well getting seated, a sign directed us to the bar...

the food on tables around us was laden with fried food.... including orida crinkle cut fries.

well we were avoiding the fried food... so we just ordered the grilled selection. healthy doesn't equal a 1/4 thin peice of meat. we ordered a amberjack and the red snapper . . . grilled. it was the same cut of meat served on a sandwhich. very disappointed.

the cutlery was terrible. it was the same serviceware I used in elementery and high school (really cheap, but no plastic) and then the glass ware was the same. Cheap plastic! Anyways the place was a dive from the plastic table clothes to the crappy food.

Service. no theres a sad subject for the place. we got our food and had to go to the bar for the check.

While its nice to think about eating at the water on a waterway, the food + service = a bad experience.

There were five of us who made a trip to Rick's crab trap looking for seafood while vacationing in Destin, FL. Rick's is in Ft. Walton but that's just a short crowded drive from Destin so we made the trip, and considering the name and considering my name is also "Rick" how could it fail to be great! (As an aside, no affiliation whatsoever). It's a bit hard to find tucked almost under the bridge as you exit Ft. Walton to the east but we tracked it down. When we arrived, the hostess that greeted us was friendly but considerably unprofessional with a gum-smacking conversation that finally resulted in us learning that it would be a forty-five minute wait that grew to one hour during the conversation. It was just after eight and though the place was half empty we heard her tell the next group of four that came in the place was closed.

We spent the time waiting for a table at the bar; the couple sitting next to us had decided to eat at the bar but warned us that they had ordered over an hour past and still didn't have their food. We ordered drinks: two margaritas, a "Horny Crab", a Red Bull and a coke, and the mixed drinks were pretty good; the margaritas had green salt which tended to dye your lips an interesting color, but, hey, perhaps green lips are a good thing. After about fifteen minutes, we were told a table was ready (and our neighboring couple's food arrived).

We were seated inside (we had asked for first available) and the room was half empty, as were the tables on the deck overlooking the water. We hypothesized the staff must have been short a couple of cooks to be this empty and turning folks away short of 8:30. The atmosphere of the place was casual, with vinyl tablecloths sporting a nautical theme, various shore-side decorations around, and the large screen TV directly behind us (tuned to Shark Week on the Discovery channel).

We ordered crab cakes as an appetizer along with a couple of glasses of wine (Yellowtail Chardonnay) from their very limited wine list, an iced tea, and a Dr. Pepper. Our server came back and told us they were out of crab cakes, so three folks went with seafood gumbo for the appetizer and two of us decided to skip the appetizer. For entrees, we ordered the seafood steamer platter, two of the grouper sandwiches, fried shrimp, and Alaskan king crab. All of the food was good to excellent with large portions, the only complaint being the fried shrimp's cooked batter was a bit soggy. We did get both our appetizer and our food in a timely manner.

As an interesting, but apropos anecdote, upon leaving, I stopped off at the (Buoys, as opposed to Gulls) restroom. I went for the first partition; the second was occupied. After completing my business and washing up and reaching for the door a cute little blond young lady came out of the first partition. Somewhat embarrassed, she said she was cleaning. I laughed and said no problem, but in a nutshell it sort of sums up the very casual, down-home, somewhat slap-dash atmosphere of Rick's.

Final tally, cost-wise, was $20 for the drinks at the bar and $103 for the meals plus two glasses of Chardonnay, a Dr. Pepper, and a glass of iced tea. With both tips (which I normally overdo) it was $143 for the evening for five folks eating.

Bottom line: great seafood, eclectic staff, worth a visit.

Went there last night and the food was fantastic. Not only was it great food, the service we were presented with was also wonderful as they went out of their way to make sure we were satisfied with our food and our experience. I highly recommend this restuarant

As a native of louisiana I throughly enjoyed my experience. I have been coming to the beach for 15 years and normally I avoid these types of restaurants. But my brother said he was dying for some crab so we went it was a bit pricey but for the area it wasnt that extravagant. I ordered the she crab soup one of the best soups I have ever tried. I also ordered the lump crabmeat linguini could have used some more spice but overall pretty good my father ordered the shrimp scampi it was delicious lots of shrimp! Also the portions were huge. I really thought I wasnt going to like this place considering I read the reviews beforehand but it was quite suprising!