Came here for a quick bday trip to 30a and the Surfing Deer was phenomenal. The ambience has a fine dining feel but laidback at the same time. We sat a bar high top, which was great for a couple. The food was SO good. If you get anything, it has to be the carrots. I normally dislike carrots, but these were next level… encrusted in coffee with an espresso whipped cream. This is now our favorite restaurant in the area which doesn’t come lightly because we are big foodies. Make sure you grab a reservation. I also like that there’s valet parking.
Absolutely delicious with great vegetarian options. Highly recommend the Korean fried cauliflower. It is served on a fresh salad that is to die for. Also loved the pesto pappardelle and the key lime experience for dessert. Lastly I was skeptical of the coffee roasted carrots with espresso candied cashews and kahlua whipped cream but was pleasantly surprised. Would absolutely come back
Food is absolutely incredible. Best steaks,(as good as top notch Vegas, better than flemings or perry's) best crab cakes (bud and alleys is really good but here is a little better) delicious appetizers. The hush puppies will blow your mind, the bacon is crazy good (I could do without the smoking rosemary lol), also the beet and berry salad is crazy good. I honestly can say everywhere I've dined in the country and out of the country, surfing deer is one of the best kept secrets and my family can't get enough. We ate there 3 times this week and always left amazed.
Only problem we had was last 2 evenings the waiters didn't keep up with our drink refills and we constantly had to ask for more . Other than that the food was so good we let it slide.
Absolutely lovely time. Food was excellent, service on par eith food. Highly recommended if you are looking for high quality food. We will return.
Everything about this restaurant was delicious and extraordinary (except the dessert! And I’ll explain later). The ambience is beautiful the lighting perfect the waiters superbly trained. Everyone at the table had fish and there were absolutely no complaints. We decided to order two desserts and have a taste. The chocolate dessert was served in a miniature cast-iron skillet — brownie and ice cream. Tasted like a chain restaurant dessert. The other dessert I am afraid I cannot remember, but we enjoyed it except it was small for sharing.
This place was fantastic!
We started our meal with smoked salmon dip along with the honey wheat bread loaf. Both of which were amazing!
We then both had the Seafood Acadiana which was some top notch seafood. Highly recommend this dish.
Dinner was finished with a slice of key lime pie and banana pudding cheesecake. The banana pudding cheesecake was incredible while the key lime was just OK.
10/10 would go again!!
This was our second visit to Surfing Deer. Doug was amazing. The food was amazing. The drinks were amazing. Atmosphere…amazing. I had the scallops, my wife had the crab cakes. If you’re looking for a great restaurant in 30a with a great staff and great food, go to Surfing Deer. Thanks for making our visit so good.
Terrific food, friendly service, and awesome cocktails! The Surfing Deer is a little slice of heaven along 30A. Really enjoyed the presentation and flavors in the "clothesline bacon" and the "blood orange shrimp cocktail" was TERRIFIC (note: add a little extra horseradish to it for a fun kick).
Shoutout to "Ky/Kai" (spelling?) for being the cutest, friendliest bartender ever. :)
My family and I have been wanting to come here for a while, and we finally did, and I’m glad! The whole experience was top-notch. From walking in and getting a drink at the bar, being seated at a nice round table for a party of 6, ordering our appetizers and meal, to eating our delicious entrees. Overall a 10/10 experience. The filet, short ribs, scallops, clothesline bacon, and bread pudding cheesecake were all outstanding! Service was excellent as well!
We make an annual trip to 30A for our anniversary, and I can’t think of any way they could have improved on this dining experience. The food, atmosphere, and staff are wonderful. The menu had something for everyone. Our server, Patricia, led us through our choices expertly. One of the helpers, Betsy, came by with a smile every time she filled our glasses or removed dishes. The clothesline bacon alone is worth the trip. The salmon was amazing. We will be back next year.
We thoroughly enjoyed this upscale atmosphere and the excellent service we received from our waiter, Doug. Both meals were wonderful, and especially our clothesline bacon appetizer. We were able to secure a same-day reservation for two by being flexible with our timing but recommend advance reservations for larger parties.
Surfing Deer is a fine restaraunt with outdoor seating. The enviroment is low - medium lighting with white glove service. They also offer valet parking. We did a family dinner here with 5 main meal orders and we were all pleased with the service, atmosphere, dishes ordered and the overall experience. Would recommend if your in the Santa Rosa Beach area looking for upscale dinner options.
Loved my scallops and risotto. We also had tortilla encrusted grouper also delicious. We shared a Caesar salad. Chocolate Martini was a perfect end to a fantastic meal. If you are cold natured, plan on eating outside. It was very pleasant.
First time diners with Surfing Deer, but we will certainly be back! The staff was wonderful, friendly and helpful. The Clothesline Bacon was fun and delicious; what a delightful combo of flavors and unique presentation! The Tortilla Crusted Grouper was wonderful, and the Wild Salmon was absolutely perfectly prepared to my taste (medium rare). We also had a side of Roasted Carrots with Kahlua Cream; what an unusual and delightful pairing...
Thank you so much to everyone at Surfing Deer; you are perfection!
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First, be aware that the menu is seasonal. So some things others (or myself) have posted about may not be on the menu when you go.
Second, this place is good but it is pretty expensive for smaller portions. For two of us, with two drinks a piece, an order of bread, a soup, an appetizer and two meals, we spent about $200.
Third, there is free valet parking right behind the restaurant.
Lastly, the roasted winter squash bisque with the curry and peanuts was phenomenal.
Overall the meal was very good but overpriced. The beer selection was fair, several local beers and several others. The wine selection was good and the Pinot we ordered was good.
The tuna tostadas were very good but awkwardly portioned, three for the two of us. The bread with the honey butter was good, but skip this if you're worried about cost.
The sea scallops (#4) were very salty, almost too salty. But the risotto more than made up for it. It was the star of the meal, aside from the soup. The sesame coconut snapper was cooked perfectly and not salt. No complaints.
Overall this restaurant is worth visiting, but be prepared to pay. The ambiance was nice as well, though we sat right next to the kitchen. There is a nice large enclosed porch as well which looked nice. Overall 5 stars.
We come here every year. Not sure what's changed but this was the best meal we've had on 30A in a long time. It was better than fresh seafood...... It was cooked perfectly with the perfect blend of flavors and perfect chef's choice accompanying sides. Even the semi-picky adults cleaned their plate on complex dishes because they were delicious.
Plenty of different ages as well, so it's certainly a family restaurant too. The great wait staff is a bonus - double bonus if you get Anthony.
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This place was amazing. It is located right off of 30a, and has complimentary valet parking (be sure to have some cash for a tip though). The service is on par with some of the nicest places I have been. There were two people in charge of our table, and both were excellent. The food is absolutely fantastic. Probably one of the best places I've ever eaten. The menu is diverse, and there are lots of options for different food sensitivities. They have gluten free options, vegetarian options, and vegan options. And it isn't just that they have one or two things on the menu for you if you fall into one of those categories, they have a lot of things to choose from. Of course they also have fish and steak. Everything we ordered was amazing. There atmosphere was very cool too. We sat outside in the patio, and while we were not ocean side, we could see the water in the distance. There were also water fountains outside and fans, so it was nice sitting outside even in May. They take reservations. I would suggest getting one especially if you have a large group. It was easy to get a reservation for the next day, but we were there slightly before peak season.
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