The Franklin at the Gibson Inn

High quality Thanksgiving buffet with great variety as well as traditional fixings. Everything was continually replenished. Service was attentive and pleasant. It was a pleasure to meet the Chef, who was at the carving station. Overall a memorable and satisfying Thanksgiving.

We immensely enjoyed the Thanksgiving buffet - very delicious! The desserts were fabulous as well.

Excellent food and wine choices I’m happy to find vegetarian options.

Solid inventive food and relatively polished service. A very nice change from fried fish and shrimp!

Great overall experience. Food was excellent. If I could make one suggestion, it would be to turn down the lighting. Difficult to be romantic when the lights are as bright as a cafeteria. Maybe it is because the old people need to see! Lol.

Over rated The Bentley is too much for this community

This restaurant is a hidden gem. Best oysters ever. Our meals were delicious. We both had the fresh fish which happened to be red fish. It was so fresh and well prepared. It came with a very tasty risotto and vegetable. We finished our meal with a featured panna cotta. It was superb!

The oysters were the best that I've ever had, recommended to anybody that loves oysters.

We moved to the Panhandle less than 2 years ago and have tried just about every restaurant in Gulf, Bay and Franklin counties since then. We discovered the Franklin in Spring of 2019. We fell in love with it then. Everyplace we've lived in the past, we always found a special little place that we called "our place" especially on special occasions. The Franklin Inn is now "our place" in this area. I highly recommend it for special occasions but certainly not limited to that. Locals and tourists are surely missing out if they don't eat at The Franklin. We just celebrated our 9th Anniversary on 10/16/19 at The Franklin. It could not have been more perfect. From the chef, his menu, starters, entree's, dessert menu, extraordinary wine list, atmosphere, location and 10 star service from our server , Austin -it was a night to remember forever. Eating out shouldn't just be "eating out", it should be "an experience". That is exactly what eating at The Franklin is. Will be back many times.

Good, loud across the street. Mushrooms were weird. Service was okay.

We loved the fact that we could dress casually and still enjoy fine dining. Perfect for vacationers. Fortunately we reserved an outdoor table as some of the bar patrons were quite loud. Our waiter was a great help in deciding our selections. The pan seared scallops were the best we ever had and our desserts of Panna cotta and bread pudding were excellent as well. Will definitely go back and recommend to others.

Wonderful experience. Austin was of great help in choices of some of his favorites. Great food.

Really nice place to dine (not eat) in my favorite small town—Apalach! The menu is inventive, the food is fresh, and comes to the table hot. We have so many favorite eating spots in town and are glad to add another to the list☺️

Nice atmosphere and great service. Multiple servers checked on us throughout the evening. The menu was diverse. Soup, salad, and dessert were very good, but both entrees tasted very strongly of smoke. I ordered a vegetable plate and not only did it taste of Liquid Smoke, but the eggplant was also quite underdone. I am disappointed since all other aspects of the meal were very tasty.

Excellent service and food! Definitely will be visiting regularly!

Fantastic menu, service and value! The oysters were outstanding, but the special starter, Dim Sum, was out of this world. Service was great, Summer was adorable! The lights could have dimmer and the addition of music would have been perfect.

Wonderful experience. Relaxing, inviting, and delicious!!! Austin, our sever, made the dinner enjoyable. Thank you!

The Inn is a unique setting. We have eaten there twice under different owners. Both times the food and service was impeccable

The Franklin rose a wonderful experience, the food and service was excellent. My wife and I will be returning I can promise you .Thank you

I love “The Gibson”. It is the quintessential Apalachicola Inn and Restaurant.
Great for cocktails and dinner. Arrive early and have a drink in the tavern or in the Rocking Chairs on the front porch.
The new owners have made some nice updates and still retained the “old Florida” charm.
The food is creative and delicious, and the service is always friendly and attentive.
This is a “must” if you’re a visitor or a local.

I entered that it was a birthday on open table but restaurant didn’t say anything. Preface my review with the fact I don’t eat meat. There are plenty of vegetarian options and we had Thai black fried rice, Asian pear slaw, watermelon salad, mushroom ravioli and chickpea fritters. Average but nothing to come back for. Sad, because there aren’t many fine dining options in the area. No shrimp options.

Great ambiance, great food and service! I would definitely recommend The Franklin to a friend. I loved the dishes and the presentation of the food. Beautifully done! Unique food choices and combinations; different than the usual restaurant selections.
I also loved the chairs; they were so comfortable to sit in!

Excellent dinner and service in a beautiful setting. The Franklin is a hidden gem. From the fried oyster appetizer, to the seared oysters, and cookies and cream panna cotta dessert - perfection! 10/10 recommend. Great for a more upscale celebratory dinner for tourists staying on St. George Island.

Our waitress was very knowledgeable about menu items. Love the scallops.

We love seafood and the local favorites when we are visiting the Forgotten Coast. It was, however, a refreshing and very pleasant experience to find The Franklin at the Gibson Inn's new menu and chef. We tried several of the house special oysters and they were all delish. The miso soup was some of the best we've had in all of our travels. The Oxtail Goyza was superb. The seared scallops were perfectly cooked, the tripletail was served with a fragrant but light curry sauce that was a perfect accompaniment. I highly recommend the panna cotta for dessert. The waitress we had was friendly and attentive. This restaurant is probably not a place to bring young children. Best for teens and older.

It was our First anniversary and the dinner was amazing at the Franklin. Wonderful staff really took care of you!! The food was excellent, ambiance perfect beautiful place. We loved looking at the old photos in the hallway. Highly recommend!!!!

Accommodated my wife, our dog and me on the verandah even though they were short handed. Our ending meal place when we vacation at SGI. Thanks for a great evening.

We were on a weekend getaway to the Forgotten Coast and stayed at The Gibson Inn. We absolutely loved dining at The Franklin!! The food was unbelievable, exciting, and very creative! We can not wait to come back. Exceptional service!

Great, little loud.

Sadly, the new owners at The Gibson "fixed" what didn't need fixing. The menu while impressive, really presented a style incongruous with the local cuisine, and is not as well-received as previous chefs/menus in this facility. The cheese platter was from a very good local source, if presented somewhat basically. The corn chowder was excellent. The wagyu was adequate. The salads were not well-presented, and were a bit basic for the setting and price. The sea scallops and triple-tail were both excellent and well-prepared, however the risotto was mushy.

Sadly, cocktails at the bar prior to dining revealed the terrible surprise that the classic, famous old wooden bar had been replaced by what appears to be a very expensive kitchen counter. The service was inattentive, drinks were watered, and the tonic water was served flat; fortunately, local Oyster City Brewery products were on tap.

While the bar is not formally part of The Franklin, the overall experience of an evening at The Gibson is inferior to many in recent years past, and the is a step down for such a treasured old location. We don't expect to return.

As usual, dining at the Franklin was a wonderful experience.

My boyfriend and I arrived a few minutes before our reservation and waited at the vacant hostess stand, seeing plenty of open tables in the dining hall. Several waiters walked by without acknowledging us. Approximately 10 minutes later the hostess (caucasian middle aged woman with brown hair) came back to the stand and started sorting menus, still not acknowledging us. She asked if we were part of a different party, we said no we had a reservation for two. She walked past us to fetch another party and then took them to their table. We waited five more minutes without her returning, looked into the dining area and saw her talking to some of the servers not in a rush. She didn’t come back to the stand after several more minutes of waiting so we left. We were fine to wait but there was absolutely no communication from any of the staff. Very unprofessional experience.

They have a way to go before I would recommend. The food was good but not outstanding and not much for the price compared to The Owl. Well written menu. They are understaffed. Wine was not chilled.

Fantastic food and service. Love the southern coast. Real people serving quality food and this restaurant inside this beautifully restored Hotel is a bonus.

Great service, great food, great atmosphere - what more can you ask for.

Very healthy delicious meal

The service and environment were excellent! The hotel is a very neat place to visit as well as the bar! I ordered the scallops with the pasta. The scallops were delicious, but the pasta had too much of a smoky flavor to eat. The other order was the steak and there was too much sauce on it. I will definitely be back to try it again!

Excellent food and cordial service. Wild mushroom ravioli is extraordinary. The entire menu is interesting and surprising. Everything we tried was delicious.

The Franklin was the perfect place to celebrate Father's Day! Fine dining at it's best in Apalachicola! We are local so we will be back-regularly!
Austin, our server, was awesome! You don't find servers anymore who are knowledgeable about the food and drinks that are served.
We are hoping that lunch will also be served at the Franklin soon!! PLEASE!

Food was so good and creative. I had the beet salad and red snapper. Both were so good. I plan on going back again some day and try some of the other dishes.