Operating a successful restaurant is difficult enough, as is. Sustaining a restaurant on a Florida beach can be even harder.
When Hurricane Ivan struck Pensacola in 2004, many restaurants across the Pensacola Beach and Gulf Breeze area were put to the test, with some even closing for good. Aside from hurricanes, the challenges of sustaining a business on the beach are heightened thanks to rising rent prices and a reduction in customers during the tourism off-season.
If you’ve lived in Pensacola long enough, you can likely still remember devouring a juicy Surf Burger after a day out on the beach, or being dressed to the nines and indulging in a glass of fine wine and a filet Roland on the upstairs level of Jubilee.
The News Journal polled Pensacola’s largest online food discussion platform last month, the Pensacola Foodies containing over 66,000 members, on what Pensacola restaurants have closed that they wished were still around today. Generating over 900 responses, we created a list of six of the restaurants people missed most based on the results. However, there are still plenty left of which to reminisce.
Here are five Pensacola Beach/Gulf Breeze restaurants that would likely still be local favorites if around today.
Boy on a Dolphin Restaurant and Lounge, 400 Pensacola Beach Boulevard
Boy on a Dolphin was a sweet escape on the Pensacola Beach Sound, offering Gulf seafood, U.S.D.A. choice prime rib and steaks, European cuisine, famous Greek salads and charcoal broiled steak and fish.
Owned and operated by the Anthanasios family, the Greek restaurant’s name was derived from a Greek myth and inspired by the pods of dolphins that would swim in the nearby sound.
Boy on a Dolphin was described as “surprisingly affordable” in a 1997 article by PNJ reporter Kimberly Blair, noting that the menu offered more than 100 items on the menu with a variety of wines, appetizers, salads, sandwiches, pastas and dessert.
“I describe it as a bistro with a flair,” owner Demetri Anthanasios told Blair in a 1997 interview. “We’re a European restaurant. We want to bring some of that culture here.”
The restaurant was adorned with art deco designs, such as seashell sconces, large palm trees and tables with floor-length white tablecloths covered with white butcher paper. The chandelier that hung in the building was a gift brought from a church in Athens by Maria Athanasios’ father as a christening present.
Some of the signature recipes include the Mussels Royale − served with fresh shrimp, scallops, blue crab fingers and extra-large mussels sautéed in garlic and olive oil, blended with Mediterranean herbs, tossed with artichoke hearts and asparagus and served over pasta − or the Grouper Greek style, grilled with olive oil, fresh lemon, parsley, dill, green onion, feta cheese and roasted almonds.
Spero Anthanasios opened Boy On A Dolphin in 1985 and created the recipes for the dishes based on his native Greek Island of Samos. Two of his children, Stella and Speros Jr. Athanasios, continued to serve the authentic Greek fare the restaurant became known for even while reinventing the restaurant.
Even with the renovations made in 2000, the atmosphere was described as “definitely Pensacola Beach; casual with a touch of elegance.”
The restaurant was sold and became Coconuts by the Sea in 2003, but was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan, and the owners decided not to rebuild.
Aegean Breeze, 911-A Gulf Breeze Parkway
If you liked Boy on a Dolphin, then were likely a fan of Aegean Breeze, brought to Gulf Breeze by chef Stavros Varvouris and his wife, Tina Marie, in 1997 due to the lack of Greek food in the Gulf Breeze area, according to a 2011 News Journal report.
The two also launched the popular restaurant The Angus. Aegean Breeze focused on bringing the flavors of the Greek islands to Pensacola through a restaurant and international market and deli. Sandwiches and wraps so big they were difficult to get your mouth around and landed in the $5 range.
Among the most memorable sandwiches was the Hercules, which was packed with smoked turkey, mortadella meat, Greek peppers and kasseri cheese layered on a sesame Greek bread and seasoned with oregano, olive oil and red wine vinegar. It was also the place to find specialty goods, such as Greek bread, olives and feta.
The neighborhood store was modeled after those in Varvouris’ hometown of Glossa on Skopelos Island.
“In Greece when they see you come in they act like they’ve known you forever,” he told News Journal reporter Kimberly Blair in a 1998 interview. “With the stress of life, no one needs another sad face.”
Varvouris took this level of customer service upon himself, always making sure to greet customers personally. He died in 2015, and the restaurant closed a few years later.
Billy Bob’s Beach Barbecue, 911 Gulf Breeze Parkway
Billy Bob’s Barbecue was a staple in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, starting with the original location that opened in 1992 on Ninth Avenue at the “car wash.” After finding success there, the next step was the beach version, named Billy Bob’s Beach Barbecue that came to Gulf Breeze in 1996 next door to the previously mentioned Aegean Breeze.
Owner Art Stebbins described it as “gourmet barbecue” in a 1998 interview with News Journal correspondent Gene Hooprich.
Ben Rogers took over as the owner of the restaurant in 2002 with wife Sherry Rogers and later opened a third location in Pace.
A look at the News Journal’s Best of the Bay awards in 2008, Billy Bob’s made an appearance in nearly every category pertaining to barbecue. Billy Bob’s was listed as one of the best overall spots and an “area favorite” with a variety of sauces and variety of side dishes like fried okra, corn on the cob and baked sweet potato.
The Carolina-style pulled pork and beef were slow cooked for 15 hours or longer, followed by removing the fat by hand. The processes were time-intensive, but the menu is simple. Sandwiches and plates prepared with barbecue and smoked pork, chicken, beef, ribs, sausage, turkey and beef brisket.
A local favorite was the Brunswick Stew, a 23-ingredient dish that can be served in a bread bowl.
The restaurant went out of business abruptly after 16 years of serving the Gulf Breeze and Pensacola Beach areas, according to Pensacola News Journal reports.
Ben Rogers died about a year before the restaurant’s closure in 2011.
“It was a favorite of our family, and I feel sad for the long-time employees to see something they worked hard to make successful have to close. It’s definitely a landmark that everyone enjoyed,” landlord Chris Green said at the time.
Jubilee Oyster Bar & Grille, 400 Quietwater Beach Road
Jubilee Restaurant & Oyster Bar opened on the Quietwater Beach Boardwalk on Pensacola Beach on July 4, 1986, and set itself apart as the first restaurant on Pensacola Beach to be open year-round.
The upstairs and downstairs each had their own distinct atmosphere and menus, catering to any audience.
“It can be elegantly quiet for intimate and romantic dinners, or boisterous for rabble-rousing beach crowds,” Jenifer McCoy, reporter for the News Journal, wrote in 1989.
The downstairs was intended for quick, casual dining for those wandering in off the beach sand, while the upstairs was for more intentional elegant dining. The downstairs menu catered to the casual lunch crowd, including salads, sandwich and seafood selections. Some of the items include spiced and smoked riblets, raw oysters, sautéed crab claws and big salads.
The upstairs was fit for more upscale dining with fresh fish delivered twice daily, signature California artichoke served over a crawfish tail butter sauce, mesquite grilled swordfish entrees, lobster and crab chowder soup starters, or one of the most memorable entrees: the filets Roland prepared with sautéed with artichokes, lump crabmeat and white wine.
“Covered with béarnaise sauce, they provide a perfect meal,” McCoy wrote of the filets.
Although the restaurant remained packed on both floors, Hurricane Ivan changed everything when it struck in 2004 and “wiped out Jubilee.” The restaurant remained closed for 11 years until it was revived in 2015 by co-owners Tom Carmichael and Ryan Covalt.
“When we brought it back, I didn’t want to go as far as doing a fine-ding atmosphere,” Carmichael told the News Journal in 2015. “I wanted to a coastal, casual version of it, because I wanted people comfortable.”
The new restaurant delivered the same quality service in a more casual environment, but didn’t have the longevity of the original.
Surf Burger, 500 Quietwater Beach Road
Surf Burger was a go-to local favorite burger joint after a day spent in the salty waves. Surf Burger was opened by David Bohannon and Michael Foley in 2004 only months before Hurricane Ivan struck. Even when their stairs were ripped away, making it difficult to enter the restaurant, the owners purchased an event grill and served over 2,000 free hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and drinks in the Casino Beach parking lot, per 2004 News Journal reports.
Even through catastrophe, the restaurant preserved the friendly, lighthearted reputation for which it was loved.
“As you walk in, it feels as if you’ve stepped back into a 1950s beach party movie,” PNJ reporter Ashley Wright wrote in 2006. “You expect a waitress or cook to spontaneously burst into song and dance their way over to your table.”
The laid-back beach atmosphere spilled over into the restaurant, which was decorated with eclectic atmosphere and a water view.
The signature menu feature was the Surf Burger, a juicy third-pound burger made with 100% fresh ground chuck prepared on a kaiser roll loaded with lettuce, tomato, onions and cheese and served with a side of golden crisp fries. However, the restaurant ventured into seafood as well, with items like the Surf Catch, which was grilled fish served on a kaiser bun loaded with peppers and onions.
The restaurant eventually closed in 2014 with the owner searching for a more affordable location after never quite recovering from the financial blow of the BP oil spill.
