Sara was great and made it so much fun! The views are excellent and the good outstanding. The drinks were well attended to and you could not ask for a friendlier environment. If in Pensacola, you should check out this restaurant and especially the outdoor bar! Cheers read more

The ambiance was good. Food not so much. I had the snapper and it had very little flavor. A friend ordered the steak as medium rare. First time it came out with zero pink. They offered to recook and it came out worse. The grouper had by two other guests was good though not wow! Not sure if Wednesday dinner was the issue? We were planning to go back Friday night for dinner but now we are looking at other options. read more

Let me just start by saying it was not a terrible experience but it was definitely not worth the $300.00 (after tip) that we paid for the dinner for the two of us. We live in Pensacola and started coming to drift right when it opened and loved it. We always told everyone to go there. Hands down one of the best spots on the beach. However we hadn't been back recently just due to the busy-ness of life so we decided we should come back and enjoy the sunset. We were early for the reservation; they got us seated right away. They gave us a table next to the window for sunset. Our server was new but she did an impeccable job. Unfortunately the food was mediocre at best. We started out with two bowls of chowder, this was pretty good. All of the appetizers were all some sort if fish. I would have liked to see more if a variety. The lamb lollipops were a hit when they opened so we almost got those but settled on the Rainbow rose which was a Tuna, yellowtail, salmon seared rose. It really just tasted like slightly warm salty raw fish. I had a bite and couldn't eat the rest. We both got the yucatan grouper. You could tell it was sitting for a while. The fish and the rice were bone dry. We also got dessert. Typical creme brulee not terrible but not the best I've had. On the way down we shared the elevator with another couple and they asked us what we thought and i said "meh" and they said they were kind of disappointed. An overall very mediocre experience. Probably will wait another year or so and try again maybe. read more

DRIFT - Rainbow Rose - Seafood Near Me - Pensacola Beach, Florida

Cody was a great bartender! Fun atmosphere and beautiful view! My husband and I will definitely be back for the mango cart ;)

We have been here twice this month (March 2025) and in my eyes this is THE BEST place at Pensacola Beach due to the fantastic happy hour prices, delicious food, fabulous drinks , amazing views, and OUTSTANDING staff: Andrea is extremely attentive and takes great care of everyone that sits outside, Luis is a phenomenal chef and director/manager who keeps this place running smoothly, and Gerard M is THE BEST bartender I have ever met= he would win a Gold Medal in the Olympics if making drinks was a sporting event... we are eagerly looking forward to coming back here at least weekly, OOh Rah! read more

We recently hosted a work dinner for 35 clients at Drift. I worked with Scott on the planning and he was excellent! He took such great care of our group and even worked with the chefs to create the perfect menu options for us. The service was beyond amazing! They were so kind and even hung around later than needed to keep us happy. Nothing beats the views! We were very happy here. read more

This was an impeccable dining experience. The new head chef really took the new menu to the next level. The burrata with pickled fig were the perfect combination. The braised short rib was on the bone, and oh my, it was amazing with the plum wine. The snapper was nicely seasoned and the cheese grit cake delicious. I frequent many restaurants on the gulf coast and I must say the beach sunset views at Drift might just be the most spectacular. Staff was outstanding. Loved the experience so much I booked my birthday dinner here in a few weeks. read more

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Beautiful location! My first time to Pensacola and to Drift! Our entrees, seabass and grouper, were fabulous. The lumpia entree claimed to include vegetables but appeared to only have meat - just kinda meh. I am mostly writing this review the warn others about the surprise fees/charges on our already expensive bill. We were charged $2 to split a salad that didn't need to be split, $4.86 for SRIA (had to look that one up!), and $6.73 for 'card price total' (what even IS that?? Are most people paying their $200 bills in cash??) and then you are taxed another 7% on top of those fees... yikes! read more

Awesome food, awesome service, and a awesome atmosphere. Great view as well. We really enjoyed. Just kinda expensive. read more

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Coming from Lafayette, La it is hard to impress us with impeccable food and service...this place is officially added to our favorites list!! The kindest most personable service was provided by Alexis, Jessica and Gerard!! read more

DRIFT - Low Country Snapper (substitute carrots)& Bourbon Glazed Pork Chop with duck fat fries - Seafood Near Me - Pensacola Beach, Florida

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Date night with my wonderful bride. Not at all crowded in an off-season Thursday evening. Cocktails were decent and the restaurant was beautiful and modern feeling. We started with the burrata which may have been overly chilled (small but if frost in fact) possibly owing to the fact that there wasn't a huge crowd. I had the ciopino and the seafood wasn't on-point even though the broth was a little dimensionless. My wife's grouper was cooked perfectly. Service was impeccable. Emma was in training but nailed it. Caitlyn, her attendant, had little to do - or she did it very subtly and allowed Emma to shine. Overall great experience in a slow night. Would have given 5 stars if the ciopino broth had blown me away. read more

The server was great, the food was good, but all I will remember about this restaurant is how they made me feel. Unworthy, small, second class. My fiancé and I had a reservation for 6:30 on a Wednesday. Upon our arrival, we were given the choice of indoor or outdoor seating. Since it was freezing inside, I asked for outdoor seating. The hostess guided us to a table of four on the interior of the restaurant deck, but we could see 10 empty tables of four facing the beach with the best views. When I requested one of those tables, the hostess said those were reserved only for larger parties. Larger here meant 4 as opposed to 2 people. As my fiancé and I dined we noted that all the really good tables remained empty. Very disappointing. So, as we were paying the bill, I approached the assistant manager about this 'miss' on their part. Instead of saying sorry, she condescendingly explained that on Saturday nights their tables all fill up and that their policy is to let the best seats remain open for parties of four without reservations. (Huh??) I pointed out that it was Wednesday and that none of the tables filled up, and because we had a reservation, we should get the first choice table, since they all seat 4. She then insisted that our "dining experience was just the same" as if we had been seated at one of the exterior tables. )Oh my!) Drift, did you really gas light me and deny me in the space of one meal? If all dining experiences at Drift are the same, no matter where you sit, why are you holding any tables to the side? C'mon, man! When I disagreed with this policy and her logic, the assistant manager said that I needed to "lower my voice". Clearly, I was making so much sense, she didn't want the other customers to hear me. I'm sure the other parties of two were very interested in our conversation, and wanted to know why they couldn't have the good tables either. The assistant manager came off as belligerent, condescending, and of low intelligence. What she said made absolutely no sense. Drift please retrain your management and update your policy. I am giving you excellent feedback on how to improve, and perhaps with a small adjustment, you will be able to fill up all those gulf side tables on any Wednesday night. Two happy customers enjoying their meal while overlooking the gulf are worth four that may (or may not) show up. Always. #customerservice101 #repeatbusinessisathing #thecustomerisalwaysright read more

I recently dined at Drift for the first time and had an incredible experience. There were 5 of us, and we sat inside the dining room close to the kitchen/bar. It was an amazing experience, and we enjoyed every morsel we consumed from the steaks to the salads to the truffle oil fries and lobster mac. While everything was absolutely delicious, three standouts were the seafood tower, chocolate molten lava cake and the French Onion Soup. The cocktails were good too!!! We do a big eight day couples trip to Pensacola Beach every year, and dining at Drift on our last night as a finale to an amazing week at the beach will be a new tradition. Our server, Sara deserves a shoutout. She's excellent and treated us with such kindness. It's rare to see these days. She's a wonderful member of the Drift team. Ask for her; you thank me with gratitude!!! read more

DRIFT - OBERON, NAPA VALLEY Cab - Seafood Near Me - Pensacola Beach, Florida

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Service.... Excellent Food ..... Excellent It was our first time trying Drift. Food was great, French onion soup had a rich broth, excellent. Lamb chops were cooked to perfection. I would certainly come back and recommend to friends. read more

We have found our new favorite restaurant in Pensacola Beach! Fantastic food, incredible view and atmosphere and the staff was amazing. Their customer service was above and beyond. Our server, Alexis, was really attentive and so pleasant. The hostess and general manager also checked in to make sure all was well. Fantastic experience all around. read more

DRIFT - Lobster - Seafood Near Me - Pensacola Beach, Florida

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I wanted to love this place so much. The atmosphere and views are delightful. The dishes are hit or miss however. I've dined here for dinner twice in the last 4 days. The service and wait staff are excellent. Raw oysters are on point (hard to go wrong there), Sunday night I had the chicken piccata, hard let down. The chicken was cubed up and tasted like frozen rubber chicken served in tv box dinners. For chicken piccata it was a little too alfredoy and not exactly lemon/ wine sauce. The Wine Bar in downtown Pensacola hands down serves the BEST chicken piccata in town. My partner had the scallop entry and the scallops were AMAZING. The jasmine rice and cauliflower flower mush that the scallops were served with not so great. Tonight, again oysters on point. The mango scallop appetizer was delicious! Five onion soup was bland, just underdeveloped flavor unfortunately. Brussels were a lit over cooked (head to Restaurant Iron downtown for the best Brussel sprouts in town.) We ordered two of the specials: the Chilean sea bass and the blacked prime rib. Chilean sea bass was good, again with the jasmine rice and cauliflower mush- not good. The prime rib was tough and over cooked. I wasn't even interested in eating it. The server was kind enough to swap my meal for the red snapper dish... the red snapper itself was good, but tasted like they poured marinara sauce on top- wasn't a fan. At that point we just shimmied out to find dessert else where. Hopefully this chef will step up the menu. Will give it another try in a few months. For now, Restaurant Iron is a much safer place to love everything you order. read more

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If you're going to ever be a great venue you need to get your act together. You hold event party's and rely on a projection tv that nobody can see. You have prizes for best dressed and give some dude in a sport coat and jeans best dressed when a guy in a sear sucker suit and hat is deserted to the lines and you ignore home. This place and the staff are a joke ! If you want a great meal and good time go in town to any restaurant and forget the ridiculous overpriced venue. I'm a local and I will no longer patronize this establishment. And you may not care but you need me to survive when your summer crowd is gone. One star is to good for you read more

Very average. Food and service was just ok. Definitely agree with some other reviews, this place is way over priced for the quality of food and service. Only reason I am giving 3 stars, the view was great. read more

My husband and I came here for brunch on a Sunday and the food and view was great. We had coffee, crawfish Benedict, and I had a chicken club ( not by choice on the chicken club). We will definitely have to come back and try this place again but hopefully we'll get a better waitress. The reason I gave 4 stars is because of our waitress. She was probably one of the worst waitress we have ever had. I can understand if she was busy and there were a ton of people waiting but this wasn't the case. First it took a while to get our drinks because she went to clean a table instead of getting our drinks. And it would be fine if there were people waiting for the table, but there weren't. Then she got my order wrong twice!! I had ordered a steak sandwich with no cheese, the first time it came out I noticed the cheese and sent it back. By the time it came out again, my husband was already done eating, I took a bite and realized she had given me a chicken sandwich. I was starving so I just kept it. Another waitress had stopped by and noticed something was wrong and was very nice to us. Our waitress on the other hand was nice but definitely had some attitude going. My husband and I love eating out and trying out new restaurants. We will try this place again but I really hope they get their staff figured out. read more

DRIFT - Seafood Near Me - Pensacola Beach, Florida

Caitlyn was an amazing bartender. We had a large party and didn't have reservations so we set at the bar, so glad we did! Food was delicious. We will definitely be back. read more

Another AMAZING meal at Drift. Went for brunch on a Saturday at 1100. Seating was immediate and our waitress, Lilly, was as she always is on point. She knows the menu in and out and her recommends are always on point. I had the wagyu beef medallions with crawfish étouffée and poached eggs. Steak was fork tender, eggs were a perfect soft yolk, étouffée was flavorful and full of tails. Loaded bloody mary was amazing. Last visit was two weeks ago for dinner. We never even made it to the entree menu. We ordered 7 dished from the Crudo and Cotto menu. All were solid! Good wine list and Lilly was ready and able to walk us through the menu. I see some negative reviews about this place on some pages. Mostly about price and wait times, early on. They have definitely worked out wait times. Prices are reasonable to me. I dont even want to know what the lease is on a roof top restaurant with a Gulf view. My only negative is each time we are in the place the music is too loud for a nice meal. Chef John has it going on!!! I highly recommend you visit and let him wow your taste buds! Ask for Lilly! read more

DRIFT - Seafood Near Me - Pensacola Beach, Florida

The food is good and mostly well executed. If you are prepared for a high priced meal then you should be fine. But here's the thing. When you spend $350 on a party of 4...there is an expectation that you don't get charged $5.00 for an extra piece of burnt bread (which one could argue should be included with the pasta). The restaurant is certainly above average but they are not as good as they think they are based on the menu prices. The $125 Seafood tower was fine but the shrimp and crab were still frozen and it was somewhat underwhelming for the price. Basically this is a good restaurant that is pricing themselves as exceptional...but they have some work to do if they expect people not to complain about their deficiencies at the current price. I hope they this take this review to heart and make some adjustments read more

DRIFT - Seafood Tower - Seafood Near Me - Pensacola Beach, Florida

This restaurant is an excellent choice for both locals and tourist. It is the epitome of fine dining, especially if Mark P is your server. The food is excellent and the view is bar none. 10/10 would recommend. Phenomenal. read more

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The restaurant was hosting a wedding on the patio and yet the kept the restaurant open. Our food was over cooked and flavors were soured. Actually had to spit out the duck because I couldn't chew it and the shrimp could have worked for a rubber ball. The restaurant was so loud you couldn't hear your self think. My sister visited the restaurant a month back and did they enjoy the happy hour but don't care for their main meal l and actually went back just for apps. Me personally I will not be back. Totally disgusted by my experience read more

My wife and I had dinner last night and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Our server was Ray Ray and he did a great job. The presentation of the food was excellent. We have dined here before and will come back. read more

Gerard is the best bartender on the Gulf Coast and Drift is an amazing happy hour location. The atmosphere is outstanding! No better food, location, or service on the beach, or PCola. Don't listen to the griping, there is no pleasing those folks. The menu is seasonal, I've been all over the world and they have the best steak Diane I've ever had.....to die for. Get to Drift, you won't be disappointed. read more

DRIFT - Seafood Near Me - Pensacola Beach, Florida

We booked this reservation based on friend suggestion, despite the recent reviews on TA. We arrived and the restaurant was not crowded at all and there was only one server for our area of seating. We ordered appetizers and they were delivered to the wrong table. When our server grabbed them to bring them to our table, she dropped a part of one appetizer on the floor (the bread). There was no customer service for an apology or anything. I did ask for some extra bread to cover the appetizer. We ordered the burrata, seared tuna, and Cesar salad. All were delicious. Our entrees came and were decent. We ordered the duck ménage et tois and it came with only a duck breast, not the confit leg that was listed on the menu. We also ordered the bacon wrapped shrimp, the shrimp was cooked perfectly but the bacon was stringy and not well cooked. Service was still extremely slow to get water and order cocktails. Understandably because our waitress was the only one covering the entire outside dining area. Still, things took a long time to come out, our waters rarely got refilled, and we couldn't order cocktails because of how long it took for the waitress to come around. After we finished dinner, we did not order dessert and were given the check. There was obviously an issue with the check at the table next to us, and pretty quickly after we got our check the waitress came back and snatched the check and the card off the table before we could look at it. We waited about 15 minutes for the check to be delivered back to us and items that we did not order had been added to the check. We marked off what we didn't order and when we asked the waitress, she was very curt and rude about one item (the Santa Rosa tax?) totally fine, except it wasn't explained to us and wasn't in the usual part of the check where the tax is normally listed. Overall, we ignored the bad reviews on Yelp and the lack of ownership with previous customer issues by the restaurant leadership because of the recommendations we got but we will not be returning. If we're paying ~$80 per person, we expect better service than was provided. read more

This was our second time here. The first time was outstanding. I had the filet mignon ordered medium rare on both visits . It was very overcooked this second time. I would have been happier spending $60 on the meal if it was cooked correctly. All in all a great place and I will go back. 5 stars on my first visit and 4 stars on my 05/12/23 visit. The waiter Shawn was great. read more

Wonderful never disappoints. Great menu, wine menu and wait staff. Beautiful view and if you are there at the right time and right day you may see the Blues fly over. read more

Beautiful restaurant, delicious food, amazing staff, and a gorgeous view! Every bite was delicious and cooked to perfection. The drinks tasted even better than they look, if that's even possible. read more

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Want to like this place as it's a nice atmosphere. The food is the main issue here. Ordered the lamb chop lollipops and watermelon salad to start. The lamb chops were decent but I ordered medium rare and they were medium well. The watermelon salad is okay, not worth the price at all. Wife got the special which was a half chicken as the server really sold how tender and good it was. Not enough seasoning and the chicken was overdone. I got the pork chops and asked for medium rare and it came out rare and there wasn't enough seasoning on the actual pork chop and sauce. The mashed potatoes, collard greens, and whatever apple slice thing that came with it didn't have enough flavor. It's like they are immune to adding any seasoning. Especially for the price, food is a disappointment. Location, view, service are great but that's about it. Not worth it and won't be back. read more

Excellent location for my 50th Birthday celebration! The food & service are top notch. read more

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Drift is a spectacular restaurant. We had a beautiful view of the sunset! The shades were down when we were seated but the hostess lifted all of the shades just as the intense sun faded and the beautiful sunset began. The food was so delicious. Some of the menu items were unusual like watermelon and tomato salad. But, Wow!, what a great combination of flavors and the steak was the best I've ever had. Our server, Robert, was very accommodating. Every request was met with a cheerful, positive response. We had a very nice evening at Drift! The decor is artistic and unique. Although the restaurant was busy, there was a peaceful relaxed ambiance. An exquisite meal in a gorgeous setting. read more

Drift is not just an average meal with an excellent ocean view, of which we have plenty of options. No, Drift actually provides exceptional service and way above average fare. We had an outstanding meal with even better service. Oh, and the view of the sunsets are superb! read more

I had the red snapper special of the evening at it was fantastic. The server and GM were prompt and friendly- we really enjoyed visiting with them. The bread pudding was the best I've had anywhere- and was probably the best part of the delicious meal. It was the perfect time of year to sit on the patio and look out at the ocean. Definitely a gem of Pensacola beach. read more

Good meal. Very pricey. Something that I would recommend as a special occasion place. Family of 4 one appetizer 4 entrees and drinks with tip was 350.00 read more

When you go to the Drift, you receive an all around awesome experience. Food is great with amazing presentation. Wine choice is wonderful. The view is spectacular. Staff is always nice and attentive. read more

We absolutely love coming here on thursday nights. Sara is always the highlight of our visits. We love sara !!!!! read more

DRIFT - Seafood Near Me - Pensacola Beach, Florida

The ambiance is unmatched. Full view of the gulf right by the pier. The service was amazing from the bar to being seated. The rack of lamb was amazing, as were the Cajun oysters. Perfect date night spot. read more

Had reservations for over 2 months for my mom's birthday. They called me today to inform me that they cannot accommodate us. This is completely unacceptable as we have family and friends coming into town and now a week prior too they canceled our reservations. It was for 12 people, we would have had a dinner tap worth several $1000. We have attempted to have a birthday dinner for my mom at this restaurant twice now....with no luck. In 2020 we came to have dinner and they lost power and we have to leave. This is completely unacceptable not to mention bad business. I will no longer support this restaurant or refer people to dine with them. This is such a frustrating experience. read more