ORDER UP! With Memorial Day around the corner, new eateries and bars ready to open

Destinites will soon be able to scarf down some of the finest barbecue in the south, wash it down with some PBR on the harbor, and hit the new ice cream parlor for dessert.

As some restaurants struggle to stay open, three new kids on the block are aiming to show that success can be had in Destin during a recession, which has killed more than a few eateries.

The city’s newest ice cream store is an old favorite. Bruster’s Real Ice Cream closed down in July 2008 after six years in Destin. Marty and Lisa Buchman shuttered the store amid the rising cost of dairy and other food products.

The franchise was sold to Joe and Susan Beacham, who own two Bruster’s in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. The couple reopened the location at 4655 Gulfstarr Drive two weeks ago and said “they couldn’t be happier” with the customer response. They even expanded the menu of cool treats with some hot eats — they now serve Nathan’s hot dogs, French fries and chicken tenders.

The duo are looking to expand into Fort Walton Beach and “across the bridge” into Niceville or Crestview.

“What we can’t do is panic. This is not the time to pull back and wait,” said Joe Beacham. “I think we are gonna see a tremendous summer across the beach. This country is ready for vacation.”

If a kid’s scream for ice cream isn’t your taste, soon you’ll be able to head on down to the Red Door Saloon on the harbor for a more adult setting.

“We are putting all the glue and tape where it’s needed,” said Nicole Parsons, who currently manages the Red Door in Panama City and will run the one in Destin.

Parsons describes the future hangout as a “PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon) bar” that’s “one of a kind.” It will feature a beer garden, shuffleboard, a jukebox and serve sandwiches, hot dogs and pizza.

The Red Door Saloon also has two locations in Nashville, both in converted historic homes.

For its Destin location, the saloon is setting up shop in the former homestead of Destin fisherman Homer Jones. Lately, crews have been landscaping the lot at 240 Harbor Blvd. and painting the home, which dates back to the early 1900s.

“Our bars have so much personality it’s unreal,” Parsons said
She said that between thirty and forty Destinites stop by each day asking when the saloon will open. They are pushing to open a week before Memorial Day.

Also racing the clock to open before the official kick-off to the summer tourism season is Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q, which will sauce things up in the old Ruby Tuesday at 14073 Emerald Coast Parkway.

“We are trying our best to be open by May 19 before Memorial Day,” said owner Dave Hudson. “You gotta sock the money away during the season, because you are gonna give it all back during the off-season.”

The eatery, which claims to “represents the very best of Southern culture,” already has a location at The Village of Baytowne Wharf and a drive-through in Niceville.

With restaurants in Colorado and throughout the Southeast, Jim ‘N Nick’s stresses hospitality and home cooking.

“A Southern barbecue place ought to have homemade food like grandma made, and be just as hospitable as grandma was,” Hudson said.

Hudson, who has lived in Niceville for 18-years, said everything is made from scratch and that the restaurant smokes its meat for up to 12 to 14 hours.

In the endeavor, Hudson will join partners Wayne Lewis and Tom Rice, who own the Lucky Snapper and the Marlin Grill in Baytowne.

They are banking on their “fresh Southern goodness” and good prices to succeed in what has become a difficult time for restaurants.

“It doesn’t matter what happens to the economy, you still have to eat, and those that do a better job will be more successful than those that don’t.”