Since opening its doors in 1982, Fudpucker’s Beachside Bar & Grill has made it its mission to combine great food, family time, and fun. Across their expansive waterfront venue in Destin, they have many different attractions for you to enjoy before and after your meal, including their famous alligator park, Gator Beach. With your restaurant visit, you receive free admission to this park for a chance to watch and interact with the gators.
Across their eight dining rooms, up to 400 patrons can watch the live entertainers and listen to music performers while enjoying their favorite menu items. This well-loved establishment serves burgers, chicken, seafood, and alligator dishes that will delight your taste buds with their powerful flavor profiles. Their signature stuffed shrimp appetizer, for example, features shrimp filled with homemade stuffing made using fresh lump crab meat. The addition of a scampi sauce and cheese sauce finished under the broiler elevates this flavorful combination even further.
Due to its popularity with locals and tourists alike, Fudpucker’s Beachside Bar & Grill often have exceptionally long wait times – expect a lengthy wait of up to two hours. However, you have lots of activity options to choose from while you wait including ordering appetizers from the bar, going to Gator Beach, playing at the arcade, touring the museum, and shopping for souvenirs at the gift shop.
After being seated, you should plan to spend about two more hours here for the full dining experience. Kids are encouraged to participate in the onstage antics, making for an exuberant atmosphere. Besides participating in the live entertainment, kids can stay busy throughout the meal with puzzles and games, playground fun, and even writing their names on the walls in the designated areas.
Here are several menu items at Fudpucker’s Beachside Bar & Grill worth checking out:
Crunch & Munch Combo
For a little taste of the most popular appetizers on the menu, try the Crunch & Munch Combo. With its smattering of cheese curds, boneless wings, fried dill pickles, potato teasers, and hushpuppies, there is something for everyone on this platter. Ask to try all their dipping sauces to elevate this dish to great heights.
The Fudinator
The Fudinator starts with an enormous 1 ½ pound pile of beef patties that are stacked high with American cheese, bacon, chili, fried onion straws, and all the veggie toppings you could want. If you manage to eat this gigantic burger, including fries and coleslaw, in just 30 minutes, you will receive a free Fudpucker’s Beachside Bar & Grill t-shirt for your efforts.
Shrimp Pucker
As a part of their tradition of making the ordinary extraordinary, popcorn shrimp meets fish sandwich in the Shrimp Pucker. The deep-fried popcorn shrimp take center stage as they are piled high on the bun and covered in all your favorite trimmings. You can elect to have the shrimp put in a wrap for 50 cents more.
Seafud Combo
Alligator is on the menu at Fudpucker’s Beachside Bar & Grill and the Seafud Combo offers the best way to enjoy it. With this dish, you receive alligator two ways: fried and in their world-famous gumbo. You will also receive fried shrimp, crab balls, and fish as a complement to the showstopping alligator bites. If you prefer something a bit lighter, this dish is also available broiled instead of fried.
With 400 people to serve, it can take a little while to get your food to the table, but the live entertainment acts can help the time pass by quickly. If you want to keep the fun going after your meal, you can head back over to the arcade or alligator park at your leisure.
You can catch live shows at Gator Beach throughout the year by checking the schedule and planning your visit around those event dates and times. You can also request guided tours of the gator habitat and museum to learn more about the alligators and venue during your visit.
Insider Tips:
-For the shortest wait times, plan to visit Fudpucker’s Beachside Bar & Grill in the afternoon on a Wednesday or Thursday.
-If you visit during busy days or hours, you can make the most of your wait time by immersing yourself in Gator World. You can feed the gators bits of food attached to a pole for $3 or have your picture taken with a baby gator for $10.