Pensacola Beach’s Annual Foodie Festival Returns This October
The 13th Annual Taste of the Beach will be held October 14-15 on Pensacola Beach
If your ideal vacation is flip-flops and a fork, we’ll see you on the sugar-white sands of Pensacola Beach this fall for the 13th annual Taste of the Beach! Presented by the Pensacola Beach Chamber of Commerce, it’s Florida’s best seafood meets Florida’s best beach.
This annual foodie festival showcases taste-tempting coastal delights made by Pensacola Beach’s favorite restaurants.
Taste of the Beach brings the restaurants right down to the sandy shoreline for a daylong celebration of all things Southern, seafood, savory and sweet. We’re talking feet in the sand, crashing waves, sunshine and shrimp.
Presented by the Pensacola Beach Chamber of Commerce, the festival is a chance to highlight the beach restaurants where locals eat on a daily basis, forming the base of our culinary scene. So, if you’re a Gulf Coast seafood junkie, you’re not going to want to miss it.
FRIDAY VIP DINNER
The 13th Annual Taste of the Beach Festival kicks off Friday night, October 14 with a progressive VIP Dinner that will whisk diners to three of the island’s best restaurants via trolley. Diners will indulge in a four-course meal with complimentary wine pairings.
The evening begins at the Pensacola Beach Visitor Information Center where guests can enjoy a complimentary champagne toast before boarding a trolley to head to the first restaurant. Each course will last approximately 45 minutes, and then guests will depart to the next stop.
The 2022 VIP Dinner will showcase the following restaurants:
- Appetizer – Jumbo Lump Crab Cake – prepared and presented by Chef Jere Doyle at Crabs We Got ‘Em.
- Soup/Salad – Cream of Celeriac Soup with Pancetta and Herbs and Crab Salad with Crushed Golden Potato and Yuzu dressing – prepared and presented by Chef Richard Assaf at Hilton H20.
- Entree – Snapper Couvillion – prepared and presented by Chef Dennis Moore at Flounder’s Chowder House.
- Dessert – Pensacola Beach Bread Pudding and “Millionaire” coffee drink – Your host is Drift General Manager Juston Takacs at Casino Beach Bar & Grille.
There are five departure start times from the Visitor Information Center Friday night: 4:45, 5:30, 6:15, 7:00, and 7:45 PM.
Only a select number of tickets are available per departure start time, so don’t wait to purchase! Go to TasteofPensacolaBeach.com to purchase now!
Guests are asked to arrive to the Visitor Information Center at least 15 minutes prior to their departure ticket time. Due to limited trolley space, if you miss your departure time you will not be able to board a later trolley.
VIP Dinner tickets are $100 each for adults 21 and older only. The 2022 Taste of the Beach VIP Dinner features a set menu that includes seafood. Those with seafood or shellfish sensitivities or allergies should refrain from attending as there will be no substitutions.
SATURDAY FESTIVAL FUN
Saturday’s day-long festival will take place October 15, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The day is filled with 20 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.
The menu changes every year, but you’ll always find plenty of seafood options as well as landlubber fare such as sliders, sandwiches and sweets. And yes, beer, wine and frozen alcoholic concoctions will also be available for purchase.
10 a.m. – Dancingly Yours – Pensacola Beach children’s dance troupe performs from the Gulfside Pavilion stage.
10:30 a.m. – Chef John Flanigam – 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. A panel of judges 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.
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.
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.
For more info and to purchase tickets go to TasteofPensacolaBeach.com.
