Heaven on a M F'in Plate!

Before we left for Panama City, I checked out tripadvisor for the best rated restaurants in that area. Didn't know you could do that huh? Yes, yes you can so do it before you head outta town!

Out of 383 restaurants that were rated, Hunt's Oyster Bar was #2 (#1 sounded a bit too fancy for me) and since I'm ALL about raw oysters, it was my grand plan to go.

On Wednesday, all 9 of us piled in my 4Runner like a bunch of Mexicans because two out of our three cars were outta commission. Seriously. TWO OUTTA THREE cars took a shit on the way to Florida! It cost $319 to get one car fixed and the other...well, it woulda cost more than my first three cars combined just to get it fixed, so needless to say it didn't get fixed. Somethin' about the motor falling out, shittin' out, whatever....it was no bueno.

After about a 30 minute ride, we get to Hunt's which was this little yellow building that already had an ass ton of people waiting outside. Since I had read a lot of the reviews before hand I knew to expected a long wait though. Tourists and locals alike swarm to this place. I put my name in and was told we had about a 45 minute to an hour wait. Not too bad. That's standard at the Mexican Restaurant we used to go to all the time.

Luckily, right across across the street was a place called Tan Fannies where some time could be passed.

Unfortunately, they refused to let me in with the kids despite their fake ids, so Jerm and a couple of our friends went in to check it out while I took the kids to the boat dock. From what I hear there were no tan fannies and the scenery was WAY better at the docks.

After nearly a two hour wait, we finally got a table. Well, two tables, but whatever...they were across from each other anyways. We ordered a dozen and a half of raw oysters and some frog legs for appetizers. The oysters came pretty quickly and were freakin' amazing! Once the frog legs came out, the kids were pretty hesitant about eating them. The boy ate part of one and the girl played with them.

Not too long after we got our appetizers, our meals came out. Jerm and I both ordered the grilled seafood platter. Holy sweet mother of jesus.....it was an ASS TON of food. There was grilled grouper, grilled oysters, scallops, shrimp, a crabcake and two hushpuppies. You don't just get 3 or 4 of each of those either....I talkin' like 8 or 10. PLUS, you also got two sides to go with it. I recommend the garlic bread and coleslaw...Mmmmm, mmmm.

I'm totally salivating now.

The boy got a fried clam strip plate with fries and the girl got the crab legs appetizer which was plenty for her.

We all devoured our food. There was so much there, I couldn't eat it all which is unheard of for me. EVERYTHING was so delicious! The oysters had a nice saltiness to them, the cocktail sauce wasn't too cocktaily, the sweet tea was awesome and the dinners were perfectly cooked.

Everything was so awesome that Jerm and I went back with the kids the next night. The wait wasn't quite as long (but still about 45 minutes) and this time we ended up sitting at the bar. We ordered two dozen oysters which were shucked right there in front of us.

Despite what a few of the reviews said about experiences with rude waitstaff, everyone we had contact with was nothin' but awesome.

We ended up ordering the same thing we had the first time we went. The amount of food you get for the money is outrageous. I seriously woulda eaten at this place every freakin' night if my wallet coulda sustained it. Not that it was expensive by any means, we were just vacationing on a MAJOR budget this year.

If you go to Panama City Beach you MUST eat at Hunt's. I mean MUST. Expect a long wait. It's well worth it. There's plenty of people watchin' to do though.

....just know that your mouth will be graced with food from the gods.