The food was delicious! The lamb, chicken and steak were all perfect! The bread pudding was so yummy! The service was fabulous! We had Ainsley and she was wonderful! The ambiance right of the pier is beautiful! We will definitely be back. read more

After having a few samples at the Taste of the Breeze event a while back we had to come for the full experience! Everything we tried was amazing, we mainly had small plates because we wanted to be able to try several different options and it was all great. The yellowtail crudo is so buttery but light. The lamb lollipops were cooked perfect and I really liked the sauce. The lobster mac & cheese side was definitely worth it, I'm normally picky about lobster mac but it was delicious. Also one of the best crème brûlée I've ever tried! All accompanied by the beautiful beach view of course. read more

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Incredible food and service. We go on Sundays when we are in town and Erin always gives us a heads up when the Blues buzz the beach on their way home! Our server Nate was great! read more

Very nice Restaurant, awesome views, good service, food was just okay ..Ribeye was chewy , Sea-bass was good ..had better.. maybe just a bad night for the chef... read more

great service from our waitress Melissa! We asked to be seated on the outside of the patio. we wanted to move to a table for 2 since we were sitting at a table for 2. Our hostess said she would ask and come back. She never returned! 2 other couples came in after our request and we're going to be seated next to us and both asked to be moved to the outside. Both got moved without conversation from a manager. One customer even laughed walking by us talking about how he had to get a better seat for the blue angels. i was told by our waitress, Melissa that she was going to bring the manager out. The manager never came out!!!!!! Unbelievable. Food was outstanding, service from Melissa was outstanding after that it was a 0 on a scale from 0-10. read more

Ate here twice in 2 week I was there. I would visit it any time I am in the area again! Enjoyed several things off the menu. Great bourbon selection. Wonderful sea food and the service was good the first time and great the last time... The view would keep me coming back even if the food wasn't so amazing! Very much a place I hope to return to soon! Had the Swordfish the first time and the Chilean sea bass the second time. Both were excellent and it was always difficult to choose what to enjoy each day. read more

DRIFT - View from our table - Seafood Near Me - Pensacola Beach, Florida

We luckily happened upon the best sunset table at Drift on our last night of vacation. We come to Pensacola Beach every year and we're looking for a new (to us) restaurant and nice meal for our last night in town. So happy we ended up at Drift. Our waiter, Caleb, had excellent recommendations and was so personable. The portions weren't huge, but just enough. We can't wait to return next year! read more

DRIFT - Beautiful sunset view! - Seafood Near Me - Pensacola Beach, Florida

Food was okay but service was terrible. Upon arrival we were greeted by the executive chef Andrew in the elevator and he was very personable and friendly. We thought our anniversary dinner would be great based upon this first impression. We were wrong. Our server, Emma, was very inattentive and distracted by older, more "tip-worthy" guests. My wife and I, in our early twenties, were not attended to like the guests around us. We ordered an appetizer and it was never delivered to us. After our main course was delivered by a food runner were we left waiting for about 45 minutes without being waited on. We had finished our food and were needing more drinks and dessert but decided we were ready to go due to poor service. We had to ask the hostess filling waters at the table next to us for the check. Needless to say, our server received a very bad tip and we will not be returning. read more

Great place, exceptional service, great food and what a view!! Can't wait to visit again!!

Omg what are the odds, I came to the outside bar (beautiful view) and got Sara as my wonderful bartender and guess who was here this evening! Sara! This place is delicious and lucky to have a dedicated sweet, and personable bartender like Sara! Will be back every time we visit the beach! read more

DRIFT - Seafood Near Me - Pensacola Beach, Florida

Sara was wonderful!! Such a sweet girl! The service was great and she has an amazing sense of humor! read more

Long time goes of CBB and decided to try out their new high end dining. Great atmosphere! Inside is well decorated and somewhat exclusive feeling. We sat at the bar on the back patio and got to enjoy a lovely sunset view. We decided to sample drinks and appetizers, (for research of course) Drinks- spicy margarita, blackberry julep, espresso martini and the hibiscus. All good but just on the outside edge of craft cocktails Pensacola has to offer. That being said I'd have no problem going back for a drink to enjoy that patio. Our bar tender was very tentative and great at making what was on the menu. I asked if she could make a Paloma and had no clue what it was. Food- casino oysters were pretty good and one of the highlight in my opinion. The rest of the food was a bit of a letdown. Although everything presented well, most items lacked flavor. Coconut crab cakes were two thin patty style cakes. No taste of coconut and then served with a drizzle of EVOO made them taste like they absorbed oil in the fryer. (Id ask for no oil drizzle) sauce served with it was good. Yellowtail Crudo was sub par as well. Avocado, creme fresh, yellow tail and EVOO drizzle was All fat taste. Could have done without all the layers of fat and given me more yellowtail taste. Mango scallops were lacking on flavor as well. While a little more balanced it was acid heavy and could have used some more sea salt. Very underwhelming food for the prices they charged. We would love to come back to try the entrees next time. All in all the prices are too steep for unbalanced appetizers and decent drinks. I'd be interested in the entrees but also don't want to pay those prices after the appetizer round. For now.. grab a drink here and maybe a taste or something. Otherwise give them some time to fine tune the food (and hopefully the prices) and look to other fine dining in Pensacola. read more

Beautiful Place - Subpar Food I had high hopes for this gorgeous venue but unfortunately my taste buds were let down. Make reservations though if you'd like to go because surprisingly they were pretty busy for a 6:30 on a Wednesday. We had the oysters for starters (Rockefeller and casino) both were decent. Caesar was ok, pretty to look at but just ok. My grouper was kinda bland. The saffron rice with pear purée that came on the plate with the grouper was comical. None of us could figure out what it was, and one member of our party owns a restaurant! We asked the waitress and she said it was more for decoration but it reminded me of baby food and looked/tasted NOTHING like what she said it was. Really bizarre, and a good laugh for the table. Delmonico was nothing special and neither was the lamb (which we ordered medium and had to send back because it came out almost rare). Truffle fries lacked good truffle flavor. Lobster Mac was pretty good compared to everything else, but not great. My husband liked the cheese cake and I thought the creme brûlée was the best part of the whole meal. Drinks were weak. Lights on patio were out right after sunset so it was rather dark while we ate but they brought out candles and did the best they could. Overall - probably wouldn't be back. read more

We loved the ambience. It is a very pretty restaurant. The service was incredible! Loved - the heirloom tomato and watermelon salad, the ahi tuna appetizer, the fries, mashed potatoes, and the creme brûlée'. Didn't like so much - the steak (extremely salty to both of us), the grouper (very dry), and the sponge-like item on the grouper plate (tasted like baby food). The experience was good, but we expected the food, especially the main dishes to be much better for the price. read more

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We dined at Drift on our last night in Pensacola Beach. Our experience was lovely. The food, drinks and service were amazing. Our server, Gerard, was very attentive and we enjoyed chatting with the GM. Drift is a gorgeous restaurant, we enjoyed sitting on the patio. This is definitely the best kept secret on Pensacola Beach. We will be back. read more

Food was dank af! Had the crab cakes (crack sauce was so good), watermelon caprese, raw oysters, mango scallops, crab curry, and truffle fries. Yes I ate all this....by myself lol. The wonderful and beautiful Dyandra was my server. She was amazing and recommended some great foodz to try! The raw oysters were a little too warm for my taste, but everything else was primo! The patio deck was super vibey. Cant wait to check out a sunset up there. Drift has great food and a super friendly and attentive staff. The dishes are plated beautiful and the flavor profiles hit all the good spots! Will be back Fo Sho... Bring a bag and treat choself! read more

I just had a fabulous time with my sisters while enjoying wine and appetizers. The service was absolute perfection, and the food was amazing. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a beautiful atmosphere, great food, and a beautiful view of the beach. Thank you to our server/bartender, Caitlyn, the chef, Luis, and all of the welcoming and courteous staff for such a great experience. read more

Caitlyn was our bartender tonight for happy hour and was amazing! She was attentive to us and everyone else at the bar and kept things rolling smoothly. The local patrons couldn't say enough great things about her. Definitely recommend Drift for great food and drinks, atmosphere, and waitstaff! read more

The ambiance brings you to the sea itself. We have been coming to Drift every year while visiting Pensacola and it never disappoints. Pip was super pleasant and he had great suggestions. The bean soup did not disappoint- even our kids love it! Trinity was friendly and attentive. She was kind enough to suggest a dessert for celebrating my husbands birthday. The food here is like no other and the presentation of the dishes were on point. Our taste buds explode with all the flavors! read more

First time dining and it was everything we hoped for and then some. Started with a julep and martini and then coconut crab cakes and scallop appetizers. Then ordered the veal chop and the bone in pork chop, garlic mashed potatoes and Brussel sprouts with pancetta(sooo good) We had no room for dessert, but ordered anyway. The most delicious molten lava cake and a expresso martini. Upscale dining with incredible views.... our waitress Madison was super attentive and made our first time at Drift not our last. read more

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The food we had here at Drift was superb! The Chilean Seabass was unbelievable and the grouper was excellent! The ambiance/ocean view was exquisite and if the day had been less windy I would have totally sat outside. Or server was prompt and very good!!!! Next time I am in the area, I intend to revisit Drift!!!! read more

Summary - I came once I heard Chef Dan Dunn was working the kitchen because I have enjoyed his cooking for over 20 years. Hoping that the food was finally worth the price, but it seemed that the menu was still the same as it was before he arrived. Hopefully they change things up because the view is spectacular and I'd like to return and add it to my regular routine of dining out. Food - Don't get the steak. Mashed potatoes were the highlight. Yellowtail carpaccio is also very good. Service - Servers were great especially for a new place. Manager was attentive and made occasional visits to the table to ensure our satisfaction. There was a gentlemen that seemed stand-off-ish during our dinner and awkwardly watching us, he also rudely blocked the back door when we went to the deck for dessert drinks. Later found out it was some "chef" from Vegas that also works there? - Local Review read more

Winded Waited Review Time: Drift So everyone knew this was coming. I have been praying for an amazing upscale restaurant at the beach. Let's do this review and see if this place reigns supreme? Absolutely beautiful ambiance with a warm welcome from the hostess. Our server was also amazing. I wouldn't expect any less at this price point of a restaurant. The beverages we ordered was a jalapeño margarita and an old fashion. My margarita was delicious, but Iron still holds the title for an old fashion. As usual, I had to try a little bit of everything. So to start we had the lobster bisque, Cesar salad, and the shrimp ceviche. The lobster bisque was seasoned well, with a velvety texture, and large chunks of lobster. The Cesar salad was good also, but Alice's holds my heart for Caesar salad. This shrimp ceviche needs some work. The shrimp was extremely fresh, but it lacked in flavor. It definitely needed more acid, but I did like the twist of it being served on endive. The endive gave it an extra level of freshness, but I was very surprised the shrimp was served whole. Entrees was king crab risotto and scallops. The aroma of the king crab risotto was amazing, but it didn't live up the essence. The risotto was perfectly cooked, but was extremely bland. I'm a little confused on the king crab, because as you can see this is snow crab in it? Now these massive scallops were amazing to me; and the pear purée just threw the flavor over the top. I would have never thought of this combination, but it works perfectly. The side of sautéed spinach was delicious, but being a southerner this creamed corn has some work that needs to be done. The creamed corn was bland. Now the savior of this meal was by far this amazing creme brûlée. This is probably one of the best I've had in the area. The texture and temperature was absolute perfection! I could have ate another helping with no problem. Overall Review: service (amazing ambience and service) 5/5 and food 3/5 (lacking in flavor - bland)...I truly hope this restaurant works out the bugs, because what an amazing venue!!! read more

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Went here last night and was not impressed. The view is amazing, and the atmosphere was fun. Our server was new and he tried hard, but things were slow from the kitchen. Our appetizers were appealing and tasty but our mains were bland both in taste and visual appeal. 3 of us had the grouper Parmesan. There was white fish with white sauce, white rice/ or mashed potato and 4 over cooked asparagus spears. Definitely not worth the price. We will not be heading back. There's something wrong when the whole place seems to empty out when happy hour ends. read more

Party of four locals Friday early evening Jan. 10, 2020. Arrived early and headed out the deck bar to await our guest couple. Happy hour special, $5 for premium well, was a welcome start and the bartender was a pro. We chose to dine inside and had a nice waitress who took good care of us. The wines were good. Foods ordered: Italian salad. I liked the tart dressing. Oysters Rockefeller (excellent) Coconut Crap Cakes (excellent) Florida Grouper (excellent) Halibut (fish special). Could not order the fish sauteed; blackened or grilled only. Fish was excellent. Chicken Picotta (not excellent). Chicken was tough; looked boiled; not sauteed. Cheese Cake (excellent) read more

We've been here many times, as we are local to the area. The service and atmosphere are always amazing here! However, these 2 elements don't make up for badly cooked food. You really have to know what to order here and pray for some good quality control on your food before it leaves the kitchen. The food was absolutely fantastic the first time we ate here, but the quality seems to have progressively decreased over the years. Our last visit was absolutely awful! We ordered 2 apps and 2 entrees. The pork belly app was slightly over cooked and extremely salty. The lamb lollipops were good, but not anything I'll write home about. The seabass was jaw dropping good, but the duck was inedible. The med-rare duck was so over-cooked, it was hard to cut/chew. The kitchen fixed the issue and sent out a correctly cooked duck, but that still didn't fix the taste of the dish. We did not like it at all. Local tip- Go to restaurant Iron for the best duck in town. This duck was packaged Togo and fed to the dog when we got home. You expect more than that from a finer dining establishment with finer dining prices. While we will probably only ever return for the seabass and cocktails, it would never be our first choice after our past experiences here. There are just too many good restaurants in the area to choose from to gamble on a good meal at Drift. read more

This is an upscale restaurant on Pensacola Beach. Prime Rib is wonderful. Service by the staff has been great. Prices are higher than some other upscale dining on the beach. Happy hour is a great time to visit and try some very good appetizers and bar drinks for a reduced price. read more

A group of friends and I went to Drift for dinner. Although it started rocky with the hostess, the overall dinner, service, and vibe was wonderful. It took quite a long time to get seated. Once seated we ordered scallops, ceaser salad, lobster Mac and cheese, brussel sprouts, chicken piccata, and more. The food I had was pretty tasty. I feel like the chicken for the chicken piccata wasn't brown enough, but it was still very moist. They have a very uninspired dessert menu but our waiter was the best...he even encouraged us to get shots! No one disliked their food. I would go there again, but just know that the price is sort of high for the area. However, the quality of food and style of the food makes it worth the price. read more

DRIFT - Seafood Near Me - Pensacola Beach, Florida

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Wow! For our first time during happy hour on the porch, this restaurant is fantastic! Our bar tender was great and the sunset was spectacular. We will be back. read more

Amazing food and service at Drift! Christina our Server was so knowledgeable about menu.

I do realize that the food scene in Pensacola is not that sophisticated, but we spent some time looking for a place to have a nice sit down dinner. We noticed that they were promoting "Chef Andrew" and higher end food. This was possibly the worst meal I've ever had in my life. Do not order the ceviche or steak - horrendous. The server was very kind - the only nice part of the experience. Don't waste your time or money. read more

The atmosphere is fantastic and feels upscale. Great Manhattens! Was there on a Thursday night, so lots of ladies at the outside bar for ladies night - free wine all night. We tried the lobster and shrimp on avocado toast and it was good. For dinner, we had the lamb lollipops which were cooked well, but were coated in a sugary sauce that stole the taste from the lamb. Note to chef - let the meat be the star, not the oversauce! Also ordered the veal and, just like the lamb, too much overpowering sauce. If they could moderate a bit, it would be 5 star. The staff were all 5 star!!! read more

The food was GREAT! The ambience was amazing ! You sit right on the beach beautiful breeze we all had a great time. I went with my husband and children and it's kid friendly if your children are well behaved. read more

Our service was not great. We were rarely checked on and ended up being almost the last group to leave the restaurant before close. My shrimp scampi was good, but neither of my friends thought their dishes were worth the cost. The dessert was delicious. read more

Sarah was absolutely amazing! I came for ladies night and she gave us excellent service! I truly appreciate her attentiveness! Thank you so much Sarah! read more

Booked a reservation here for a Sunday night dinner. Reviews seemed positive and the atmosphere looked upscale. Upon arrival, we were greeted professionally by the hostess. She confirmed our reservation and special requests for our evening. We were led to a cleanly set booth with a beautiful view of both the shoreline and the sunset view behind us. The water-vase with flower inset into a piece of driftwood with a floating candle was really pretty. (The candle was battery-operated, but we appreciated the ambiance; I know real floating candles can be pricey for every table.) The decor in the restaurant is beautiful. If you choose to go, look up at the lighting inside- GORGEOUS! One of the better things about this place... The manager (Justin, I think?) made several points to come over to us and check on how we were doing, which I always appreciate at a restaurant, especially one of an upscale nature. Unfortunately, the remainder of our evening was lackluster. Our service was quite slow. The dining room had about 4-5 tables in it, but apparently there were plenty of guests outside. Our server had tables outside and it felt to us that more of her attention was on the outdoor guests. It was a bit confusing to us since a blonde-haired server was serving both tables next to ours, so we wondered why she wouldn't be our server as well instead of the girl who spent most of our time there in the back or outside. We waited for everything for what felt like an excessive amount of time. Our first round of drinks (the spicy margarita is LEGIT SPICY to the point of not being drinkable and had to be watered down; the Patron margarita was weak) took about 15-20 minutes to hit our table. We ordered a half dozen of the Cajun oysters and a half dozen of the Parmesan oysters. I'm pretty sure our Parmesan oysters came as Rockefeller because there were spinach on them. Both sets also tasted slightly off. Not being ones to complain, we ate them anyway. Not once while we were eating our oysters were we offered crackers to eat them on or bread for soaking up the juices in the shell. When we did request some bread, 20 minutes later our server came back with crackers, stating the kitchen was reserving the bread for escargot orders only. Well, the oysters were gone by that point, so the crackers were useless. So, drinks and appetizer were disappointing. My husband got the bisque which was flavored nicely but was lukewarm and lacked any discernible pieces of crabmeat. We ordered our entrees and also requested our next round of drinks to come out with the meal. I had the wagyu pontchartrain. It was decent- filet cooked appropriately, good-sized shrimp. My husband's butterflied medium-well filet was definitely well done and his potatoes were not hot. As we neared the halfway point of our entrees we still did not have our drinks we requested to enjoy with our main course. It was very clear our server forgot to ring them in. By the time my husband's Cabernet arrived, he had finished eating his steak. By that point we were disgusted by our experience and just wanted to leave, even though I really wanted to enjoy that Godiva chocolate martini for dessert. The most we saw our server was when we were paying the bill. It frustrated us to begrudgingly leave an 18% tip for service we felt did not even deserve that much. We are typically 20%+ tippers, but the service experience we received was one of the worst we've had anywhere. Between the two of us, my husband and I have about 30 years of working in the New Orleans service industry in pretty much every capacity and we were overwhelmingly underwhelmed at our experience at Drift. In conclusion, one star for ambiance (beautifully appointed decor and great view), half a star for the hostess and half a star for the manager. Sadly, ambiance and 2 great staff do not make up for almost $300 worth of poor service and meh food. So disappointed. read more

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Filet mignon and lobster tail were perfect. But the prize winner for sure was the gnocchi excellent lollipop, lamb chops. Being a restaurant owner myself one of the top places in the area to eat. read more

As much as I love this new spot, the food was not spectacular. We were greeted warmly as we arrived and let the hostess know we were going to the bar. We made our way to the outer bar and found a great seat overlooking the Gulf. The bartenders were great as they were quick and made great drinks. We ordered the lobster ravioli and the chicken piccata. Both were good but less that what we expected. More lobster in the ravioli and some seasoning for the piccata and you would knock it our of the park. We will be back, the staff and the location are great. read more

Drift has the best spicy margarita! Will definitely be back for drinks at the bar with that amazing view. Was highly disappointed with the food though. I ordered raw oysters and chargrilled parmesan oysters and they were the worst oysters I've ever had. They were both served near room temp and tasted like they had been sitting out for a while. Our server and the manager were very friendly though and thankfully didn't charge for them. For a restaurant of this price class, I would expect perfection from the kitchen, especially on a slow evening with only a few tables occupied. read more

Caitlyn is the best server around! We love drift for the laid back elegance and the food is always phenomenal!! I suggest the tempura tiger shrimp. Also try brunch, which is out of this world! read more