The Love Shack: Welcoming Adults and Kids Alike

306 Bald Eagle Drive
Santa Rosa Beach
(850) 267-0399
Hours: Mon.- Sat., 4 p.m.-midnight; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.
Reservations: Not necessary
Children's menu: Yes
Dress: Casual

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Overall

By Bruce Collier
June 25, 2009 Issue

We ate at the Love Shack Seafood and Oyster House on a recent weekend, and most of the patrons chose to sit outside by the pool (and the pool's bar). The servers were hustling that night, endeavoring to cover both inside (where we sat) and poolside diners. I noticed teamwork, with servers helping out and busing their colleagues' tables as needed.

The Love Shack sits on Bald Eagle Drive, off of East Hewett Road, off of U.S. 98 in Santa Rosa Beach. A jeep is parked on the highway, bearing an invitation to drive-by business, and you need to look sharp or you'll end up at the bay and have to turn around. The restaurant is fairly large, divided into two sections, with a bar in each. If you favor (or require) A/C, stay indoors, or come later. They're open 'til midnight, though the kitchen reportedly closes a bit earlier, so call ahead.

Inside is wood-paneled, the walls hung with paintings of most kinds of fish, many of them brightly colored. Specials are chalked on boards, and the tables and chairs are sturdy enough for a family on holiday. The menu offers starters, soups, salads, fried fish and seafood baskets, and a main course entree menu. The back page is devoted to specialty drinks, including some without booze. Many have slightly risque names, in the spirit of the restaurant's name.

The house was offering some lower-priced starters, in honor of their opening, including discounted oysters on the shell and a cup of seafood gumbo for 49 cents. We bagged those, and an order or batter-fried dill pickle slices. The server gave us time to consider the main course and we settled into the appetizers.

The gumbo was full of seafood and rice, with a respectable kick of heat. It was just the right balance for me, though the tables bear hot sauce for custom seasoning. The well-scrubbed oysters, though tiny (it's past the peak season) were tasty and cold, and they don't spare the horseradish, lemon, or saltines.

The real hit, though, were the pickles. Fried pickles defy expectations. They're un-soggy, non-oily, crunchy, and the pickling vinegar perfectly offsets the richness of the batter. They come with ranch dressing for dipping, but I used the cocktail sauce I got with the oysters. The basket was more than enough for two, and we took some home. I recommend them as a classic accompaniment to soft drinks or beer, and I can't imagine a kid turning one down, if for no other reason than that kids find pickles inherently funny. Fried ones are probably hysterical.

Other starters include smoked tuna dip, shrimp queso dip, buffalo shrimp, wings, coconut shrimp, nachos, and grilled bacon-wrapped scallops. There's also jerk chicken or shrimp Caesar salad, and Asian beef salad.

We took some time with the main course. For the casual diner, there are fried baskets of Gulf shrimp, popcorn shrimp, chicken fingers, fish fingers, and catfish. There are fish tacos, a house specialty. There are also some more elaborate items, including filet mignon, bronzed grouper, stir-fry pasta, seafood kabobs, jerk chicken, broiled crab-stuffed flounder, sweet chipotle baby back ribs, and a ribeye steak. I expect that these will change from time to time as well. Sides include fries, garlic mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, black beans, rice, and pineapple slaw.

I decided to take the tacos for a spin, and my friend ordered the stuffed flounder. Mine came with pico de gallo, black beans, guacamole, sour cream and rice. Hers came with roasted vegetables and rice. The soft-flour tacos contained strips of blackened fish, shredded cheese, lettuce, with plenty of condiments and sides. They were easily rolled and far less messy to eat than I was expecting. Two makes a good meal, and fish is becoming my favorite taco filling.

The flounder was served hot on a metal plate, which had the effect of further cooking the fish, so it was a little more done on the edges than it needed to be. However, that's a small thing. The stuffing had plenty of crab, the lemon butter sauce with fresh herbs was good and not too rich, and the roasted vegetables were tender and sweet. They throw in a hot and crusty bread roll, too.

There are three desserts, as told us by the server—key lime pie, cheesecake and chocolate cake. We decided to split the first. It looked and tasted house-made. The condensed milk key lime filling was a good balance between tart and sweet, and the pie had been baked glossy smooth in a crunchy crust. No whipped topping.

Recently opened, the Love Shack seems to be getting its share of the summer tourist dining dollar. There's a flip-flop and rum-punch ambiance to the place, enhanced by the live music (they have a weekly schedule), but I also sensed a kid-friendly atmosphere. More than a few of the diners that night were youngsters, and they seemed very comfortable to be there. I left relaxed, and full.

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