyster bar and palm-shaded square-side tables, it’s the town’s all-day gathering spot. Locally sourced, unapologetically Southern, and worth every minute of the wait.