Drift

Traveled an hour to visit this restaurant for the first time. Great location but parking is tough due to competition with beach and fishing pier. Beautiful decor inside and the atmosphere is great. We viewed the menu before deciding in this restaurant but almost everything I wanted they were out of! And, the menu is limited to begin with! Server was clueless about the menu and didn’t check in on us very much. Glad we had a nice view. I would go again to give them a chance but only after trying all the other fine dining /casual restaurants first.

Very nice experience. Open air view of the gulf.

Excellent food, wonderful ambiance, and good service. Bar service was a little slow.

Very nice upscale beach fine dining experience.

Brunch and service was amazing!!!!

We always enjoy the Drift! Patrick was a fantastic server again! Drinks and food were all fantastic

Excellent dinner , great view

Everything from start to finish was absolutely amazing! We had great service with a great view. I could not have been any happier with our experience.

Patrick was fantastic! Keep him around!

Great food and overall great experience!

Service was great. My boyfriend and I split everything. We ordered one Cesar salad, one crab cakes, and one Tuna dinner. Also, with 1 bottle of sparking water and one glass of wine, our bill was a little over $100. Tuna was overcooked and they immediately corrected it. The tuna and sides were a bit bland. Crab cakes and Cesar salad were AMAZING. It was really loud in the outside deck, but the ambiance was still amazing Oceanside with amazing views. It seemed a little overpriced, however. Giving 4 stars because of price and the entree was bland.

I have worked in the service industry for many years. Fine/casual dining. I planned on the meal being expensive. I did not expect a $95 appetizer to have so little food on it. We shared it amongst 6 of us and it also was unable to be split so that we could equally share the cost of it which was not told to us until the end of our meal. To the tune of $56 total, my pan seared scallops were delicious and the sides I had were good as well but nothing I couldn’t get from the restaurant down the street for around half the price. The lobster macaroni and cheese was bland and nothing to write home about either. I am a local to Pensacola and admittedly a food snob. The setting here is beautiful and if you want someone to completely over pay for what their getting food wise, I would return. If I had to choose and pay again, it would be my choice to go to The Grand Marlin. The quality and flavor are both superior for a lesser price.

Service and food fantastic

Everything was great. The prices seemed a tad high for the experience though.

Went for lunch on Sunday - brunch menu was all that was available. Grouper filet was very tasty but was only served w/salsa and it was $24.00

Mother’s Day

Some in our party ordered steaks, and they were not great. Three had to be sent back because they were really undercooked. So half were served and half weren’t. It took a good 25 minutes for new beef to arrive. They made it good with desserts and half off the steaks but still, a $400 dinner was kind of wrecked.

This was our first time here and couldn’t find the entrance until an employee pointed out the elevator on the side. Besides that, the restaurant was great- we loved all the views of the beach, the ambiance, the service and the food. Jamaal was very friendly, knowledgeable about the specials, and attentive. Also, the bathrooms were clean and had neat mirrors.

Michael was an awesome server and Trish the chef took a moment to come and speak with us after our meal. This place is amazing.

Would like to thank our waiters and give them a thumbs up! Inside Booth next to doorway out to patio. name is escaping me but she had a male trainer (Jamal?) and both were wonderful

Food was very good but ambience and service was outstanding.

Our waiter Robert was amazing.

Beautiful restaurant with wonderful service. However, they need signage for access to their location on the second floor. When approaching the restaurant there are stairs to the second floor but once climbed, the doors are locked so you have to take the stairs back down and look for other access. Also, the soup ordered was a nice presentation but arrived barely warm. There were four of us and no one completed their entree.

Wasn’t terribly hungry , skipped the apps ( they sounded great, perhaps should have gone that route) I had a lobster pasta dish, rather rustic , looked good .... too salty and simply not that tasty for a $30 plus entree.
Hibiscus cocktail was amazing

My date had beet salad, so so on satisfactory,only an app , lobster ravioli ... neither of us favored it . We both ate little and took our food to go , gave it to homeless people .
She had Cabo cocktail , it was amazing.
So drinks were great ,our server quite good . Cream brûlée and coffee good .
For a $200 plus expense we were less than wowed to say the least.
If I ever go back I will try some of the crab and shrimp apps and a cocktail ... see how that goes

Beautiful view. Horrible atmosphere. They played oldies rock from the 70s and 80s at such a loud volume that you had to shout to be heard. Food was cold, fish smelled fishy and had an odd texture. Prices are high for bad food. Service was okay but inexperienced and made errors like leaving all our uneaten food on the table while she was talking about dessert. We went several months after the restaurant opened, hoping that all the kinks had been worked out, but apparently not so.
We hope that this place will work out, but I wouldn't eat here anytime soon.

We are locals and really want this place to work. With that said the experience was a 1 and the food was average. Go to the Grand Marlin much better and half the price.

food was good but not hot. But manager gave us all deserts on the house which was very generous. Also, the lobster mac m cheese was a big disappointment especially for 24$

Food was underwhelming for the price.

service was outstanding - i think her name was Brooklyn was awesome. i don't think the price equals the value of the food compared to other nice Pensacola restaurants. The atmosphere is nice and the inside was lively but not overly noisy. next time i go i might just do a cocktail at sunset and a few appetizers? the bill just seemed high for the quantity and quality of food.

At the moment, the prices are out of line. The service was a bit slow. The outdoor heaters did not work consistently. The scallops we had were delicious! However, the price was out of line for how much food we actually got. I ordered cream corn, as its hard to find at most restaurants, but what they served was not the cream corn I am used to, and in fact I only found a few kernels of corn in the mix. All in all, it's one of the nicest places on the beach and I believe over time it will improve.

Food is overpriced for the quality. Appetizer was room
Temperature at best as was the main dish.

Service makes the meal many times so when you go ask for Robert - he was engaging without being intrusive and very knowledgeable of the menu and the specials. We were offered seating inside or outside one the enclosed deck/bar/. We chose outside and would not do that again. It was very loud and the DJ/Music from CBBG was very loud.

The food was very good, but be aware the portions fo the main dishes are very generous. The wine by the bottle was very fairly priced. We will certainly be back, but sitting inside.

We enjoyed our dining experience. The food was great, and the service was excellent. We will return.

Birthday dinner for my wife

Sunset and happy hour great. Views are spectacular. The food was excellent if not a little pricey. We ordered wine by the bottle and they didn’t have a second?!?

Outstanding addition to Pensacola Beach/Pensacola restaurant offerings. Upscale setting with gorgeous views of the beach, sunset and the Pensacola Beach Pier. Unique and varied and menu; all that we ordered was superb. I cannot stop thinking about the radish and beet salad I had. The seared tuna was also delicious---loved the sauce and pesto. The staff is attentive and helpful. Highly recommend!!

The food and ambiance was everything we wanted and more. The service was below par. Felt like the server was trying to get us out fast. Dinner came out 10 minutes after the appetizers did. Would definitely come again in hopes for a slower dinning experience.

We went to Drift early on a rainy Sunday evening and so the restaurant was pretty quiet at that time. Our service was excellent. Our food was good. The view is amazing, and the interior of the restaurant is very clean and simple, but also refined. The sea touches are everywhere, but not obnoxious. The cocktails were good, and our meals offered no complaints. I would like to return to enjoy the outdoor covered deck area. The prices are quite high, next time we may keep things more simple, but we will return when the weather warms up.

Unfortunately, we were very disappointed with our experience. Our waitress was very inexperienced with fine dining expectations (for example, we bought a bottle of white wine and only later offered to bring out an ice bucket to keep it cold). Drinks took a really long time.... and were brought at separate times. We sent two of our meals back because of poor quality. Then, we were charged for the more expensive meals that replaced the plates that were sent back. Our two appetizers were really delicious.. but that was the highlight. That and the view was very nice. Also, we were seated right by the elevators. Two individuals, one seemingly intoxicated, interrupted our dinner twice by being loud and trying to strike up a conversation about our baby. It was uncomfortable. They would benefit from a piece of glass over the half wall by the elevator to minimize disruptions and the noise from people coming off the elevator. People were standing over you while waiting to be seated. The view was beautiful and the noise level was suitable for easy conversation. There are not many places to have a nice meal in Pensacola-- I hope they can make some improvements so we can have more options!

Anniversary night, food was slow and some undercooked. To noisy and drafty by the door, also.

Server was wonderful! A little pricey for the area.

Hopefully, they will improve.