Owl Cafe

Slow service and over priced for quality– typical tourist trap restaurant– didn’t meet my standard– however– black bean soup was good– only thing worth mentioning–

Great place. Had the pan seared grouper for lunch and it was cooked perfectly. Side salad with horseradish cream dressing was excellent.

AMAZING FOOD. The shrimp linguini was astronomical!!! Funny and nice waitress. Beautiful building and architecture. I’ve been here on two different visits to Apalachicola and it continues to satisfy. Most definitely one of the coolest and beautiful places to eat. We got pictures on the wrap around porch with the beautiful flowered trees around us. I am definitely going again next year.

Stopped here on the way from a great vacation in Mexico Beach and thought it was super cute right away. It’s an upstairs restaurant with views of the water (in some rooms). We had the crab dip with the home made tortillas, very good and with a Cajun taste. I had the fried oyster salad and it was awesome. I skipped the onions but the horseradish dressing was great for adding the zest back in. The oysters were perfectly fried, large and delicious. My hubby had the cheeseburger, and it was good too. Our server Myel was great amidst the lunch rush of several big parties throughout the restaurant. We will certainly stop in next year!

Wonderful salads! Everything fresh. Beautiful setting. Terrific service from Tevis!

I haven’t been back to this place in 15 years. All I could remember was the chocolate mousse but our brunch experience today was nothing short of amazing! Our server was awesome, food was fast and INCREDIBLE. We could live on the duck confit fries for real! Highly recommend!!! We, of course, got the mousse to go

After a few cold ones at Bowery Station, four of us had a choice — Solid comfort food at Up The Creek, or something a notch or two up. We opted for the Owl Café, of course, and now wish we’d had the Po Boys on the water. Owl Café: Nice location, nice décor, above average food — but the wait staff! Ouch! Maybe we caught them on a bad night, maybe not, but no one was happy, pleasant, or cordial. Hey, fake it at least folks, if we’re dropping $ 150!

Had the jambalaya for lunch. Good, but the alligator sausage that I had from the Tap Room the day before was much better. I wanted to try something different so I got jambalaya. The Tap Room gets its food from The Owl. Drink the beer from Oyster City Brewing Company which is across the street. Tasty brew whatever you order. Excellent service.

My husband and I spent our 2^nd Anniversary in Appalachicola this year. After a day of touring the area, and eating too much we cleaned up and walked over to The Owl.
We didn’t have a reservation, and from what I could tell, the place was not packed. We were seated in the Wine Room. I was a bit disappointed, because I really would have enjoyed a table overlooking the water.
Our server was very attentive and had good recommendations! The food was very good, although the tuna dip wasn’t as good as we had hoped.
The atmosphere was upscale but casual. And the wine room and huge antique bar were very impressive!
I would recommend a visit, when you want great food, service and atmosphere!

We recently spent the weekend in Apalachicola. There is a great selection of good restaurants around Apalachicola but The Owl Café is absolutely the best! We were traveling with another couple and we decided to have lunch on Saturday. We all had appetizers, entrees and some had dessert. We were all very pleased with the service, menu selection and food presentation. More importantly — we all 4 LOVED our selections and were not disappointed!
We actually went back that same evening for dinner and once again all enjoyed our dinner and evening. Afterwards all of us were discussing where to go for Sunday brunch and all four of us adults were quick to say… The Owl Café!!! We immediately called them and made reservations for Sunday Buffet and once again, we were all VERY PLEASED with the food and atmosphere.

Took hubby there for his birthday and had read all the reviews so I was prepared. Ordered the crab dip and was very good couldn’t taste or see any crab but was very tasty. Salad with creamy horseradish dressing yummy served with bread and olive oil with garlic and Parmesan cheese very good. My husband got the black grouper he said it was excellent I ordered the special which was off the charts good. The fish (I can’t remember what it was) was topped with a huge scallop and all was in a sauce with cilantro jalapeño and bacon wonderful. We were so full we could hardly move so we ordered the Chocolate mousse cake to go, we will try it tonight. Service was outstanding everyone friendly. Clean. Not a big fan of the white paper on top of cloth as it was
Always getting caught on my arm. Only complaint not bad.

I would give 5 stars for food because it was delicious but service is a little strange. The staff were all very nice but we watched several servers do different things (i.e. Some tables were offered bread, ground pepper) so maybe they need some training. This will be our go to restaurant every time we are back in the area!

This place rustic but great. Enjoy the variety of beers and fantastic oysters. Make this one of your stops but keep your patience

What a fabulous restaurant. The staff was so nice. Also the food wait for a busy restaurant, was super speedy. We had 8 people with us and we were seated immediately. There was also outside dinning.

My wife and I stopped in for lunch last week. We thought the menu choices were fantastic… And the specials. The food was excellent but not the best part of our meal. Our waitress Stephanie was the best server we have had in a long time. Her service was great but it was her knowledge of the menu and how the dishes were prepared led us to a fantastic lunch.
Thank you Stephanie
Chris and Val

If we go to St. George Island, we always, ALWAYS go here.
Occasionally, they are out of oysters because they only serve fresh oysters from Mile 13 Seafood Market. If the day’s oyster harvest is down the oysters are portioned out to the local restaurants.
However! Even if they are out of oysters we would still go for the CHOCOLATE MOUSSE DESSERT. I don’t care if they only served vienna sausage and crackers we would go just for the mousse. It is THAT GOOD!
Trust me on this!

Upon sitting I really didn’t think I even wanted to stay. The menu wasn’t all that appealing and the ambiance not so special. We ordered a dozen raw oysters and bruschetta. Let me tell you, the oysters were as good as any anywhere and the bruschetta was unique, fresh and delicious! Service was ok, until checkout time and our server was mia… but all in all a nice experience. I will definitely come back.

Outstanding find on the forgotten coast! The Owl Café would be a hit anywhere, but the fact it’s located in a historic building in quaint downtown Apalachicola, makes it that much more special.
The lower level of the building is an upscale kitchen shop, with the restaurant, wine room and balconies upstairs. Everything from the food to the service to the ambiance is sure to impress. The menu changes with the seasonal availability of fresh seafood, so be sure to check the daily special board or your server before making your selection.
After hearing about the pan fried flounder filet topped with lump crab and bay shrimp over cheese grits, I knew what I was having! We started with a bottle of wine and bruschetta, both of which were very good. The dinner included a house salad, with a great selection of house-​made dressings and fresh bread with olive oil for dipping.
Bottom-​line, if you’re looking for a casual, but upscale fine dining experience along the forgotten coast, you can’t do better than the Owl Café!

It was a nice anniversary lunch with hubby but not excellent. Tuesday afternoon 1:15 we were seated right away — table for two against a wall without a view. The waitress was busy gathering checks from a large party. We ordered water for me and tea with extra lemons for hubs. Good job! Looking over the menu, I decided what I wanted until she mentioned the specials of the day. One was mahi-​mahi with tomatoes, jalapeño butter sauce with something like potatoes. The description of the sauce was intriguing. For a start, I had a bowl of beef and barley soup and hubby had the small crab dip with tortilla chips. I warned him what other Unilocaler’s had said about that dish but he gave it a go. My beef and barley soup was full of barley, carrots, celery and a nice broth, but I had to add a lot of salt, pepper and waited patiently for our waitress to return so that I could order Tabasco sauce. That made it better.
Crab dip chips were wonderful! They tasted like when I take flour tortillas and fry them. The dip was just OK. It had a little heat but not much flavor. It was crabby though. If they had added some garlic and a tad of powdered mustard, it would have pulled it up a notch.
Our salads were good even if we had to cut the lettuce. Spring greens with romaine-​a grape tomato and cucumber. Salad dressings were awesome. (Please don’t make me cut my salad.) the bread was good and the butter was not cold– that’s good!
Hubby ordered a shrimp and crab handheld sandwich. He thought he was getting a wrap but it came on a bun. It was full of capers and celery but good amount of shrimp and crab. (Reduce the whole capers amount or chop them. Capers should be an undertone, not the full choir with something as delicate as shrimp and crab. He waited for the waitress to rerun so he could order mayo for his bread. Good bread roll, just dry. The sand which had a nice slice of tomato and a large romaine leaf. I encouraged hubby to go look for Someone about the mayo because I was chowing down on my perfectly cooked fish with my side of grit cake. He found the hostess who did not relay what he wanted — but just sent the waitress to our table. Just bring the mayo– it doesn’t matter who does it!
Back to my fish– I was not sure what the sauce would be like, but I thought a little spicier, I tasted no jalapeño at all. But I had a perfect ratio of fish slices to grit cake. I cleaned my plate!
There are so many nice places to eat in this fair town and the Owl has always been one of my favorites. But, grading on this trip alone, I brought the 5 stars down to 3 for the «after» service and the flavors in the what could have been a spectacular soup. (How’s your food-​do you need anything else?)

We live in New Orleans; eat out often.
Wherever you are «from», this is a First-​Class restaurant; GUARANTEED!
We have dined here some 4 or 5 times; all very good !
If U are here, don’t miss the «Owl» !
One small problem: The Chefs here, and in many other places along our Gulf Coast, have gone from using corn meal/​corn flour/​garlic powder/​spice mix (AKA «Louisiana Fish Fry») for frying shrimp & crabs; to «panko».
This is not good; really not good ! Panko is nasty !