Casino Beach Bar

Very good.... Lettuce Wrap and Burger with Caribbean Rice and Beans... rice & beans were great.

And no burger bun for you!  What a trooper.  

We enjoy Casino Beach B&G other than the slow service.  Can't beat the view, of course.    Fish tacos & Cuban sandwich are recommended.  Cobb salad is also very good.

But the best burgers on Pensacola Beach, for our money:

1.  Frank's Steakburger at Frank & Lola Love Pensacola Cafe inside Margaritaville Hotel.   Hands down all time best burger anywhere, reliably excellent every time.  Similar flavor to McGuire's steakburger. Also a great Gulf view, though from higher up.  Can sit inside or out, though there's no lighting outside at night -- turtle friendly.  Not sure how people see what they're eating out there.

2. & 3. (tie)   Close Out Burger at Riptides inside Holiday Inn Resort.  Tasty black angus beef, unique sweet sourdough roll (sorry, Joani).  
                      Bullpen Burger at Sidelines Sports Bar.  Another consistently great burger, closest to backyard-type home cooked.

Have you been to NOLA Cafe?

Sorry for delayed reply - keep forgetting to check these forum sections. Nope, haven't been. Last few establishments housed in the Surfburger spot have been a disappointment and short-lived, making us reluctant to even try a new place there. Plus early reviews were not great. Sounded as though it were mostly po' boys -- we don't need all that bread -- with very few actual traditional NOLA dishes. You been? Any good? And will it last??

RealLindaL wrote:Sorry for delayed reply - keep forgetting to check these forum sections.   Nope, haven't been.  Last few establishments housed in the Surfburger spot have been a disappointment and short-lived, making us reluctant to even try a new place there.  Plus early reviews were not great.  Sounded as though it were mostly po' boys -- we don't need all that bread -- with very few actual traditional NOLA dishes.  You been?  Any good?  And will it last??

I agree with your Surfburger assessment. I went to Surfburger once and never went back.  As far as NOLA cafe, the ads and Facebook comments are great. My son-in-law and granddaughter had lunch there several days ago and really enjoyed it. My son-in-law had the Po'boy and granddaughter had the gumbo.

I want to try the restaurant but I have to make sure it has gluten free options.

Well, let us know if you do try it, please. Maybe we'll give it a try sometime. Maybe.

As for Surfburger itself, actually we really loved the big ol' footlong chili dog with onions and cheese and evil double fried fries, that the original owners served, and would go there once in a great while as a guilty treat. But as time went by, and especially as the place changed hands, the quality and service went to hell in a hand basket. Obviously many others agreed, or it would likely still be open. We tried their burger only once and weren't impressed at all.

Mostly I was talking about everything that came after -- two or three different restaurants -- all very short lived, even with some occasional good reviews. Will hope for their sake that NOLA survives. It's a tough location, though, in season.

Speaking of Cafe NOLA, Joani, presume you saw the "advertisement" today under the PNJ's "Be Local" banner:

http://www.pnj.com/story/money/business/belocal/2017/09/30/local-cafe-nola-pensacola-beach-has-right-ingredients-success/718606001/

I say "advertisement" because Be Local is paid content. Yep. Perhaps you knew that; I didn't until just last week when a friend and local business owner advised she had been approached to "buy" a story in the slot. Expensive. (She didn't bite; they offered her a reduced price; she still said no thanks.) Apparently Be Local is the brain child of the PNJ president, Lisa Reese, brought in from Pennsylvania in 2015.

Anyway, I would pay more attention to your comments and to the one positive review comment on the story. May have to move it up on the "should try" list.

Linda, Casino Beach Bar....my new favorite is the blackened shrimp taco... not really blackened but flavorful. Served on soft corn tortillas. The slaw on top is delicious and I get a side of mango vinaigrette to pour over the taco. I could eat this every day .

Glad you enjoyed it so much, Joani. My husband really likes their fish tacos, I like the Cobb salad with shrimp or chicken, and a visiting girlfriend this spring raved on and on about the seared tuna appetizer. We pretty much avoid beach restaurants in high season -- and the service at Casino Beach Bar & Grille is already slow enough due to their small kitchen -- but as soon as things calm down I want to try their redfish Reuben.

SIL got the baked redfish dinner the other night...he said the redfish was dry. Hope the Reuben is better.

Thanks for the heads up, Joani. I'll let you know, if/when I get back there to try it. I will say the chicken topping the Cobb salad is sometimes dry, too. Hmmm...maybe someone needs to tell them not to overcook stuff. May even mention it to the server when I order that Reuben.

On soft corn tortillas with mango vinaigrette

Looks good and oh, so healthy. Makes me wonder whether or not Latinos are less prone to Type 2 Diabetes.

Do they charge you extra for the mango vinaigrette? I'm pretty sure they charged me for a small extra salad dressing I ordered once for the Cobb. Seemed very chintzy to me.

No extra charge... it was a small container but not normally served with the shrimp taco. I love mango, it is refreshing.

Maybe they got complaints from others about chintziness and stopped charging for little extras like that.  Or maybe you just got lucky with your server! Will find out eventually.  Mango is indeed a nice flavor. Thanks for the suggestion - may try that sometime.

Casino Beach Bar lunch with my grandson. Delicious! I had the blackened grouper tacos and he had the Mahi-mahi fish sandwich.

We had a fund raiser for the GB varsity basketball program, my granddaughters 21 st birthday dinner and lunch with my grandson. Three visits to CBB in one week. I was in heaven!

Pets are welcome.