Restaurants featured in My Last Spring Break “I’ve heard about a couple of famous oyster bars on Front Beach Road, Shuckum’s, Dusty’s,

and Sharky’s, plus lots of other restaurants people say are really good…Boar’s Head, Pineapple

Willy’s, Captain Anderson’s, and one called, Pier 77. There’s also food, dancing, and live bands

at Spinnaker’s, and Schooner’s…and a biker bar called, Ms. Newby’s.”

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Shuckums’s

The group had agreed to meet in the lobby at seven, and from there they’d catch another

shuttle van, load up, and head to one of the beach’s most popular oyster bars…Shuckum’s. Since

they all intended to drink, it was much safer to use taxi services rather than risk the chance of

being pulled over.

Shuckum’s Oyster Pub is a quaint family-style seafood restaurant with an adjoining ‘party

shack’ for live music and TV sports events. The walls and ceiling of the restaurant are covered

with dollar bills, mostly ‘ones and fives’ that dangle from the ceiling, stapled to the walls, all left

by former customers, a unique design that set it apart from the other seafood joints. Some

estimates were that the total amount could actually exceed $5,000.00.

Shuckum’s has been a favorite for Spring Breakers since 1967, and for many Panama City

Beach visitors it has been the very first stop for those who just can’t wait to suck down a fresh

slippery oyster from Apalachicola Bay.

Their slogan is…we shuck-um, you suck-um.

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“My favorite local hangout when I’m off is

Dusty’s Oyster Bar.”

Eric suggested Dusty’s, a popular oyster bar whose workers were known for having won

several international oyster shucking contests, and that night, there would be a former world

champion shucker at the bar. All delighted in digesting delectable deliriously delicious

dinners…of seriously satiating shellfish, supplemented with more scrumptiously satisfying

seafood and seasoned Caesar’s salads.

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Sharkey’s

Danielle, T.J., Angel, Eric, and Wesley all expressed an interest in going to a club that had

dancing…Sharkey’s was at the top of the list, At night, Sharkey’s outdoor deck offers live

entertainment from local and national bands, and spectacular views of the Gulf of Mexico. It’s

also home to the largest open air ‘palapa’ in the United States, and it’s constructed with over

100,000 cabbage palm fronds and thousands of cypress knees and poles. The huge ‘Tiki’

structure has seen and managed to survive three ‘Category 4’ hurricanes and dozens of tropical

storms over the years. As soon as the first six entered…they heard rowdy music blaring and saw

people dancing on the worn wooden deck beneath the Tiki Shack…Moving through the crowd

they saw a table on the open-air deck.

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Capt. Anderson’s is a waterfront on Grand Lagoon, Thomas Drive. Named among

America’s Top 50 restaurants, recipient of the "Best Seafood Restaurant" award from Southern

Living. Capt. Anderson's restaurant has repeatedly won prestigious awards throughout the years, and

been recognized by many national institutions and magazines as the best Panama City Beach seafood

restaurant. It is a local tradition to dine early and watch the fishing fleets unload their catch. The

restaurant has grown to 725 seats and, open six nights a week.

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The twelve from ‘out-of-town’ planned to spend their first evening ‘on-the-town’ by having

dinner at the world-famous seafood restaurant, Pineapple Willy’s located on Thomas Drive,

known for best ribs on the beach. Patrons could purchase a baseball cap, t-shirt, and a large

plastic souvenir drinking mug…all showing the official ‘Pineapple Willy’s’ logo.

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Since 1982, Pier 77 Seafood Restaurant, a family-owned business on Thomas Drive in

Panama City Beach has been offering the best. A baked oyster special, Oysters Sandra, is a

popular menu item, named for the founder’s daughter and restaurant manager, as well as their

delicious seafood platter, which comes either broiled or fried.

Shrimp City, next door, is a seafood market, run by the son, Hal, Jr., that offers a wide

variety of fresh seafood. The family’s father, who goes by Mr. H, his daughter Sandy, and son

Hal, have worked together to develop five family seafood businesses that have spanned four

decades. On any given day of the week, you may find four generations of this close-knit family

actively involved in the daily operations along with their friendly staff, who give you the one-on-

one attention you deserve. When they arrived, the other six were greeted by a friendly hostess

with a big smile and flip flops. Although a table was not available right away, they followed her

long silky black hair that tumbled down her shoulders as she walked…and scored a couple of

empty stools at the bar she put all together.

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Patches Pub & Grill is located on Thomas Drive, close to St. Andrew State Park. They offer

the best beer selection on the east end of the beach, with thirty-one cold beers on tap and a wide

variety of bottled beers. Visitors also enjoy their rum cocktails, Jell-O shots, and wine. Their

food includes pizza, burgers, sandwiches, wings, and more. Live music, shuffleboard, big screen

TV’s for sports enthusiasts, bar-bingo, and karaoke entertain guests.

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Dirty Dick’s. Shortly thereafter, everyone made their way to their meetup at the famous

locally owned seafood restaurant, Dirty Dick’s, on Front Beach Road, that bears their iconic

slogan, ‘I got my crabs from Dirty Dick’s’. Before it became a ‘sit-down’ restaurant, Dirty

Dick’s had its beginnings as a simple take-out-food crab shack in 1995, selling mostly crabs,

shrimp, and t-shirts. Today, Dirty Dick’s has 200-seats, serves up to 1,000 people a night, with

250 of those being children, with meals served on a Frisbee. Patrons now get treated to grouper

filets, flounder, fried frog legs, crab cakes, creole stuffed crabs, jumbo shrimp, and a delicacy of

lump crab au gratin with shrimp and mushrooms.

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Harpoon Harry’s seafood buffet

There was a crowd waiting to be seated…so the greeter took his name and suggested they

hang out on the deck, which boasted an ocean-view…plus, there was a DJ playing music and

couples were dancing. “You have a choice,” Rita looked up at them, “to order off the menu or do

the buffet…but it’s crowded right now…so how about we sit here with our drinks for a bit until

the line goes down...and talk! How does that sound?”

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A taxi dropped off the other four in the parking lot of the Wicked Wheel, as they walked

around to the back to watch the sunset. “Good ol’ fried chicken,” Paula smacked her lips, “I hope

it’s as good as they say it is…but truth be told, I don’t like to eat the skin.”

“That’s why it tastes so good,” said the busser passing by them emptying trash, “spices are in

the batter.” as the four made their way around to the front to get seated.

The place was obviously biker cool, passing a line of Harley motorcycles near the

entrance…but seeing it was pretty much slammed inside, they chose to sit on the patio, look at

menus, and wait to order drinks.

Zach was quick to notice that besides fried chicken, they also had catfish, fried green

tomatoes, and a wicked creole sauce, doused with gasoline tea.

“Well hey, look at this,” said Paula, pointing to a small sign on the table, “their fried chicken

was voted ‘Best of Bay’ by the Chamber of Commerce. “It’s supposed to be the world’s best, not

just the best of Bay County!” noted Zach. “I think we should first see what all these biker dudes

are eating.”

Schooner’s

The dancing was already well under way when the twelve arrived at Schooner’s Last Local Beach

Club. Just as the sun was glowing crimson red on the horizon, those who could, grabbed a stool, as a

round of beers were ordered from a cute server with a friendly smile, who cozied up to Wesley.

It was a spectacular view…and as per tradition, a large crowd gathered on the beach behind

Schooner’s to celebrate the sunset, counting down just as the sun slowly dipped below the horizon. Then

a big old cannon deafeningly blasted away causing everyone to spontaneously jump. Selfies and videos

and Schooner’s Live Cams captured it all.

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The hustle and bustle of visitors became quite evident…with full parking lots, and crowds

waiting in line to be seated in the one of the more popular restaurants, Jimmy Buffet’s

own…Margaritaville