DJ is a jerk! We arrived so early there was barely anyone at the bar. I sang 2 songs and so did a few other people that were there early as well. I later sang another song and waited as long while to sing a 4th song i had written on his list. I went up to see wher ei wa son the song list and the DJ said i sang 4 songs already (he had problems counting). Now, that ther were more patrons he jsut skipped over me and tossed his list to the side and started another list. We gave him $25 tip and i wish I hadn't because, of his rudeness and lying. 2 stars for the bartender- green tea shots were perfection! read more

I waited over an hour to sing karaoke with my name not being called. My wife also was there and she also agreed my name was never called but the rude dj said it was. Spent over $100 and got treated like shit! Don't care about their customers. read more

Donovan's Reef is a liquor store on one side and a bar on the other that is located in Panama City beach Florida. Me and a friend of mine explored the liquor store spot only as it was located right across the street from our condo "Aqua". The store was a bit on the pricey side compared to back home in Lousiville. But you expect that in a tourist hot spot. They had a surprisingly solid bourbon selection. After browsing a few we went light with our selections. We were down there with family so no getting too wild. I believe he ended up with some Bud light lime and a fire ball shot for his wife. I got something I've been wanting to try and that's the crown Royal mixed with cola cans. Crown and Pepsi is my favorite at home Concoction so it's been in my to do list. The 4 pack was $15 so very pricey. But I was glad to finally try it and the drink was tasty. Made for a nice night of hanging out on the patio and enjoying a few drinks. Overall solid trip that served its purpose that we needed it to. Workers walked back and forth on a side door tot he bar so I got a quick glimpse inside. Seemed like a pretty solid atmosphere. read more

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My wife and I were staying in Panama City Beach and we checked into Donovan's and they gave me a free draft beer. Yeas Please, I got the Oyster City Mango IPA and the bartender was great. There were not a lot of people inside, but it seemed like a fun place. The beer was amazing. Really fruity and hoppy. Good times. read more

Not my scene. It's a gross dive bar and people smoke in there. It was packed. Way too many sketchy characters. Probably really easy to catch COVID and any other sickness. They do have a free beer offer when you check in. read more

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My friend who is a veteran with an ADA service dog was denied entry into this bar yesterday with his service dog. When we entered we were greeted by the rude doorman who stated no animals were allowed in the bar. We explained it as a service dog and my friend was a disabled veteran. The doorman said he didn't care and the owner did not want any animals in the bar. We kept trying to educate the guy but he did not want to listen. This is how Donovan's treats disabled veterans? read more

Walked in, looked around, no prices on beer in cooler, naturally asked. Gained a hearty "$14 or $15, I really don't know..." Deuces, gotta go read more

Bad service , if you live locally go somewhere they recognize your good service not prove your yourself after multiple visits!!!!!! They value anything over regulars ... read more

LAST STANDARD PASS WAS 2020 DO NOT COME HERE Standard not met: PREVENTING CONTAMINATION BY HANDS: Handwashing sinks properly supplied and accessible (2 counts) Standard not met: PREVENTING CONTAMINATION BY HANDS: Hands clean and properly washed Standard not met: PREVENTION OF FOOD CONTAMINATION: Contamination prevented during food preparation, storage and display Standard not met: UTENSILS, EQUIPMENT AND VENDING: Nonfood-contact surfaces clean Standard not met: PHYSICAL FACILITIES: Toilet facilities: properly constructed, supplied, and cleaned (2 counts) Standard not met: UTENSILS, EQUIPMENT AND VENDING: Food and nonfood-contact surfaces cleanable, properly designed, constructed, and used read more

Horrible, horrible, horrible. If you're an out of towner, you knight as well, not even try to sing a song. You won't get called. The locals rule it and ruin it. The same people go up countless times while we sit waiting, knowing our turn was 10 songs ago. We left after 2 and a half hours of waiting. And probably still never got called. While 4 people we saw go up 2 times, 1 even went up 3 times. This is not how you treat those who bring you money from outside. The lady bartender was kind of rude as well. It was just a horrible experience. read more

For starters, I would not recommend this bar if you're not comfortable around cigarette smoke. Other than that, I walked right in and ordered a margarita from Tif, super nice lady; she got me my drink right away. My drink tasted just like I wanted it to, it was just right. I ended up getting a second one and my tab ended up being $9 total, much less expensive than some of the other drinking spots around this area. They booted up the karaoke not soon after I arrived and the MC kicked it off with a song I'd never heard before, but holy smokes does that man have some pipes! Overall, my 20 minute visit was really positive and I was even offered some freshly delivered pizza from a kind stranger down the bar. I would recommend this to anyone comfortable (or tolerable) around cigarette smoke. read more

3 stars because this review can be negative or positive depending on the audience It is a smoking bar. If you suffer from chronic bronchitis or asthma, just entering will create an episode If you, on the other hand, want to touch the hand of death and already gave up half a lung, come in read more

Great service. Spent the week in PCB and had a great time. The Reef had all of our favorite refreshments!

Do not go to this bar. "BBQ mike" literally put his hands on me and shoved me out of Donovan's at 4:02am. I didn't know they were closing and he pushed me out the door LITERALLY. I had to run to the restroom from outside (the door was unlocked) and thought he was joking when he said I had to get out, until he physically pushed me out of the door. Should contact my attorney. Absolutely unacceptable for a man to ever*** touch a female in that matter. Very rude. The guy bartender with the gages was very sweet though. read more

Donovan's Reef - Bars Near Me - Panama City Beach, Florida

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Awesome place, locals, tourist, biker friendly, live music, kareoke, darts, pool, giant jenga, dance floor, jello shots, puddinf shots, gotta try a reef bomb!! Dj, drinks specials, happy hour, outside smoking which is a new thing but has turned out very well, just put in new railings outside and barn style sliding doors, covered patio right across from the beach. Bartenders are fantastic Chris, Bobby, Frank and Lisa 21+ read more

Donovan's Reef - Great night at the reef. Good friends - Bars Near Me - Panama City Beach, Florida

This place was horrible. The ID checkers were rude. They also advertised karaoke and were not doing it.

Would not let me sit outside with my service dog. Couldn't stay because I can't be somewhere with out him. I showed them my legal documents and they still wouldnt allow us to sit outside on the patio. We said we'd be taking our business elsewhere; walked down to shuckem's and got excellent service and hospitality. read more

Very disappointed with this bar. My friends and I went and had a great time at karaoke one night. Went back the next night and the same bouncer that let us in the night before denied my entry and kicked us all out, even though my ID is 100% real and I turned 21 earlier this year. The only reason for this is because I look younger than i am. Absolutely ridiculous. The bouncer is the dumbest son of a b**** and should not be doing what he does if he clearly can't even tell a real ID from a fake one. Very frustrating as my friends and I all loved the night that we had there. We originally planned on coming here every night for the rest of our trip, but unfortunately will not as long as this bouncer is working. read more

Our trip would not had been the same with out the staff at Donovan's . Everyone is fabulous! Made us feel welcome each time we came in. Beer is cold. Decent selection including the ones on Tap. Broad range of customers. Daily karaoke is a riot! Made many memories with the staff and the locals. read more

Best place for karaoke. Don't listen to the 1 start nonsense. Open every night of the week with great drink prices and an awesome atmosphere! 5/5 the place to be. read more

Kent and Melissa. she's super entertaining and bubbly and Kent is a super nice guy that looks out for women.

This place on the outside looks like a dive. And really it could be considered a dive bar. But aren't dive bars the best? Let's start with the essentials. The drinks are cheap, the pour is great, the bartenders are wonderful. We spend a week in PCB each year and this place is right across the street from where we stay. They have a great happy hour from I believe 3 - 7pm. I've met some pretty wonderful people in this bar. I even sang karaoke (Landslide). They have a giant janga game and so much more. The next time you're in PCB drive to the west end near Pier Park and come have a drink at Donovan's. I'll be there real soon. read more

This bar is for the locals. They HATE tourist. I went for my bachelorette party and the bartender Tiffany was super nice, but she warned me that when the bouncer arrived hours later that he would probably kick us out. The second he showed up he was shooting us dirty looks. Not less than a half hour later I was walking to the bathroom and he just started yelling at me and accusing me of starting stuff in his bar. I just stood there baffled asking what I did and he walked up on me and started body bumping me towards the door and yelling in my face telling me to get out. We went to bars at pier park the rest of the trip and had a fabulous time. Don't waste your time at Donovan's. read more

Would have given less than 1 star if I could. The owner is absolutely terrible. They consistently deny people that are over 21 for no reason. The place is disgusting and would not pass an inspection if it tried. If you go here, expect to get denied, or at best catch a cheap buzz from the lingering smoke and cheap liquor. Go to another bar in the area, you won't regret it!! Just want to save everyone some time! read more

This bar looked super fun and I was excited to sing my go to karaoke song until we walked in and it was all smoking...

Sweet spot! Came here on a Friday night around 2 am to grab some drinks with my husband and it was really cool. They have two or three pools tables and being from North Carolina it's cool that these bars stay open until four. Had a blast! read more

Donovan's Reef - Bars Near Me - Panama City Beach, Florida

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Found this lil spot visiting my bestie for a few days. Loved it! Great staff, great atmosphere. Definitely will be a regular visitor read more

Donovan's Reef - Love Dononvan's! Awesome people! Definitely check it out! - Bars Near Me - Panama City Beach, Florida

Short visit to shoot pool... If this was a non-smoking bar, then we would have stayed longer to try food and drinks.

Picked this random bar when I was in town visiting a friend last weekend, and man am I happy that I did! Bartenders were so funny and outgoing and made great drinks! If you are looking for a place to shoot some pool and hang out with friends, you can't really find a better place in PCB! read more

Bobby makes the best damn bloody marys on this bloody earth that we live in. Frank gives 5 star service with a smile. Dang it! i!!I love this bar!!! read more

Oh my what fun, dark and dingey, we played Queen and Fat Boy Slim on jukie, we drank red and white yuck, we laughed we talked nonsense and got invited tp a party on Saturday, and we will go, ho hum what fun. But seriously, super nice bartender lady and her friend. Great sense of humor. No food just booze and smoke but you can pick up breakfast or food and bring it in. Pool and darts read more

We went on a Wednesday when the arcade was packed, which was fine. We decided to eat instead so the host sat us in the restaurant which I remember thinking was surprisingly slow for how busy the arcade was. The host darted around the corner and said "follow me". By the time we got around the rope and the counter, he was halfway to our table and we raced to catch up. We chuckled about it when we sat down as it was an awkward/different but amusing experience. 3 minutes later a waitress came over with an order of wings and tried to deliver them to our table. We told her that we hadn't ordered yet (we didn't have drinks and we still had our menus open in front of us) and she said, "umm. Oooooh kay" and walked away. That was the last person that interacted with us in the 19 minutes that we were there. 3 different staff members walked by a combined 10 or more times. One waitress even cleaned TWO tables that were directly by us. Not one person thought it was odd that two people sat there for 19 minutes with menus and no drinks, so we left. One waitress mumbled something (I honestly have no clue what she said or if she was even talking to us) as we were walking away and the host just gave us a blank state as we walked out. read more

We waltzed into Donovan's around 9 pm on a Friday night looking for karaoke and a good time. and BOY did Donovan's deliver. The beer is cheap, the karaoke is bumping, and there were plenty of pool tables to go around. The ratio there was ideal- mostly men, most of them were unattractive, but willing to buy you a drink. However, like any good night on the town, there were a couple of bumps in the road. The pool table only took coins, which, of course, we did not have. But let me tell ya - what a GREAT way to get a conversation going with that cute boy you've had your eye on across the bar. Dirty mike, the MC, played some rather questionable music in between the karaoke, which really elongated the process and we had to wait for our turn for quite a while. Although, I'd like to think the patrons of Donovan's that night would say it was worth the wait. When we went to take our name off the list, dirty mike gave us a $5 collateral to stay. worth it. read more

This review is about Donovan's Reef on front beach road in Panama City Florida . If we could put zero stars we would . We went to this place two night in a roll while visiting Panama City . The first night the karaoke dj was an ass hole with an attitude . The bar back or managers who ever he is was seen taking a lady's purse that was left on the front deck and went through it and took out everything in it , head phones , nice large cup , and other valuables out and put them aside before putting the purse In what I'm assuming was the lost and found by the refrigerator! Here nor there the point is he should not have touched anyone's personal property in their purse other than maybe I. D . in order to identify the owner !! Since this is the only karaoke place that stays open late that we found we decide to go back the second night. We had our 12 year old small Chihuahua ( Registered service animal) with us and we seen the sign that said no pets . So we had to leave her in the car . This is at night time when it's cooler and we were going out every 20 minutes or so and cranking the vehicle to make sure it's not to hot . The same manager / bar back from the night before came in and had the dj to make a big scene about a dog left in a car saying they was about to break out our car windows ! Now look everyone before you start bullying us this is 1:30 am at night when it's cool we love our dog and wouldn't leave her in a hot car during the day time !!! My wife went straight out the door to check on the situation and he started yelling at her to the point of making her cry and saying he was about to break out the window and call the cops ! She got our dog out and then he started yelling saying don't bring that dog in here it's private property . She wasn't even trying to bring the dog in she was waiting for me to come out from getting off the stage from singing a song . This guy is a total ass hole ! Very unprofessional ! This place is not dog friendly at all little lone people friendly . I was talking to the dj about singing and he told me he wished all these fucken people would leave they was all none tipping ass holes . Really ? The only reason I got to get up and sing sooner than I was supposed to was I tipped him . Very unprofessional place ! Yeah on the flip side you can go there and drink because nobody will I.d you I seen girls that looked maybe 18 buying drinks . Could have been older but that's besides the point!! Why does a business have unprofessional employees running there business is unbelievable. There is ways to be nice to customers that are paying your bills and your pay Check and not coming across as an ass hole and they should learn how to talk to a woman or a customer period!!!!!! I know from experience that this review probably want help or no one really cares . But I sure hope if the owner don't make some changes in his staff and policies that it at least will cost him some money from other people not patronizing this business!!!! There is to many other places to go that you could get treated with a little respect for your money !!! I came out after getting off stage while this so called bar back bouncer stood at the other end of the deck staring me down like we was some kind of criminals holding his phone like he was calling the police ! Yeah we had been drinking it's a bar right . But we wasn't drunk and he could have come talked to me but he didn't so we left . And of course will never be back . By looking at other reviews we are not the only ones . Karma is a bitch !!! Thank you signed .... an x customer!!!!!!!!! read more

GREAT LOCAL JOINT! The bartenders were great, the Karaoke was fun. Here is the story. I was in Panama City for work, and me and some co-workers were looking at Karaoke places. The first one shut down at like 9 pm....WTH! so we found Donovan's Reef. Great people, and a good time. I will be back. read more

Spent part of my 30th birthday here. My boyfriend discovered it earlier in the day and brought me back to check it out. I had so much fun singing karaoke and meeting the locals. It's one of those cheers type bars where everybody knows your name. Next time I'm in PCB I will definitely stop in for a song or two. read more

I cannot believe there are no prior reviews about Donovan's. It has all the pleasant and not so much wonderful things that truly are the makeup of a locals dive. There are pool tables. There is karaoke. The U shaped bar. The full and half racks blocking most of the windows as they are stacked to the ceiling. It's cheap and full of locals from low rider truck bass pumping recently graduated high schoolers to cowboys who may have been coming here since they opened their doors whenever that was. It's weathered by spring breakers and hurricanes but obviously a mainstay. The karaoke I mentioned before is absolutely laughable and not in a condescending way but an enjoyable one. Just two nights ago the infamous George Benson was there doing Elvis covers! Unbelievable! When in this part of the beach its a no brainer and a must visit. Do not miss the internal entrance into the package store next door for all your late night and mischievous needs. read more

This was my favorite bar for years, however recently the decisions of the owners and management have made the locals unwelcome. The karaoke DJ is obnoxious and full of himself. The disrespect for loyal employees is unacceptable, the drink price increase is unacceptable, and the lack of appreciation for regulars is unacceptable. The bar manager is shady and a liar. I wish that I could have my dive bar back, however I will never recommend this bar to anyone ever again. You are better off going to Wiskeys or Sweet Dreams. read more

A yearly visit on our trip to PCB. Reasonable prices and strong drinks. Hasn't changed hardly at all since our first visit years ago. Same bartender every time we come! read more

Fun local Dive bar with a great staff! Drinks were cheap and strong! Would definitely be a go to bar if I was a resident. Will most definitely come back read more