This place is the real deal. The food is very authentic, very good. I got the beef kebabs and were…read moreamazing. The setting itself feels authentic too as many Mediterranean restaurants feel like you're in someone's home. The issue that some might have is with service, they are friendly but it takes a bit to get things done. You have to bring your patience. Excellent food.

Do Not Waste Your Money you'll be Completely Disappointed...$88 w/ tip for a meal that left us…read morehungry and angry. Red Onion is a masterclass in how NOT to run a Mediterranean restaurant. First The Menu Bait-and-Switch Their website menu and a customer-posted menu are identical both promise pita bread and tzatziki with entrees. We ordered based on that. When we called after getting home asking where these items were, they claimed it was "an old menu posted by a customer." Except their website/menu online says the same thing. Either fix your menus or stop lying to customers. The Portions were pathetic when told they were good sized and oh man the food was Flavorless! For $79 + tip, we got portions embarrassingly small. The grape leaves? Cold, wet, and bland could barely eat three. The rice was lifeless. The $37 "Fish of the Day" tilapia had ZERO flavor and no lemon even basic Mediterranean cooking demands lemon. The $30 salmon kabob was mediocre-sized and barely filling. Everything tasted like it was prepared with zero seasoning and zero effort and no soul. We had to season our own food at home. Our server was too busy with personal conversations to help properly. When handing us our to-go food, she literally said, "I didn't put gratuity on there but you guys can if you want" like she was doing us a favor by separating the hot items from the cold. We tipped anyway because we're good Samaritans when it comes to eating out. When we complained by phone, the response was hollow: "I'll let the Owner know to fix it" the only positive thing: Location is easy to find. That's literally it. The building is rundown, interior cramped with tables crammed together, decor is mediocre at best. Do yourself a favor and skip this place. Better Mediterranean restaurants exist all over Destin. This is a cautionary tale of poor execution, dishonest practices, and staff that clearly doesn't care. 1/5 Stars - Never returning.

Ali Baba Grill Cafe/Istanbul Food Lovers on 550 Mary Esther Cut Off is a Mediterranean restaurant…read moreand it literally has the BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE! I ordered a pickup plate and I was blown away by the service. 1. They offer military discount! 2. They offered me some tea and a Turkish coffee complimentary during my wait! 3. They were kind enough to gift me a dessert! I was blown away by the generosity and the kindness of the associate. The inside is also very nice, lots of space for tables and lots of room for a family style meal. The food prices have increased a lot since the uploaded menu photos like on Google!!!! It's pretty pricey, but huge portions! I ordered a Shrimp Kabob Plate and subbed one of the kabobs for chicken. I also ordered an extra side of Tahini (not tzatziki) sauce. I will say the portion of the protein was not as much as I would like on first glance, but it was A LOT OF FOOD! The portion of the entire plate itself was huge. Two cups of rice, two salads, one huge pita, the meat proteins and one tzatziki sauce. I loved the pickled onions on the salad, so flavorful and delicious! Unfortunately, I was accidentally given two tzatziki sauces instead of an extra tahini, but accidents happen! No problem! I just LOVE garlic, so I felt like the flavors I was desiring was missing? Again, I love garlic lol. I think that the bread, when it came out was warm... got stale really fast? There were only 3 chicken pieces, but they were HUGE! I just think I need to explore more sauce options, because I felt like something was missing. But I still ate a TON and was satisfied after. I was really blown away by the customer service there. The associate, I'm not sure if he was the owner or not, but was extremely generous and kind! He was super friendly, had a smile on his face, and the small goodies really blew me away and made my day better. Thank you!

Worst food ever....DO NOT EAT HERE! Gyro meat hard as a rock, gyro bread completely fell apart,…read morecondiments (tomato, onion, watered down Tzatziki, horrible ketchup for fries) were minimal, mushy, horrible..... I had eaten here before and it has gone completely downhill, food basically inedible and not cheap. Service OK, but the food was sooooo bad, you are just wasting your money.. HORRIBLE, INEDIBLE, NOT EVEN WORTH THE GAS TO DRIVE THERE. NEGATIVE 5 STARS, but to post, had to give it 1 star. Ate there Sep 2026​

Great atmosphere, great service, amazing food and beer. I am not German but spent 18 months there…read morefor work and the food here was like being back. I can not recommend this place enough. You must give this place a try.

Always great just like Grandma use to make, make a reservation before going…read more Comfort food!!!

Dropped by for a late lunch. Had the special sautéed crab claws and grouper menueir. The food had…read moregreat sauces and well prepared. Too bad the bridge will be under construction for so long as it is a nice location.

The Bay Cafe is always wonderful. Casually elegant, with a varied menu and very reasonable prices…read more It's on the water near the current bridge construction, but on a weekday we had absolutely no construction noise. The service is consistently stellar. Highly recommend.

I love the wine and drink menu! They can make all the fancy drinks…read more We tried the Fried Brussell sprouts. They were so crispy and devine with the hot honey and the Balsamic glaze! The bartender is a sweet heart.

We had a party of 9 and 4 had the lasagna, one Nonas Meatloaf, one meatball sandwich, one spaghetti…read moreand meatballs, french dip and one char grilled chicken on a salad. On arrival we found when we got there that one couple inside seated at our table were waving to us but the windows are tinted so we couldn't see them. We saw another table arrive doing the same thing which brought a chuckle because we knew their friends could not see inside. We entered the building and there was no hostess to greet or direct us but the place is not that big so we were able to find the room our table was set up in. We had heard that martinis were a special for $5. I was all set to get a chocolate martini or some other flavor but when we got the drinks menu there was one Expresso Martini on the menu and I don't like coffee so I decided on a Long Island Tea. Others in the group had wine or beer. Price wasn't bad and we got a happy hour discount. There was a red pepper soup served as part of a meal-or salad and 6 of us had the soup, which was delicious. Tasted like an elevated creamy tomato soup and made you wish you had a grilled cheese sandwich to dunk in it. After our soup/salad there was a little wait for our entree's. The following report on the entrees found the grilled chicken salad with avocado, sliced almonds and feta Cheese was delicious with the chicken tasting like it was grilled on an open flame (maybe it was as we could smell char grill when entering the restaurant). The 4 lasagna eaters all agreed that it was very cheesy and lacking substance. They said you had to really dig deep through all most too much cheese to get to two layers of noodle and a little meat and sauce but it tasted good. They felt the online photo was misleading. The meatball sub was huge - like a foot long toasted bun with two very large meatballs, not something you could fit into your mouth but had to eat with a fork and knife. It was tasty. The spaghetti and meatballs and French dip had their plates cleaned and enjoyed their meals. The Nonas meat loaf was ok. I like my own homemade betterThe mashed potatoes creamy and I appreciated the ala dente fresh broccoli served with it. There was a comment that usually when you go to an Italian restaurant they serve you some bread but none was served here. My husband told me after we left that the chandelier right above me was caked with dust. Hopefully they have a spring cleaning coming up. The restroom was clean.

Went for my birthday the restaurant has been there for years but had a nice makeover a while back,…read morevery nice atmosphere. Our waiter Justin was very good personable. We ordered a bottle of wine which took quite awhile to come out & there were only about 4 diners in the whole place. I had the seafood pasta in garlic sauce. It had lots of seafood, scallops, lobster & shrimp. It was quite tasty but the sauce didn't WOW me. Another in our party had fish lightly battered with crabmeat on top but no sauce, it looked a bit dry She ordered some hollandaise to over it separately. The pork chops Another in are party was tasty but a bit tough. They have an extensive wine list which was nice. My other only issue was it smelled a bit fishy & that was a bit off putting. It is on the higher end price wise but it was a special occasion so that was fine.

Nice little find during my business trip to Dustin. Went there with a colleague and we enjoyed the…read morevariety of food they offered. Our server was extremely attentive and provided excellent suggestions. As for the ambiance, I could see on a busy night it could get noisy. However, we were the only ones in the restaurant so it felt like the chief was strictly for us. Definitely, a place I would visit again.

Great service and food. Didn't have reservation and walked in at 7 and were seated right away (it…read morewas a Sunday night). Had the eggplant parm (actual eggplant not that frozen Sysco stuff) and son had chicken piccata. We also enjoyed their bread. Both dishes were excellent. I love a lot of red gravy which this had and it was delicious. Parking might be a problem as there is currently construction in the area, but we lucked out with a spot in front. The woman who served us was lovely and accommodated my son.

This is my new favorite Italian place in Ft Walton Beach. Great staff. Nice inside and you should…read moredefinitely get a reservation even on a Wednesday in off season. Had the veal piccata. Outstanding. Good wine selection as well. Eat here.

The food is really good. The service in the bar is exceptional! They have a great happy hour and…read moreWednesday is ladies night! Do yourself a favor and have dinner in the bar. The bartender Michael makes the best cocktails! He knows the menu inside and out and makes every customers experience amazing! His level of expertise is Five Star. Definitely made our evening. We will be back.

Save your $ get the pizza outside…read more The food was garbage.. tried two different entrees and I wouldn't eat them again even if they were free I was considering extending my stay at the hotel but after this trash food I'll find somewhere else