The Fish House

The Fish House is a waterfront seafood restaurant at Seville Harbour on the edge of downtown Pensacola. Part of the Great Southern Restaurant Group, it pairs Gulf seafood and Southern cooking with water views and a large outdoor deck bar, and it is closely associated with one of Pensacola’s signature dishes, Grits a Ya Ya.

Great Southern’s founders include brothers Collier, Will and Burney Merrill, whose family company owns the Seville Harbour building, and chef Jim Shirley. The restaurant took heavy damage in Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and reopened in March 2005 after a major renovation that added a 1,500-gallon aquarium dividing the dining rooms. In 2007 it added The Deck, a 3,500-square-foot outdoor bar with a performance stage. A private dining room is known as the Bait Shop, and the house motto promises that if the fish were any fresher, they would have to slap them.

What to order

Grits a Ya Ya dates to 1998, according to Visit Pensacola. It layers seasoned jumbo shrimp in a sauce of applewood-smoked bacon, garlic, shallots, portobello mushroom, spinach, scallions, white wine and cream over smoked Gouda cheese grits. It is the dish most first-time visitors come for.

The restaurant’s recipe for Grits a Ya Ya has been shared by Visit Pensacola, and it calls for Dixie Lily grits, chicken stock, heavy cream, butter, creamed corn and shredded smoked Gouda, finished with the bacon and shrimp sauce. The restaurant also hosts beverage tastings and oyster events, and its 2026 calendar includes a series of brewery, winery and distillery tastings running from August through December, along with an oyster event featuring Grayson Bay Oyster Co.

Beyond that, the kitchen hand-picks a fish of the day based on what local boats bring in. Depending on the catch, it may be red snapper, grouper, amberjack, cobia, wahoo, triggerfish or pompano. The menu also includes sushi, salads, sandwiches and house-smoked steaks for anyone not in the mood for seafood. The Deck has its own menu and is a popular spot for drinks and live music on warm evenings.

The Fish House lists hours of 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with Sunday brunch from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. It also runs special events and seasonal holiday meals, including Thanksgiving, so check hours before you go. Seville Quarter, Seville Square and Historic Pensacola Village are a short walk away, making it an easy lunch or dinner stop on a downtown sightseeing day.