The day is filled with 18 participating restaurants’ signature dishes for $8 each, live music, a dance performance, a chef demonstration, cooking classes for kids, crab racing, t-shirt sales and more – all along the sugar-white sands and emerald-green waters of Pensacola Beach. Entry is free for Saturday’s festival.
2022 Restaurants’ Signature Dishes:
- Bonsai – Florida Citrus Sushi with salmon, snapper, hiramasa, avocado and lemon
- Casino Beach Bar & Grille – Spicy Krab Nachos
- Crab’s We Got ‘Em – Sushi or Steamed Shrimp
- The Dock – Jan’s Crab & Corn Bisque
- Drift – Watermelon Cucumber Gazpacho
- Felix’s Oyster Bar – BBQ Shrimp
- Flounder’s Chowder House – Flounder’s Chowder or Ahi Tuna Tacos or Tuna Poke
- Frank & Lola Love Pensacola Café at Margaritaville – Caribbean Ceviche Burger Sliders
- Frisky Dolphin Sunset Oyster Bar & Grill – Gumbo or Shrimp Creole
- The Grand Marlin – Seafood Gumbo
- Neomaya – Classic Burrito
- Peg Leg Pete’s – Grouper Nuggets
- Red Fish Blue Fish – Fish and Chips
- Riptides – Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Shaggy’s – Crab Cakes
- The Shrimp Basket – Oysters
- Water Pig BBQ – Pulled Pork Slider
- Whiskey Joe’s Bar & Grill – Grilled Mahi Tacos
And yes, beer, wine and alcoholic concoctions will also be available for purchase. The Frozen Zone is sponsored by Bamboo Willie’s.
Saturday’s Festival Schedule:
10 a.m. – Dancingly Yours – Pensacola Beach children’s dance troupe performs from the Gulfside Pavilion stage.
10:30 a.m. – Chef John Flaningam – demonstrates how to properly filet fish in front of the Gulfside Pavilion.
10:30 a.m. – Best Signature Dish competition begins. Every restaurant participating in Saturday’s daylong event can enter their signature dish into the competition. Chef Sue Shattuck with On Board Charcuterie and Chef Mike Hartsaw, a Pensacola State College Culinary Arts professor, will sample each dish and crown a 2022 winner at approximately 12:30 p.m.
11 a.m. – Crab’s Little Chefs Cooking Class with Chef Jere Doyle – Crab Cakes. Chef Doyle will teach a select group of students how to make crab cakes. Tickets are $10 per student, limited tickets available online.
11:30 a.m – Crab’s Little Chefs Cooking Class with Chef Jere Doyle – Ice Cream Sundaes. Chef Doyle will teach a select group of students how to make and eat Ice Cream Sundaes. Tickets are $10 per student, limited tickets available online.
12:30 p.m. – Best Signature Dish winner announced.
1 p.m. – Crab Racing – Ready, set, go! Let the hermit crab race begin!
2 to 4 p.m. – Horseshoe Kitty – local party-rock band, Horseshoe Kitty, will perform from the Gulfside Pavilion.
4 p.m. – Festival Closes
Taste of the Beach is a primary off-season festival bringing thousands of locals and visitors to Pensacola Beach and has been named one of the top 20 events in the Southeast by the Southeast Tourism Society.
