Uncle Ernie’s Bayfront Grill & Brew House

Uncle Ernie’s Bayfront Grill & Brew House is a waterfront seafood restaurant on Bayview Avenue in Historic St. Andrews, with indoor and outdoor seating looking out over St. Andrews Bay. The restaurant describes its setting as a quaint house that offers a dose of history the moment you walk through the door, and its wraparound verandas on the water side have made it a regular stop for locals and visitors who want dinner with a view of the sunset.

Like much of St. Andrews, Uncle Ernie’s took a heavy hit from Hurricane Michael in October 2018. The restaurant stayed closed for about two years while it was rebuilt, with local news reporting in 2019 that parts of the original building were being worked into a larger new structure built to updated codes. It reopened on October 10, 2020, the two-year anniversary of the storm. Co-owner Sean Lyon told WJHG at the time that a lot of heart and soul went into the place, not just for the owners but for the community, and tourism officials pointed to the reopening as a sign of the neighborhood’s recovery.

The kitchen focuses on Gulf seafood. The restaurant’s signature is wild-caught Gulf grouper, which it says is sourced daily from Greg Abrams Seafood, a Panama City seafood company. The menu also includes Prime Certified Angus Beef steaks, Maine lobster tails, seared sea scallops, pasta and chicken dishes. Past menus have featured a fresh catch sandwich with grouper or mahi, coconut pecan shrimp and a St. Andrews grilled seafood combo with shrimp, scallops, grouper and crab cake. Kids and gluten-free menus are available.

The bar side of the name shows up in handcrafted cocktails, specialty margaritas and Old Fashioneds, along with a selection of craft beer. The restaurant advertises live music nightly, which makes it a natural place to linger after dinner as boats come in to the nearby marina.

Uncle Ernie’s sits on the bay side of Bayview Avenue, a short walk from St. Andrews Marina, Alice’s on Bayview and the shops and restaurants of Beck Avenue. The restaurant lists closing time as 10 p.m., but hours and live music schedules can change with the season, so check hours before you go. For the best sunset seats on the deck, arrive early, especially on weekends and during spring and summer.

A visit to Uncle Ernie’s fits well into a longer afternoon in the neighborhood. Before dinner, walk the Bayview Avenue boardwalk near the marina, where a carved live oak known as the Pelican Tree is a favorite sunset photo spot, or stop into the Panama City Publishing Company Museum on Beck Avenue to learn how St. Andrews grew from a fishing and salt-making village into part of Panama City. On Saturday mornings, The Market at St. Andrews sets up in nearby Oaks by the Bay Park.