Bayou on the Beach Steamers & Mercantile

Had a horrible experience here. My son is autistic and has a very limited diet, we always pack him a little bento box with some of his safe foods (literally just fresh fruit and crackers) when we go out to lunch so he can eat with us. We have never had any issues with this, in any state in the last 8 years of his life. But here they would not allow it. They offered to have him eat outside when it is more than 100 degrees outside. Needless to say our party of 13 was speechless and left after just being seated. The staff was not nice or apologetic about it at all. Hopefully this review can help any other autistic parents out there before wasting your time

I wish I would have read the reviews before deciding to try to eat here as apparently this is common. Just a heads up if anyone in your party who is autistic you can skip trying here. My wife and I were with a large group. My son eats a very limited diet so we bring a small lunch with so he can eat with us. The staff said we couldn’t dine due to “health regulations”. My son is 8 and in all 8 years this has never been a problem at home or in PCB. I mean every place we visit is super accommodating and will give us a glass of ice or really anything. We got up and left disappointed but also in shock as we’ve never had that issue. Hopefully someone reading this can save the embarrassment.

The food was pretty good. However, the service was horrible. We were originally told our wait time, and for a large table, it was expected. Then, after our wait time had come and gone, we were told it was going to be even longer... once we were finally set, our party was split between two tables. They still charged us for being a party of six or more even though they split us up... really? We were now a table of four and a table of five. Our table had no napkins or ketchup. We had to take it from another table. Our drinks, just water, were empty on several instances. Perhaps on a better day, the service would have been better. We definitely caught them at their worst. Thankfully, the food was delicious 😋

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 3

Service: 1

We went as a family and had to wait about 30 minutes for our table on a Tuesday at 5. That wasn't a big deal, we have a bigger family, so we're used to waiting. However, we waited for over an hour for our food and.. we were expecting really great food, but it was just so so..our waitress was friendly, but she was spread really thin among her tables and didn't get to check on us much or communicate about the delay in our food. It was ok, we wouldn't go back. The key lime martini was spot on! However, it took so long to get food, so it just kept getting stronger and stronger 😂

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 3

Service: 4

Just amazing.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

They are a little to races. Servers just stared and when we were placing our order our server walked off mid order.

Great food! Great service!

We were there yesterday for lunch. The hostess greeted us and seated us immediately. Our server Leslie knew her stuff. My wife had the chicken and sausage gumbo over cheesy grits. I had the fish sandwich grilled with the Cajun fries. Both were excellent. And my bud light was ice cold. Can't wait to go back.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

We always come here every year we come to Panama City Beach. The portions are just right amount of food. The price is good. We could eat here everyday. The hush puppies are the best EVER!! My husband gets the 1/2 order of shrimp boil and a 1/2 order has 12 shrimp with it.

Exceptional food and service! Tasted so fresh and homemade! Would highly recommend!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

It’s hit or miss, tried it twice while in town for a week, first time the charbroiled oysters were great second time they were barely cooked and hardly any seasoning, also my surf and turf was sub par, steak had no flavor and the shrimp where fish bait they smelled foul and I didn’t touch them yuck 🤢 ! At this point I wouldn’t recommend this place

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 2

Service: 4

Full disclosure, many will think that this place has the atmosphere of a bell jar but you won't notice it while you're eating the food. PCB is chock full of duplicate fern bars who all buy their food from one of three wholesale suppliers and their paychecks come from New York. This is as home-grown as it gets, real food, real good, real local.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Small location but fun atmosphere... the oyster sampler and royal red shrimp were outstanding. Loved the peewee bread... Definitely going back...

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Food was great both times we dined here!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Raw Oysters, Who Dat Shrimp

This was a 10 babysitter, and I had a great lunch.. Martini was to die for..
Oyster heaven!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Bayou Burger, Chargrilled Oysters